Since we had to write about shyness in the last quiz, a very short story came to my mind that day. In the story, you will see something that can help anyone fight shyness or the strong feeling on embarrassments. Please! read the story and do not ignore it. Laughing at yourself might be the best way to combat shyness and fear.
Here It is!
Earth, Swallow Me Up!
They say that one time someone confused a
boy's chubby red cheeks for two tomatoes. And when that person tried to pick
the tomatoes he burnt his hand. And that was the least he could expect, because
Alfie was the most easily embarrassed person you could imagine; and he greatly
feared ridicule.
Even the slightest annoyance
would turn his face as red as a chilli. And so it was, that one day something truly ridiculous happened to
Alfie, something which almost made him explode with embarrassment.
He was
with his friend Jamie, practicing for a play Jamie was going to be in: The
Three Little Pigs. After a while spent rehearsing the play,
Alfie remembered that he'd invited Dora to his house that afternoon. Dora was
the sweetest, prettiest, cleverest girl in his class. Alfie
ran straight to the playground, found Dora, and said to her,
"What do you reckon? Should we go to
my place? I can give you a sausage sandwich..."
And just as he finished saying
this, he realised that he had forgotten to
remove the mask and costume of the little pig! Dora was speechless. Everyone in
the playground started laughing, and poor Alfie, unable to react, just thought,
"Earth, swallow me up!"
Suddenly, Alfie
disappeared into the ground, and found himself in an incredible
place. Everyone in that place had wanted the Earth to swallow them up! And it
was no surprise at all, because the faces of the people there were all covered
with expressions of utter embarrassment. Alfie met an athlete who had run a
race in the wrong direction, and
had thought he had won it by a huge distance. He met a bald
young lady whose wig had blown off during a storm, and he met a bride who had
stepped on the train of her wedding dress, and ended up rolling about like a
meatball.
Soon, Alfie
found out that the only way to escape from that place was through laughter.
But not just any kind of laughter; you could only escape by learning to laugh
at yourself. It wasn't easy, some folk had spent years there, under the Earth,refusing
to find anything amusing about their own embarrassment.
But Alfie managed to overcome this, and
learned how to find the humour in those moments of shame and embarrassment. He
also learned to use them in a way that made others laugh, and bring them a
little joy. When he remembered himself in the little pig mask, talking
about sausage sandwiches with Dora, he couldn't stop laughing
at the whole situation.
As soon
as he realised all this, Alfie was instantly returned to the playground, in
front of Dora, just where he had left her. But this time, far from getting
embarrassed and tongue-tied, he smiled at her, took
off his little piggy mask, wiggled his little piggy bottom, and
said,
"Come
on, cheer up! Today I have great ham in store!"
Dora and
the others laughed, and from that day on, Alfie
became one of the funniest kids at school, able to make himself
and others laugh at whatever happened to them.
*ANONYMOUS
Did you like the story? Please let me know in a comment.
Posted by me, Aneurys Perez
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