101 Healing Stories for Kids and Teens

Gemma kept walking, her nose just a little higher off the ground, wondering what that was all
about, when suddenly she saw a lioness running toward her. At first Gemma was frightened, but the
lioness called out, “Don’t panic! Please help me. My little cub has climbed up the tree and I can’t get
it down.” Gemma stood on the tiptoes of her long spindly legs and stretched her elongated neck high
up into the tree. In her mouth she gently picked up the little lion cub by the scruff of the neck, much
like a mother cat might carry its kitten, and lowered it carefully to the ground.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” cried the lioness, so overjoyed at having her cub safely back
in her care.
Gemma hadn’t traveled much farther before she saw a distressed monkey jumping up and down
on the edge of a cliff, crying out for help. “Gemma,” called the monkey, “my baby has fallen over the
cliff. She’s down over the ledge, hanging on to a tree root, and I can’t reach her. If someone doesn’t
get her soon, she may fall to her death.”
Gemma knelt down on the edge of the cliff and stretched her long neck over the edge. “Grab
hold of my horns,” she said to the baby monkey. The young monkey reached out one hand at a time
to grasp the fist-sized horns on which Gemma lifted her back over the ledge to safety.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” cried the mother monkey, overjoyed at having her baby
safely back in her care.
Gemma was walking home, carrying her head a bit higher now, when her fairy godmother ap-
peared in front of her again. “I guess there is no need for me to tell you,” said the fairy godmother,
“what you have just learned by doing the things that only you could have done. Cheetahs have be-
come the fastest animals on earth not by wanting to be like a turtle but by developing their skill at
running fast. By doing what you are good at, by building on your strengths, then truly you can be
yourself.
“But I think that maybe you have learned more,” continued the fairy godmother. “By using your
unique skills to help those who may not have the same abilities, you have made some special friends.
Indeed, it is even possible—as you did with the lioness—to make a friend of an enemy.”
And with that Gemma’s fairy godmother disappeared again.
Gemma walked home, with her neck stretched so high that those little horns at the top of her
head (which were just big enough for a monkey to grab hold of ) may have even been scratching the
bottom of the clouds. Gemma felt proud to be herself.

STORY 20

INCREASING SELF-AWARENESS

Therapeutic Characteristics

Problems Addressed

■ Self-doubts

■ Negative self-talk

■ Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness

■ Undervaluing the self

78 Healing Stories, Teaching Stories