The moth looked at her drab brown wings. She sighed longingly. The butterflies were so beautiful in comparison. Their colours danced in the sunlight, reflecting every colour of the rainbow and she only got to sit hiding in the darkness. It just didn’t seem fair.
So she started to plan. She painted her wings in beautiful metallic colours and delicate patterns. She worked all night and then headed out into the sunshine.
“This will get me noticed,” she said excitedly “people will admire me and want to be seen with me. I’ll be popular and make lots of new friends.”
It worked. She landed on a little girl’s head and the child’s mother rushed over to take a photo. She settled on a flower and an elderly man pointed her out to his wife. The moth enjoyed the attention.
But the sun was very hot and hurt her eyes. She longed for the clouds to come so that she could have a short break from the summer heat. If she was honest, she missed the moon.
Eventually her wishes were granted and some clouds came to cover the sun. It felt good for a moment but suddenly she had a thought.
“If I let the rain touch my wings, my colours will run. They will mix together and I will be the same muddy brown that I was before all this started.”
This continued for a few days and the moth started to fear the rain. At the same time, she hated the bright sun because it hurt her eyes and drained her energy. She was also getting a bit tired of the attention. The novelty had started to wear off and she was fed up with young children trying to catch her in their nets.
She headed back to the dark nights where she could dance under the moonlight, having learnt a valuable lesson. She realised that she had tried to pretend that she was not. People had admired her for something that was false and that did not feel good.
Maybe the most beauty can really be found in being your authentic self.
She looked up at the moon and was happy to be home.