Of Ugly Ducklings, Swans and Geese.
Cathryn had always been different from the other kids at the school, all of them who where all thin, with straightened hair done in intricate twists and twirls.
Once she'd tried to be like them but it hadn't worked out and they'd just laughed at her.
She was different from them all with her more human frame, popular in the renaissance and the past but not in the society where having bones that looked like they were about to pop out of skin, and her hair was always wild although she did try and tame it with gel and a hairbrush. And then it went bushy, to her dismay.
Jillian giggled next to her and Cathryn turned to look at what had captured the young artists attention.
They were in Mathematics Class at the moment and were meant to be paying vivid attention to what the teacher was saying but Jillian never had.
"He confuses me," She explained one day and Cathryn had nodded shaking her head. Jillian preferred to do things herself, or work it out from the way the textbook suggested. She didn't like to have things explained verbally, or she did in a manner that was completely different from everyone around her.
She was different too, but not physically like Cathryn was and while they both tried to fit in they did more to stand apart. Jillian couldn't control her outbursts and she had no self control at all and Cathryn was just… different.
"What is it?" Cathryn whispered, and Jillian turned her large doelike brown eyes to gaze at her friend. Grinning she turned the page towards her.
It looked like a farmyard.
There were chooks, that all looked the same although coloured differently.
And white ducks squawking followed by ducklings, and brown ducks off on their own, on the edge of the lake resting.
There were horses and cows, and another assortment of farm animals but it was the lake that drew Cathryn's attention.
On the lake were two other white birds that were alike to the ducks but completely different.
A goose swam, trying to catch up to the elegant swan ahead but the goose tried to look too proud and pretending it wasn't. The only indication that Cathryn had that it was infact moving frantically was the fact that it's legs had motion circles and lines around them. The swan moved far slower with grace and dignity of an old queen.
It was then that Cathryn noticed the words.
Each of the farm animals were labelled with names from her years mates, the popular girls who never seemed to be without a boyfriend and the latest fashion were chooks, and the boys attached roosters, the sporty children were the horses, and those who weren't into doing much and were considered 'nerds' even though they weren't were cows.
The white ducks were the walkers between the two words of intelligence and popularity, and labelled as such and the brown ducks were her friends, outsiders who fit in when the need arose and got on with everyone. Minglers who belonged to no group and so were grouped together.
The name Jillian floated near the swan and Kat smiled for a moment before she realised that that meant the goose trying to keep up was her. But then she saw Jillian's hand moving creating a rope label back onto the goose.
The goose was her.
The goose was Jillian.
Which meant that the swan was…
Her?
Cathryn blinked and Jillian began shading the swan to make sure it stood out in the picture. It was the focus of the picture. That swan and even the goose paled in comparison.
She looked at Jillian's face and touched her arm gently, knowing the right way to talk to the eccentric girl.
"That's not true," She said and Jillian bit her lip, her face as expressive as always.
"Yeah, it is Cat. You just don't see it. I'm always going to be trying to catch up to you." Cathryn gave her a weird look.
"That's why everyone is so mean and crappy. They are jealous." Cathryn snorted.
"Of what, may I ask Lady Jill?" Jillian smiled sadly.
"The swan just inside, you're an honestly nice person and people are attracted to that." Cathryn shook her head.
"What about you Jill, why are you the goose?" Jillian smiled, her eyes brightening.
"Because believe it or not, I'm jealous of your grace. I'm bumbling, I can never say what I want to say and when people call me a freak I cry. I don't have your strength and without you I bet I wouldn't even have the people we have." Cat smiled and the bell rang, and Jillian left quickly and Cat looked around as people came up to talk to her.
She could see Jillian disappearing around one of the corners and grinned at the people around her.
A swan, huh? Better start acting like one.
"Hey, I'll be back in a sec, Sez can you look after my books?" Sarah nodded, and Cat was reminded of the duck and she giggled as she looked at the rest of the brown ducks; all really so different inside and out from herself that she had felt like a monster who didn't belong and she left them to be ducks.
She had to find the goose, because at the end of the day, that's all they were.
Just birds.
Or people who were just that little bit different from everybody else.
Belatedly she remembered the story of the Ugly Duckling, and smiled wondering just what exactly the folk tellers would make of the goose who told the swan to look in the mirror.
+ fin +