Story Time: Strange Auntie

There once was a little girl who had an aunt whom she called Auntie.  She loved her Auntie very much.  Auntie lived close enough for the little girl to walk over all by herself and that’s what the girl did, every day.  The little girl loved it at Auntie’s house.  In the small yard there was a garden full of the most interesting and unusual plants she had ever seen.  Inside, you could see all of Auntie’s dolls.  They were all so very beautiful and sometimes Auntie let the little girl play with some of them if she promised to be very careful.  Auntie had a room that was full of almost nothing but books about practically everything there is, at least the little girl thought so.  The little girl loved Auntie’s sewing room the most.  Auntie made all her clothes there and they were the best.  So colorful and flow-y, she looked like some of the flowers in the garden.  “Auntie Flower”, the little girl thought with a smile.  Auntie also cooked foods she had never heard of but were always good, made up funny stories that made the little girl laugh until her stomach hurt, and let her play with Ferdinand, her pet ferret.  It was always so much fun at Auntie’s house.

One day when the little girl was on her way to Auntie’s, she passed by some bigger kids.  They were talking about the little girl’s Auntie which made her happy at first, until she realized what they were saying.  They were saying how weird Auntie was and that her house was kind of creepy.  The little girl was shocked.  No one had ever told her that her Auntie was “weird”.  She didn’t want to have a weird aunt.  So she ran the rest of the way to Auntie’s house and told her what the kids said.  Auntie thought for a moment, and then with a small smile said “I love you so much that I will change for you, but what should I change?”  Then she thought again.  “Should I stop collecting my beautiful dolls?” asked Auntie.  The little thought about this, then replied, “no, I love that about you.”  With a grin Auntie asked, “should I stop making all my lovely clothes?”  To this again the little girl replied, “no, I love that about you.”  This continued on and on.  For everything Auntie asked, the little girl had the same reply.  Until finally Auntie asked, “is there anything else I can change?”  The little girl tried to think of something, but couldn’t.  That was everything.  Then the girl said, “no, because I love you just as you are.”  Auntie was happy to hear this and so was the little girl.  Having a “weird” Auntie isn’t a bad thing after all.