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Darla wasn't a very pretty little girl. In fact she was rather plain compared to the other
girls in her fifth grade class. Her hair was an ordinary shade of brown, her eyes were an
ordinary shade of blue, not to mention that she was very nearsighted and squinted a bit. Her
clothes were all hand-me-downs from her older sister, and she was extremely shy. She rarely
spoke first, and when spoken to, she would scrunch up her shoulders. Other children just seemed to
pass her by without noticing her, and that was how she liked it. If they didn't notice her, they wouldn't taunt her.
Valentine's Day was coming the following week and the teacher had said they would have a party.
A box all decorated in pinks and reds was placed on the teacher's desk. If anyone chose to
bring valentines for someone, they were to place that person's name on the envelope and put
it in the box.
The box soon began to fill up with Valentines. Darla didn't expect to receive any
so she didn't make any. But she did make a card for the teacher.
When the day came, her mother made cupcakes for the entire class and brought them to school for the
party. Then she left Darla, and went off to work.
Cookies, candies, and cupcakes were the party food. And someone had brought in little
cartons of milk. They sang songs and made pretty decorations.
Darla sat at her desk and munched on her goodies, while watching the other children play and enjoy themselves. She was
sure that she would not get a Valentine's card.
When it came time to pass out the cards, the
teacher selected the most popular girl in the class, Sofia, to pass them around.
Each time
Sofia went by Darla's desk she would snicker because there weren't any cards for her. Darla felt like crying,
but she didn't. She wouldn't give Sofia the satisfaction of knowing she was hurt by this.
Then it happened. Sofia headed down the aisle, but instead of passing Darla, she stopped and dropped a card on her desk. Sofia looked surprised that Darla had received a card. So was Darla surprised.
It was a big envelope and when Darla opened it, she saw a beautiful card with her name on it. It had a heart with little flowers around the heart, and the words...."Be Mine!"
Darla opened the card and saw that it was from Michael. She smiled over at Michael and he smiled back.
When Darla smiled, her entire face lit up. And it was easy to see, that the
mousy looking child, was actually quite pretty when she smiled.
Sofia was jealous. Michael was a cute boy and she had often tried to get him interested in
her, but he hadn't showed any interest at all. Now he had given that drab little girl a Valentine's card. She finished passing out the cards and went back to her desk.
Later, the teacher put
on some records and the children danced to the lively music. Michael asked Darla to dance.
When she explained that she didn't know how, he showed her how.
Though Valentines Day came and went, Michael and Darla struck up a friendship. And with this friendship, Darla started coming out of her shyness. She stood up straighter, took time to
fix her hair, and smiled more. The other children began to notice that she was not as plain
as they had thought.
The following school year the six graders were introduced to Middle
school. Darla became more and more popular. It was almost like a butterfly finding its wings and freedom. All this came about because a little boy had given her a Valentine's card and smiled at her.
© By Sharon (Sunyskys1943@aol.com)
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