Once upon a time, on a beautiful farm, a mother duck sat on her nest waiting for her eggs to hatch. One by one, the baby ducklings broke out of their shells, fluffy and yellow. But the last egg was much bigger than the others.
When it finally hatched, out came a duckling that looked very different. He was gray and awkward, with a long neck and big feet. All the other ducklings laughed at him.
"You're so ugly!" they said. "You don't look like us at all!"
The little duckling felt very sad. Even his own mother seemed disappointed in him. Every day, the other animals on the farm teased him and called him the "ugly duckling."
The poor duckling felt so alone and unhappy that he decided to run away from the farm. He wandered through fields and forests, looking for a place where he might belong.
Winter came, and it was very cold. The duckling had to find shelter wherever he could. Sometimes kind people helped him, but he still felt sad and different from everyone else.
When spring finally arrived, the duckling had grown much bigger. One day, he came to a beautiful lake where he saw the most magnificent birds he had ever seen. They were graceful and white, with long elegant necks.
"How I wish I could be beautiful like those swans," he thought sadly.
As he swam closer to get a better look, he saw his reflection in the water. He couldn't believe his eyes! Looking back at him was not an ugly duckling, but a beautiful, graceful swan!
"I'm not a duck at all," he realized. "I'm a swan! That's why I always felt different!"
The other swans welcomed him warmly. "You're one of us," they said. "You're the most beautiful swan we've ever seen!"
The swan felt happier than he ever had before. He had finally found where he belonged. He realized that sometimes what makes you different is actually what makes you special. And he lived happily ever after with his new swan family.