In a wonderful city with the amazing name of Miracle, there lived a little girl named Lida. The girl was six years old and had recently started school, in first grade.
Lida was a very clever girl and very curious. Whenever interesting events happened somewhere, the girl absolutely had to know everything and be at the center of attention.
Lida had one more peculiarity—the girl absolutely did not believe in fairy tales and thought that everyone around her was deceiving her.
One evening, when her mother was putting her daughter to bed and telling the fairy tale about the Little Red Hen, the girl indignantly said:
Mom, what are you talking about? How can a hen lay a golden egg? Look, at grandma's in the village, the hens lay ordinary eggs, and she doesn't have any golden ones in her chicken coop.
Lida dear, it's a fairy tale! But you should know that miracles often happen in life and fairy tales really do know and see everything.
Mother answered her daughter.
Oh, I can't believe it! Even though I'm only six years old, I know the whole truth about fairy tales. Katie from the neighboring house had a dream—to learn to sing beautifully. So her mom promised her that one fine day, when she got a little older, a fairy tale would come to their house and teach her to sing. And what happened? Three months have passed, and Katie still can't sing any better than before.
The girl laughed.
Well, maybe the time hasn't come yet, or maybe this isn't the miracle that's supposed to happen to Katie.
Mother answered Lida.
Every evening, mother told her daughter a new fairy tale, and each time Lida doubted that everything really happened the way mother told it.
One day Lida was listening to the fairy tale about the Golden Fish that could grant wishes. Mother tried hard, choosing the most interesting stories and really wanted her daughter to finally believe in miracles.
But Lida was stubborn:
Mommy, you're telling untrue stories again! How can a fish talk? That's impossible! And who even makes up these fairy tales?
The girl asked in amazement.
Mother could only throw up her hands; she didn't know what to answer her daughter.
And Lida also had a dream—to learn to swim. Some of her peers already went with their moms and dads to the river, which was located not far from the city, and swam without floaties, independently.
The girl imagined a hundred times how she would run into the warm river and dive underwater with her eyes open, where she could observe the beautiful underwater world. But no matter how much her mother explained to her how to move her arms and legs in the water, nothing worked for Lida.
One day, when classes ended, Lida decided to walk home not along the shore, but across the wooden bridge over the river. Her classmates often ran across it to the other side, but Lida was afraid—the bridge seemed so fragile that she was scared of falling off it.
But one fine day the girl decided to take a shortcut and go home across the bridge, which her classmates had already crossed to the other side.
And so, Lida stepped onto the edge of the bridge, took another step, and another and another, and reached the middle. Suddenly one plank collapsed, and the girl's leg was caught as if in a trap. Then another board broke and the girl fell right into the water.
Lida felt the cool water cover her head, and her arms and legs completely stopped obeying the girl.
Help!
Lida screamed with all her might, trying to surface, and plunging underwater again.
And suddenly underwater she saw a bright light, and then a beautiful mermaid appeared before her. Her eyes shone with bright light, golden hair curled through the water like waves, and there was a smile on her face.
Swim, Lida! You know how to swim, you swim better than anyone!
The mermaid said.
The girl began to move her arms and legs, immediately surfaced and swam to shore. She completely stopped being afraid, she realized that she had learned to swim and had nothing more to fear.
Coming ashore, she looked into the water. But there was no longer a beautiful mermaid there, nor the bright light from the radiant eyes of the beautiful girl that Lida had just seen. And only courage and self-confidence appeared in Lida.
Having recovered a bit, Lida headed home.
Why are you all wet?
Mother asked Lida in surprise.
Mom, mommy, I saw a fairy tale! It helped me learn to swim and now I'm not afraid to walk home across the bridge. It was definitely a fairy tale, I'm sure. She was so beautiful, with kind eyes and a radiant smile. How could I not believe in miracles before!
From then on, Lida knew that fairy tales would always be near and would always help. The fairy tale helped the girl believe in the miracles that happen in everyone's life.
Often fairy tales for children help us learn to believe in miracles that happen every day. You just have to believe and dreams will start coming true!
