Theme: Forgiveness

Beautiful River

It was a sunny Saturday, Martina and her family were taking a ride by car. They headed to the Beautiful River, which was a river really beautiful, with clean water, shoals of fish and plenty of vegetation around it.

The family had already been there, some time ago, and enjoyed it very much.

They swam, walked among the trees on the riverbank, watched the animals and the beauty of nature. And they hoped to repeat the pleasant walk that day.

Everyone was excited, except Martina. She was upset about something that happened at school. There was the “special day” at school, a day when they were allowed to take a snack with treats and toys or games to play with their colleagues during the break.

Martina took her favorite doll and left it next to her backpack. It was an expensive doll, that moves and talks.

When the bell rang, at the break time, all the children got up from their desks and ran, agitated, to start playing immediately. Unconsciously, Sandra stumbled and stepped on Martina's doll, breaking the delicate toy. Sandra knew how much Martina liked the doll and apologized sincerely, but Martina didn’t feel comforted, being annoyed for several days.

On the way to Beautiful River, her mother talked to her:

- Darling, try to get that anger out of your heart. Sandra apologized for the accident, and all that negative feeling will only hurt you.

Getting close to the river, the family realized that the place was not as they remembered. Garbage was everywhere, the plants looked bad. After parking the car and walking to the riverbank, another disappointment - the water was very dirty, with a bad smell. No sign of the colorful fish that used to swim there.

- Everything is polluted. Now the right thing was to call this is Ugly River! There's no way we can stay here! - Said Martina's brother, very sad.

 - It is true! Let's go home... Too bad! - Mourned the father - People who throw garbage in the nature have no idea what they are doing - said the father.

- It's really sad - agreed the mother - The accumulated garbage kills life in and around the river. People without conscience who have done this.

- It may have been people who wanted to ruin the river on purpose. There are people who only know how to do bad things - Martina said bitterly, adding - like Sandra, for example.

The mother then turned to her and spoke in a serious voice:

- Don't talk like that, Martina, Sandra already apologized for your doll. Do you see what disorder pollution causes? If you can't get over what happened, it's like you are saving garbage, which is going to hurt you and the people around you. If you cling to negative feelings, you will always be bitter and saying unpleasant things.

Martina was quite impressed by those words, from her mother. On the way home, she was quiet most of her time, reflecting on her actions and the state of the river. She didn't want to be like a polluted, unpleasant river, which keeps away good people who can't stand it or stay by their side.

On Monday, back at school, the teacher started the class by asking what kids knew about pollution and caring for nature. Recalling the experience with Beautiful River, Martina soon raised her hand to answer:

- Pollution is the dirt that people leave in places. Pollution spoils things. It makes everything ugly, stinky and dirty.

- Very well, Martina - said the teacher - That is why it is important to know what we can do to help the environment and avoid pollution. Recycle, throw the garbage in the right place, preserve the trees... Even if an environment is polluted, it is possible to recover it, it just depends on our actions...

During class, Martina remembered her mother's words and how she was holding Sandra's grief for breaking the doll. This was "garbage" that she wanted to take from her heart.

So, when the bell rang, Martina went to Sandra and showed her the activity she did during class - a drawing with a very blue river, lots of trees and two girls:

- It's you and me, Sandra! Explained Martina. - I'm sorry for being so mad. Are we friends again? - she smiled, and Sandra smiled too.

Martina learned valuable lessons. The river, or any environment that has been polluted, depends on people's action to recover them. But people do not depend on anyone but on themselves to leave the evil that happens to them behind and move on in peace.
 

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com