Ringfinger

Ringfinger is a girl whose life is filled with sadness and obstacles. She was born with a birth defect that left her right hand deformed and her ring finger not fully formed. She is lonely and often isolates herself from the other children and that is quite sad. They tease her and scold her, calling her Ringfinger. The strange thing is that hardly anyone knows what her real name is.

Together with her grandfather, she lives on the edge of a beautiful stream that she often walks along. The stream is surrounded by beautiful flowers and in the evening, you can discover a sea of fireflies, there are even beavers who live on the edge of the stream. There is so much going on in that wonderful place that you can easily let your thoughts be carried away by the calming sounds of the rippling water.

And Ringfinger does that very often. It is a place to dream about later, but later is still so far away, she thinks. Nevertheless, she keeps up the courage and together with her cat, who is called Morrie, she enjoys the environment to the fullest.

Morrie is a special cat; he is sweet and unique and above all her best friend. One of Morrie’s front legs has a colourful ring, and Ringfinger takes this as a sign of the fate that she and Morrie are destined to be best friends. They share joy and sorrow and are inseparable.

Today they are sitting together at the edge of the stream and suddenly Ringfinger sees a beaver that is struggling to get out of the water. His eyes are dull, and he looks helpless. Pityingly, Ringfinger looks at the beaver and wonders if there is anything she can do for him. She decides to approach him carefully to see what is wrong with him. The beaver looks at her anxiously but has no energy to get away and Ringfinger decides to take him home. In the barn, she clears a spot for him. A place where he is warm and where she can take care of him. Together with Morrie, she does everything she can to help him. They give him food, and drink, and whisper comforting words, but unfortunately, despite all the loving care of Ringfinger and Morrie, the beaver does not recover. Ringfinger worries and worries, and Grandpa notices and asks her what is going on.

”Sweetie are you not feeling well, are you sick?”

She looks at him sadly and tells him about the beaver.

“Okay, I’ll take a look at him,” Grandpa asks.

“Please Grandpa, but I’m afraid you can’t do more than what Morrie and I have already done.”

“We’ll see,” he replies.

Together they go to the shed and Grandpa looks at the beaver inquiringly. “Wait a minute, I think I know a remedy that will make him better,” Grandpa whispers.

After a while, he comes back with a jar in his hand. He drips some of the liquid onto a spoon and runs it into the beaver’s mouth. “Look sweetie, give him a spoonful of this medicine every two hours and hopefully he’ll recover from it.”

Gratefully, Ringfinger looks at him and asks, “Do you think this is going to help?”

” Well, if it does not work, it does not hurt,” he replies.

Ringfinger faithfully does what Grandpa told her and after two days the beaver slowly begins to regain its strength and every day it gets a little stronger. He seems to realize how much Ringfinger cares about him and a special bond happens between them. She notices that his paws are healing, but there is something strange about one of his paws. The leg is misshapen, just like her hand, and she realizes that they both mean something and face unique challenges.

When the beaver has completely recovered, she brings it back to the stream and gratefully he gives her cups and swims away. For a moment he turns around and waves his flippers, but now he really must leave because there is still a lot of work waiting for him.

Ringfinger visits him regularly and she is always reminded of the miraculous healing of the beaver. Invariably he always comes to sit with her, and they feel that this is something incredibly special. She strokes the beaver over his skin and then she decides to braid a small ring from the hairs that the beaver loses. She slips it around one of her fingers as a tribute to the special friendship she shares with the beaver and Morrie.

Her friendship with the beaver has not gone unnoticed in the village and eventually, they find out that that girl, whom they always looked down on, is as valuable as any other child. Her deformed hand suddenly plays no role and is not even noticed anymore.

And so, the life from Laura, because that’s the girl’s name, becomes just as beautiful as any other child at her school. Yet she is still most comfortable with Grandpa and Morrie. That place where she has discovered true friendship and happiness and where she is loved, despite her shortcomings.

If you also have a child at school or in your environment, who is different from others, know that everyone needs love to grow. You will see that you too grow with it.