Theme: Prejudice; love of nature; true love

Appearances are deceiving

Marcelo lived in a beautiful farm where he was close to animals and plants. When he came home from school, he had lunch and went to his large backyard to play or even rest, watching the nature.

One day Marcelo saw, on a low branch of the mango tree, a small, well-made bird's nest in the shape of a little cup. He didn't take long to realize it was from a hummingbird mom.

In Marcelo's mind a thousand of things crossed. He would protect the nest by helping Mom's hummingbird, and then, when the chicks were born, they would be his friends, fly around him, and land on his finger. These thoughts filled Marcelo with joy and he already loved these babies even before they were born.

He arranged a net and placed it under the tree, circling the trunk and protecting the branch so that the dogs could not reach the nest. And he often used to observe it. One day he saw two very small eggs inside it. What a joy he felt. His little friends were on their way.

Marcelo then wondered what they would be like. I wish they were male and female and blue and green, bright as their mother.

More than a couple of weeks has passed since the eggs appeared. Marcelo continued to visit the nest daily, expecting to meet his new friends.

One Sunday afternoon, after a walk with his family, the boy went, as usual, to the mango tree. What a surprise!

Instead of the little eggs, there were two hideous, greyish animals inside the nest, with two large balls on their heads, like huge, ugly eyes. They had wisps of lint all over their bodies. And they moved slowly, a little awkwardly.

Marcelo was so horrified that he screamed and, not knowing what to do, ran to meet his mother.

- Mommy, mommy! There are some animals in the nest! They must be caterpillars or something and they must have eaten the eggs because they are gone!

The mother hugged her son and said, feeling sorry.

- Too bad, honey! I'm so sorry! Just now that the chicks were so close to being born. I know how much you expected for them.

Marcelo hugging his mother cried disconsolately.

After some time, the sadness gave way to anger and Marcelo returned to the yard determined to take the nest and kill those intruder and disgusting animals.

But when he arrived, he saw the hummingbird mom near the nest. Figuring she would do the work herself, he slowly approached to watch her.

He could hardly believe it when he saw exactly the opposite of what he expected! Nestled on the edge of the nest, Mother Hummingbird fed those two ugly beings who opened their mouths to her.

Marcelo was stunned. He suddenly realized that the animals he had found horrible, and even wanted to pull out of the nest, were the long-awaited chicks! He didn't know, but baby birds are not born cute like dogs or cats. They are born with a naked body, just a few tufts of feathers, with big eyes, huge mouth and short beak.

He was relieved and happy to see that the baby birds were alive. But at the same time embarrassed too, for making such a mistake.

Marcelo kept following and taking care of that dear family. The chicks developed, were beautiful and one day flew out of the nest, happily!

Never again in his life did he has forgotten the lesson he learned from them: that appearances can be deceiving. That our hasty judgments can lead us to great mistakes. He also learned that true love must be like that of a hummingbird, for whom the appearance of the babies made no difference. With patience and dedication, she provided the necessary conditions for ugly and fragile chicks to become beautiful and agile hummingbirds!

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com