There once roamed a flock of sheep.
Among them was a little lamb who was always staring up at the sky.
Nobody knew what he was staring at.
Mama lamb worried about her little lamb.
“What are you looking at?” she asked him.
With a slight pause the little lamb asked, “Why can’t sheep fly?”
Mama lamb finally understood.
When her little lamb was looking at the sky,
he was actually looking at the birds. She smiled and replied,
“We are not birds. We do not have wings, so we can not fly.”
The little lamb heard his mother’s words but he continued to look up.
The other sheep in the flock did not understand
the little lamb and teased him constantly. But he did not care.
He continued looking at the birds and wherever they flew,
he would follow in great bounds.
He pretended that he too was flying.
But he never made it into the air.
Never giving up,
he continued day in and day out, to run with the birds.
He pretended that he too had wings.
All the other sheep made fun of this little lamb who wanted to fly.
They called him hurtful names.
And his own mother felt sad for having such a foolish son.
One night, as the little lamb drifted into sleep,
he dreamt that
he was in a large grassy plain surrounded by flying birds.
Excitedly, he ran after them,
running faster and bounding higher with each step.
Suddenly, he found himself airborne.
He was flying!
He had grown a pair of wings on his back and was soaring
carefree through the skies like a bird.
Happily beating his wings, the little lamb flew higher and higher.
But as he looked down, he saw his mother calling to him.
He looked up at the birds flying around him
and down at his mother who was getting smaller and smaller.
Suddenly feeling sad, he called out, “Mama! Mama!”
He heard his mother calling to him and as he woke,
he realized that it had all been a dream.
The little lamb told his mother about his dream and hugged her tightly.
The little lamb’s wish of flying finally came true in his dreams.
And he finally realized that the further he flew,
the further he would be from his mother.
So even though he would never fly, he would always have her.
The little lamb never forgot his dream
and he still believed inside that he could fly.
But he also realized that staying close to home was just as special.
As for his wings, he kept them tucked close to his heart.
And if he ever felt like flying carefree like a bird, all he had to do was dream.