The peaceful dove and beautiful girl

        THE PEACEFUL DOVE AND THE

                      BEAUTIFUL GIRL

Dove has always been known to be very peaceful. In a faraway town,

there lived a dove whose name was Donna. She was very quiet,

easygoing, and loved by all sundries. The king would always beacon on her

to make a judgment anytime there was trouble in the town. There was

hardly anyone who did not love Donna for her excellent sense of judgment.

At night, children would gather at her hut as it had become her custom

always to tell them moonlight stories to which she had never disappointed

them. They all love Donna, the Dove.

One day, Donna was on her way to the market to buy foodstuffs when

she heard the cry of a little child from a nearby bush, and she decided to

check. Lo and behold, she found a beautiful young girl alone wrapped in

white linen crying. She looked around to see if anyone else was around,

probably the mother or any of the relatives, but to her utmost surprise, no

one was around. She then carried the child and went to the palace to see the

king. She informed them of how she came about the little girl and how she

tried to see if anyone would come to claim her yet none was in sight. So,

she asked the king if she could adopt the girl as her own since she did not

have a husband not to talk of having a child of her own, and the king

accepted. Donna thanked the king and returned home with the bountiful joy

in her hands. From that day, Donna became the happiest, and it did not take

time before everyone knew what her source of joy was.

Donna named the child Karen and took care of her so much that there

was no child who did not wish to be in Karen's shoes. She grew up to be the

most beautiful, intelligent and turned out to be the brightest in school. The

teachers loved her, and they were so proud of her not just for her academic

excellence but also for her good moral conduct. Karen was the talk of the town; everyone wanted to be her friend, parents see her as a role model

even the king loved her dearly.

But as the popular adage says ‘no matter how good one is, there is

always someone somewhere hating for no cause.’ There was a witch doctor

who was usually consulted concerning the affairs of the town but was later

forgotten when Donna solved critical cases without resulting to sacrifices

nor offending any party. The witch doctor felt cheated, neglected, rejected

as her only means of feeding had been blocked by Donna. She was greatly

despised and had revenge boiling in her heart for Donna. As soon as the

news of the adopted child by Donna, she started plotting on how to go about

her revenge and thought to use the girl to get to her.

One day, while Karen was returning home from school, she met with an

old lady who was carrying a pot of water on her head, and she decided to

help her, unknown to her that the old lady was a witch. As soon as Karen

dropped the pot of water to turn back home, the old woman trapped her.

Donna became worried and restless when Karen did not return home at her

usual time. Days and weeks grew; the whole town including the king, had

grown weary searching as all they had done in search of Karen had proved

abortive. The king then sent for the witch doctor to consult the gods to

know about the whereabouts of the innocent child. After the witch had

made consultations, she said that the dove had offended the gods and that’s

why she has been punished. The only way for them to see the girl was for

Donna to die, said the witch doctor. The whole town including the king was

so devastated that he could not eat for days; even Donna was confused. On

the day Donna was to die, the whole town had gathered at the town square,

suddenly there came a loud voice from amidst the crowd. They were

surprised to see the imbecile who, through Donna, had been saved from

been sent out of the town by the witch doctor. The imbecile had seen Karen

when she helped the old native witch but was surprised to hear that the

same child was missing. The king then sent some guards to go search the

witch’s house while other guards seize the old witch and lock her up till the

girl was found. A few minutes later, the guards returned with Karen, and she

explained all that happened to the town.

After much deliberations, the king gave an order for the old witch to

leave the town to avoid unwanted occurrences. Although Donna was not

happy with the verdict, she had no choice other than to accept the king’s decision. Donna and her daughter lived happily ever after, and the town

regained peace again.

Moral lesson. 

Always be good and learn to live in peace with all.