AKALA AND THE BEAVER
Akala had always been a little smaller than the rest, a little bit weaker than the rest, not everything came exactly easy for her. Children often didn’t want to befriend her, and this made Akala very sad most times.
Akala always preferred to play by herself but still deep down longed to have friends, real relationships. She had spent far too many nights worrying about what other thought.
Akala did never fit in, she was always a little different, always a little smarter, a little tougher and had just a little more perseverance, everyone had envied her.
But Akala, she just wanted to fit in, she didn’t want to be better or special, she wanted to be the same. It was much simpler that way.
One day, Akala was helping the elderly with picking the fruits for an afternoon snack, Akala had cried earlier, she didn’t cry often but she cried today, she felt alone. The elderly were worried for her, but deep down knew that she was different.
As Akala bent over to pick the raspberry off of the bush, one of the elderly tapped her on the shoulder, “Dear Akala, I would like for you to take this” the elder opened up Akala`s tiny palm, dumping the raspberries and placing a small wooden animal instead.
Akala turned and turned the beaver inside of her hand, she looked at it confused and asked, “What is this beaver for?” and the elderly smiled, her wrinkles waving on her face, each scar had told a story, a different hardship.
The elderly told stories not with pen and paper but by years written on their faces, “Akala, this right here is your spirit animal” Akala was still confused.
“The beaver represents determination and strong will” the elderly placed her hand on Akala`s head, reassuring the young child, “You have always been different, not many people have the perseverance to acquire the symbolism of the beaver”
Akala went home that night just a little happier than before.
The end.
Word count: 322
Reflection:
I chose the aboriginal name Akala, because it means parrot and I wanted to select a name with an animal meaning behind it to tie into the animal theme of the story that I wrote.
I chose the beaver because I felt like I would relate to a beaver if any of the animals, I also thought it would be a good aspect to tackle another important topic which was inclusiveness and bullying with younger children. All in all I though that everything ties together to the best of my ability.
I used the images of a little girl because I felt that when I imagines Akala those images fit her perfectly.
This story is important to me because when I was younger, I was also bullied and I would have loved to have an elder or anyone to reassure me.