Back to Home
Back to "Tales" Contents
A N     O D D     C R E A T U R E
The little boy had been told so many times that he was nasty that he was really
convinced he was incurably naughty. As a matter of fact, his behaviour often made
people around him more or less angry, he seemed to know better than anyone
how he could upset everybody and in any situation. His was driving his parents to
despair. They even tried to keep him from being privy to a lot of things, because
they didn't trust at all his probity.
Her mother had been offered a pretty mirror, and she decided to put it on the wall
of the long corridor that led to the front door. The first time the little imp looked at
the mirror, he saw an odd creature instead of his face. It seemed to be a queer
animal, he couldn't even recognize what kind of animal it was. He tried several
times to look at the mirror, but every time he saw the same odd creature. He
managed to see what picture the mirror would give when someone else was
looking at the mirror, but every time the mirror showed the picture of the human
being. Only when
he was in front of the mirror, the odd creature was suddenly
appearing.
He was really bothered. Finally, he thought that it could be the result of his
naughtiness. He decided to change and to become a nice little boy. Unfortunately,
that wasn't at all as easy that he had thought ! He had to work hard to get out of so
many bad habits ! But every day the mirror gave him the picture of the same odd
creature. It was more and more unbearable. He began to pay more attention to
his behaviour, he began to think before acting, he began not to like anymore
annoying people, he even began to fear the answer of the mirror.
Despite of the difficulty, the mirror vanquished and succeeded to break him of
bad habits. It took time, it was hard, but one day the little boy, who had turned into
a hearted one, saw his face into the mirror. A large smile lighted his face.
Since this moment, every day his asked the mirror about himself, but his new
habits were so strong that the odd creature never appeared again in the mirror.
18/01/10
Isabelle Coquinot