On the wall of a grand and beautiful estate lived a grand and beautiful Peacock. She was very shy and easily embarrassed and she hated it when everyone looked at her. So, she never shared the beauty of her feathers and always kept her head down and her two little feet close together.
One day, she saw a big, fat Pig jumping around in a puddle next to a farm on the estate. The pig was covered in mud and made a lot of noise. The Peacock couldn’t believe her eyes and asked: “How can you be so confident, dear Pig?”.
“Why wouldn’t I be confident?” the Pig said. “Look at me; I am beautiful! I am the most beautiful creature that walks the Earth. Have you seen my skin? It is the nicest, sweetest pink there is. Did you notice how the mud gives my skin a warm shiny, grey glow? It is absolutely stunning! And look at my curves; so generously fat and round like the rolling hills of England. Or my curly tail? It is so cute and perfect. It always puts a smile on my face. Or what about my head; it is pure perfection with its majestic big, flat nose and perky pointy ears. Have you ever seen the likes of it? No, my dear Peacock, I have every reason to be confident being as beautiful as I am. But so are you!”.
“That is sweet of you to say but I don’t believe I am.” the Peacock said. “Sure you do! Just join me in the mud and we will have some fun.”.
So that day, the shy Peacock took a leap of faith.
She carefully jumped off the wall and tiptoed into the mud. “There you go.” the Pig said, “Well done! Now put your belly on the ground and drag it nicely through the mud. Like this!”. The Pig showed her and the Peacock followed. “Now, slide your face deeply through the mud as well until it is fully covered with a glorious grey glow.”. He did it and so did she. “Haha, fantastic! Now roar like a lion! Wwwrroooaarrrr!!!!”, the Pig screamed. “Krrriiiirr!”, the Peacock giggled. “And finally, jump flat down into the mud and roll over!” KABOOM! The Peacock jumped flat down and rolled, and rolled, and rolled and giggled with laughter.
There she laid, with her beautiful, delicate feathers all covered in grey mud and drops dripping from her face. She couldn’t stop laughing and felt ever so happy.
The Pig looked at the mud dripping creature in his puddle and his heart burst with love for her. And she looked at this wonderful Pig and knew that he was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. That Spring, the Pig and the Peacock got married and lived together in the mud, very happily ever after…
You see, there is perfection in all of us. For we all are the most beautiful creatures on Earth.
(Painting by ©WaltonFord)
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