The Luckiest Girl in the World

Everybody told Mali Jones that she was a very lucky girl. A very, very lucky girl. But Mali really didn’t feel very lucky.

And this is why.

One day, Mali was walking through the park with her mum on the way to school when….…

SPLOSH!

‘OH NOOOOOOOOO!’ exclaimed Mali.

She had walked right into a big muddy puddle. It was the only muddy puddle in the whole park, and Mali had stepped in it. Her socks were all wet and her shiny new shoes were dirty.

‘Oh no,’ sighed Mali.

When she arrived at school, Mali was excited to find out that they would be painting. She loved painting. She liked to paint happy pictures using lots of bright colours. Mali dipped her brush into a pot of red paint and was about to start creating a big Welsh dragon when……..

SPLODGE!

‘OH NOOOOOOOOO!’ exclaimed Mali.

A big dollop of red paint had fallen from the brush, right onto Mali’s best school jumper.

Her socks were all wet, her shiny new shoes were dirty, and now she had a big splodge of red paint on her best school jumper.

‘Oh no,’ sighed Mali.

At lunchtime, Mali opened her sandwich box.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZIP!

There were cheese sandwiches and a yogurt. But where was her shiny red apple?

“OH NOOOOOOOOO!’ exclaimed Mali.

Mum had told her to put it into her bag, but she had forgotten!

Her socks were all wet, her shiny new shoes were dirty, she had a big splodge of red paint on her best school jumper, and now she had forgotten her shiny red apple.

‘Oh no,’ sighed Mali.

In the playground after lunch, Mali was having fun running around, playing hide and seek with her friends when…….

TRRRRRRIIIIP!

Mali fell over!

‘OH NOOOOOOOOOO!’ cried Mali. She had scraped her knees and they were stinging.

Her socks were all wet, her shiny new shoes were dirty, she had a big splodge of red paint on her favourite school jumper, she had forgotten her shiny red apple and now she had scraped her knees.

‘Oh no,’ whispered Mali, and two big fat tears welled up in her eyes and rolled slowly down her cheeks.

Soon the school bell rang and it was time to go home. Mali couldn’t wait for the day to come to an end. She hung her head as she walked back through the park. Mali reached out to hold her mum’s hand. It was soft and comforting. Mali gave it a gentle squeeze and felt it squeeze right back.

Mali raised her eyes and looked around her. Rain had fallen, but now the sun was shining. It made the trees and the grass glisten and sparkle like magic. In the sky above, hung a shimmering rainbow. It was so beautiful, Mali gasped.

Mali’s house was in the middle of a terraced street. It was painted yellow, and the little garden at the front was bursting with flowers. Mali smiled as she saw it and felt her heart begin to lift. She walked in through the pale blue front door. Inside, it was warm and cosy. Mali sniffed a delicious smell. Could that be……

‘I baked a chocolate cake’ said Mum. ‘Would you like a piece?’

Mali’s smile grew bigger.

‘Yes please, Mum.’

Then Mali thought of her home, of bedroom upstairs, and her toys and big pile of books. She remembered her friends in school. She thought of the beauty of the park. She looked at her mum who had baked that delicious chocolate cake, and was cutting a rather large slice for her.

Mali’s socks were still wet. Her shiny new shoes were still dirty. She still had a big splodge of red paint on her best school jumper. She had forgotten her shiny red apple. She still had grazes on her knees.

But suddenly Mali realised something. Something rather wonderful.

She was a very lucky girl.

A very, very lucky girl.

Mali took a huge bite of chocolate cake.

Maybe even the luckiest girl in the world.