Once upon a time there was a 9-year-old girl who had low self -esteem isues. She was the sweetest little girl, though. She would walk to th local market for general groceries for her grandmotherand rush to get the doctor if grandma was ill with what she had saved from her meager $5 weeky allowance from her paents.
The poor dear with suffering with this condition with the way she looked for weeks. She searched and searched to the Lord for an answer to her problem. For months the Lord did not provide an answer even though she prayed every day. So she decided to take matters into her own hands and took a walk to the middle of the forest. It took days and days, but since she had packed a picnic lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, lots of apples, carrots and several Juicy Juice boxes, she did not get thirsty or hungry.
"Please make me pretty" the girl prayed once more when she got to her destination.
An angel came down from Heaven with a gift of a box with a mirror for the girl. The girl was so happy tp finally get her prayer answered but she was confused so she askled the angel about this. "My dear," the angel answered you were always beautiful, this box represents the true beauty yiou had inside since you were not so self-concered with it and so helpful to your grandmother while she was sick."
"Thank you," said the girl. "You don't know how happy this makes me! I have been waiting a long time for this."
She ran home to tell her grandma sll about the trip and her expoerience with the angel. She told about how she looked prettier, and was finally able to look in the mirror. Her grandmother was so happy. she huged her tight. She finally had her little girl back!
As a promise to herself and to help other girls with self-esteem problems, the little girl had made specially made boxes she bought from her local craft store as her gift to other little girls that she gave to other girls who also had self-esteem issues.
She didn't look at her own box much tough. She didn't need to.
The End

Very Hans Christian Anderson, David.

Steve there once was an ugly duckling Riggs.

Your Revelation story is different, David.

I was surprised that a nine year old girl would be that self-conscious to have self-esteem issues.

Usually those take place during the teenage years when females realize that they have to be attractive to males in order to compete for their attention.

It sounds as if it was sort of an ordeal for her to make such a long pilgrimage into the forest to ask an angel to 'be pretty.'

You surprised me with that one because I thought that she was going to ask for her grandmother to become healthy.

Your story reminds me of the line attributed to Shakespeare, "Vanity, thy name is woman," except that Shakespeare really wrote, "Frailty, thy name is woman."

'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.'

Another Revelation.

Dear **David**: True Beauty you probe
as if you had travel[l]ed the globe.
In all our bright vision
are scads of derision
along with some sumptuous robe.