Storyteller

Zara’s mother read her a story every night before going to bed. She was just 5-years-old and she knew how a clever crow used stones to drink water from a half-filled pot, why a tiger asked a mouse to help him get free from a hunter’s trap, how Saturn got its rings, and why rabbits started eating carrots. Zara loved listening to stories and she wanted to tell them too. But she stammered.

Her favorite story was Snow White. Once she invited all her friends to her house to listen to her story. They all arrived. Zara was elated. She made them sit in a half-circle in her bedroom. She stood in the center and started at once. She said, “Once upon a time, there lived a king and a queen. They had a beautiful baby daughter. Her eyes were as black as the night sky. Her lips were as red as rose. And, her skin was as white as snow. They called her..” She paused like her mother. Everyone in the audience shouted, “Snow White.”

Her mother was standing outside the room and was watching her from behind the curtains. She smiled. Zara was imitating her perfectly. The mesmerizing look in her friend’s eyes had given her confidence such a boost that the stammering seemed non-existent, and she was already halfway through the story. As all mothers do, she started dreaming about her future but was brought to the present when the children started laughing all at once.

Zara was explaining to her friends, how Snow White’s stepmother tricked her into eating a poisonous apple. She tried to say 'trick' 6 times but gave up when she saw her friends laughing at her. She ran to her mother, full of tears. The defeated look in her eyes could shatter her mother’s dreams, but she would not let that happen.

The next day, she brought all of Zara’s dolls and placed them on the couch in the living room. She sat on a chair and asked Zara to tell a story to all the dolls. Zara was hesitant but agreed when her mother said, “Don’t worry, the dolls would not laugh.” She told the story of how a muddy hippo was caged by a clever fox. Her mother cheered for her.

Then, she asked her to tell the story of Snow White again. Zara started cautiously. With every sentence, her confidence increased. But when she had to say 'trick', she started feeling nervous. She stammered again and again, and looked helplessly at her mother. She got up and hugged Zara. She said, “Baby, tttttttrick is a funny word. But, your dolls would not laugh. So, you would have to make them laugh.” Zara asked, “How?” Her mother tickled her and Zara exploded in laughter.

Her mother gave her the lesson which would help her all her life, ‘to laugh at her own weakness.’ Now, when she becomes a storyteller, she giggles along with her audience whenever her stammering goes out of control. As far as the story of Snow White is concerned, ‘trick’ is no longer tricky for her. Yet, she says with a stammer to bring a smile to her audience’s face.