written by Evelyn Creon
"Pollyanna," cried her mother, "You were told you are not allowed to grab stuff out of your brother's hands."
Pollyanna heard no more. She was racing up the stairs with her most prized teddy bear. Which she had just rescued from her younger brother James's little troublesome hands. Or at least that's how she looked at the situation. Her mother on the other hand saw her selfish daughter rip a teddy bear out of her younger brother's hands and leave him screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Pollyanna,” her mother yelled up the stairs, while trying to calm James down. “Get your little fanny down here right now and apologize to your brother.”
Pollyanna, being not only a selfish little girl, also could be as stubborn as a mule. She called down to her mother, “I’m not going to apologize to James. He had his troublesome hands all over my favorite teddy bear. What if he had ruined it?”
Her mother sighed. This is how it went every time James got hold of Pollyanna's things. But after lots of coaxing and persuasion, Pollyanna came down unwillingly to apologize to her brother, and threatening that if he ever touched one of her things again she would never apologize to him again.
The week passed very slowly. Pollyanna always found some reason or another to rip something of hers out of James’s hands.
It was Friday afternoon, when Pollyanna spied James with one of her toys again. She was about to snatch the toy out of his hands and race away, when her mother sternly said, “Pollyanna! Come here right now.” Pollyanna obediently walked to her with an ashamed look on her face.
“Young lady, I will not tolerate any more of this outrageous behavior. If you can’t learn how to share, I will have to do something about it. Little girls do not go around ripping things out of people’s hands. It is rude and disrespectful.” Pollyanna was even more ashamed and went off sulking to ponder what her mother had said.
The next day took the two children. Pollyanna was so excited she just couldn’t wait to play in the sandbox, her most favored entertainment at the park. As soon as they arrived Pollyanna was in the sandbox busy making a sand castle. Pollyanna had discovered a shovel and bucket to make the work easier for her. She was almost finished making the sand castle, when a little girl about her age walked up, and grabbed the shovel and bucket out of her hands. While doing this, the little girl had knocked over Pollyanna’s sand castle. As soon as the little girl had both the bucket and shovel she said, “This is mine, and you are not allowed to play with my things.” Then the little girl walked hotly away.
Pollyanna was trying not to cry. “I have two choices,” she told herself, “I can run after the little girl, or I can tell my mother what happened.” She stood up and started to ran to her mother. When she got there she blurted out the story.
“Mother,” said Pollyanna, “A little girl about my age snatched the bucket and shovel I was using. And while doing so she knocked over my sand castle. She then told me that I couldn’t play with the bucket and shovel because they were hers. She was being so rude. I didn’t do anything to her. Why was she being so mean?”
Pollyanna’s mother calmly said, “That little girl was acting just like you do when James has a toy of yours. Selfish little girls don’t care if they hurt other little children, or ruin what they made. They only care about what they want and when they want it. Do you want to be like the little girl who came and took the toys away from you, or do you want to be a kind, loving, and respectful little girl that shares her toys?”
Pollyanna thought a moment, then said, “I think I want to be the kind, loving, and respectful little girl that shares her toys.”
From then on Pollyanna tried to be the kind, loving, and respectful little girl, but sometimes
she forgot just like all little girls.
James was playing one day when Pollyanna walked in to notice that he had some how gotten a hold of her prized teddy bear again. As soon as she saw him she started to rush towards him but stopped in the middle of the room. She remembered the incident in the park with the little girl. So instead of grabbing her teddy bear from James she left the room to go find her mother.
When she found her she said, “Mother, James has my prized teddy bear again. I was going to take it from him but I remembered what happened in the park and decided to come tell you.”
“I am so proud of you Pollyanna.” She said, as she enveloped Pollyanna giving her a big bear hug, “I will go talk with James about your teddy bear.” The End
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