Short Story

The Little Girl Called Veny

Who grew up to be the Antonym of Jealousy, cutting through all the hatred and indifference in life, even though her name can be re-written as Envy.

One afternoon Veny came home really upset and confused. “What’s wrong?” her mother asked.

“I hate my stupid long nose!” Veny blurted.

“Why do you hate your nose? I think it’s beautiful,” her mother said reassuringly, as she hugged her.

“All my other friends have much smaller and straight noses. Pansy, Dehlia, Lily, Rosy, all of them!”

Veny’s mother sat silent for a moment. “She may be right,” she thought to herself. They have small noses and maybe they tease her about hers.

“You should go to see Mrs. Pinnochio, she’s the wisest and most charming lady in our city and lives in the most beautiful house. And Yes, she’ll know what to do and even will tell you how, as she also has a nose just like yours,” responded Veny’s mother.

Veny, without wasting a moment, walked across the street to Mrs. Pinnochio’s house and found her sitting on the garden chair in her perfectly landscaped garden, enjoying her cup of coffee.

“Sorry to drop by unannounced Mrs. Pinnochio, but I have a problem which is really bothering me, and my mother said you’re the best one to give me advice, thus I came running!” said Veny.

“Oh dear, come sit, relax first, and now tell me what it is?” asked the surprised Mrs. Pinnochio.

“I have a stupid long nose and I hate it. Why can’t I have a cool small, cute and straight nose like my friends Pansy, Dehlia, Lily, and Rosy ?”

“You’re right,” said Mrs. Pinnochio, “They have small noses. But tell me Veny, do you like a pretty face with sharp features or a flat face ?”

“Flat face! No, that would be so unattractive!” replied Veny.

“Well, that’s why God’s gift to you is your long sharp nose, being the highlight of your pretty face. What about Pansy’s, have you ever noticed how small and flat her nose is? I suppose you wouldn’t want one like that ?”

“No way’s, I couldn’t think of anything worse,” said Veny.

“So, nor would Dehlia’s nose work either, as it’s wide.”

“What about Lilly and Rosy?”

“Aww No.” Was Veny’s reaction

“Ok, so maybe you shouldn’t aspire to have crooked small noses too?” Said Mrs. Pinnochio.

“They’re not so bad looking overall, but my favorite friend is Pansy”, exclaimed Veny, thinking about the thoughts flashing through her mind, looking like her.

“You should feel lucky Veny, I think you have a beautiful nose. And don’t you think mine is like yours too?” asked Mrs. Pinnochio.

Veny’s eyes lit up. “Yes!” She said with a smile as she stared into her face, looking at the nose.

Mrs. Pinnochio was a talented artist in her young days. So a brilliant idea struck her and she made Veny sit right across and sketched her Portrait in a jiffy. She showed it to her, and Veny even without realizing that Mrs. Pinnochio had sketched her, she said, “Wow! Such a pretty girl, and so attractive!” Mrs. Pinnochio then gave the sketch to her and asked her — “Don’t you recognize her?” It was then that Veny saw that it was her, and seeing how attractive she looked, it brought a smile to her face.

“Tell me, Veny, if you had the flat nose of Pansy or crooked nose of Lilly and Rosy, would you have been prettier?” Mrs. Pinnochio quickly would change the shape of the nose on her sketch and show it to Veny, each time that she asked her the question. “I guess not,” said Veny, with her teary eyes as she had seen she looked prettier with her own long nose.

“Pretty lady, now you see why God has created you in this certain way, with sharp features, which make you an attractive personality. As beautiful as your name is Veny, which itself means God Gifted and a zealous personality, why should you be the opposite of that? Never let negativity or any emotions, jealousy, or hate disturb you or jumble you up or your name.”

Just remember a few of my favorite things my dear to be happy in life — “You beautiful Veny — should stay far away from Envy.” saying this Mrs. Pinnochio planted a kiss on Veny’s forehead and explained further.

“Don’t waste your life and energy on being jealous of the look of others, just make sure you know that you’re pretty as it is, and that’s what matters...”

Veny then nodded her head in understanding, lovingly gave her a hug, thanked her for a wonderful and insightful evening, and happily walked back home with much more joy in the soul, contentment in heart, and peace in mind.

As Veny learned, we should all never forget that God creates each one for a specific purpose in life.

Never worry about the ability and success of others as they have their own purpose in life, and that probably at all times would differ from yours, be it in looks or aims, as each has their own path to tread on.

Always remember that you can do remarkable things just the way you are.

So work on that purpose and get better at honing those skills. Live your dreams, believe in what you hope, and achieve all that you want to, by being your own challenger, your own competition.

“Be Jealous of your own past, present and future and look at it with envy, let it enable you to work on making a better today and the best tomorrow.”

Change yourself to change the world! Give up Envy.

I wrote this story in response to the Jealousy Challenge/Prompt by Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, the owner of the publication Illumination.

©️ Geetika Sethi July 2020

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