A Mirror, A Hope
There was a poor village called Despair. People who lived there would never feel glad or pleased because they believed their ancestry had made a god feel angry and they were cursed by the god. A little girl called Elizabeth was very different from other villagers. She was very lively and kind. All the villagers even her parents thought that she was mad. However, she never felt annoyed about that.
One day, Elizabeth left the village. She wanted to find the ways to make the villagers become happy. When she went to a town, she saw a businessman laughing. She asked him with curiosity, “What makes you so happy?’’ He answered, “Money can make everyone feel happy.’’ Then she saw an old man laughing. She asked him again and he cried, “Because I am still alive.’’ After that, she saw a woman laughing. She asked her too and she whispered, “Because I’ve found my true love.” Finally, she saw a little boy laughing. She repeated the same question, and he answered, “Because tomorrow is coming.”
Then, Elizabeth went back to the village and gave everybody a mirror. She told them, “These are the magic mirrors. They will collect your smiles as a present to the god. Therefore, you must give many big smiles to it every day and the god will forgive you.’’
All the villagers followed her and they became happier and richer. But why? Was it really because the magic mirrors broke the curse? It was not. Elizabeth gave them mirrors because she hoped that they could bring them a hope. She wanted them to keep smiling even facing the problems.