The Ugly Duckling , The Swan Within: The Inspiring Story of the Ugly Duckling #bedtimestories

Once upon a time, in a peaceful farmyard surrounded by green fields and quiet ponds, a mother duck sat patiently on her nest. One by one, her eggs began to hatch—fluffy yellow ducklings chirped and waddled around her happily. But one egg, the largest of them all, took longer. Finally, it cracked open, and out came a duckling unlike the others—big, gray, and awkward. The other ducklings stared. “He’s so strange,” they whispered. “He doesn’t look like us,” the animals murmured. Even the farm children called him ugly. The poor duckling was heartbroken. Wherever he went, he was laughed at, pushed away, and told he didn’t belong. So, one lonely morning, he decided to run away. He wandered through forests and across frozen lakes. Winter came, cold and cruel. The duckling nearly froze, hiding under bushes, trying to survive. He watched beautiful birds flying across the sky and whispered, “If only I were one of them.” Months passed. Finally, spring returned, warm and gentle. Flowers bloomed, and the sun melted the ice. The duckling, now stronger and grown, found a shimmering lake and swam to its center. There, he saw graceful white birds gliding across the water—swans. He looked down into the water... and gasped. Staring back at him was not a gray, awkward bird—but a stunning white swan. The others swam around him, welcoming him with open wings. He was one of them—he had always been. He wasn’t ugly. He was just different, and now... he had become who he was always meant to be.