Born Again: A Story About the Heart of a Bully

Chapter 1

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a young girl, named Milly, with golden-red hair and quite a temper. Throughout her life, she picked on others and was very mean to the other village youngsters.

When a young boy, Daniel, would want to join in on a game she was playing, she would point her finger at him and laugh. She would sneer and say, “You can't play this game! You are not allowed! Your ears are too big!” She would then throw rocks at him and chase him away.

Even when Daniel would try to be kind to Milly and say to her, “Milly, I just want to be your friend. Please let me play,” she would turn up her nose, cross her arms, stick out her tongue, and continue to make fun of him. This made Daniel very sad and hurt.

Many adults would try to talk to Milly and tell her to be nice to Daniel, but she would not listen. She grew up to be a very mean, old woman with no friends. Daniel, feeling intense pain and rejection, lost his ability to speak. He grew up to be a sad, lonely old man.

Chapter 2

Then one night, both Milly and Daniel went to sleep and did not wake up. They died. An angel came to Milly and said, “Milly, in this life you were very mean and unkind to others, especially Daniel. See?” The angel showed Milly the many times she made Daniel cry in a replay of her life.

“See how sad you made Daniel? Even when he was nice to you, you bullied him. Life is meant for us to learn to love and be kind to one another, but in this life, you brought much pain to this one person. But, you now an opportunity to be love, yet again.”

Milly, seeing Daniel crying over and over in the past, suddenly felt sad. She thought to herself, “I did not realize how much I was hurting him. I wish I could go back and make it up to him and be a nicer person.” She then said aloud, “What can I do?”

Chapter 3

Milly stared up at the angel in earnest having just asked how she can make things better after her life of being unkind to Daniel. The angel lovingly responded, “You may be born again into a new life, but in this new life, Daniel will be born your younger brother who has a disability. He will be born without the ability to speak. You will his big sister. He will need you to stand up for him to protect him from bullies. Bullies much like yourself in your previous life. You will feel sadness watching Daniel go through so much pain. You will feel anger at the bullies, but it will teach you a loving lesson. Even though you will experience much hurt and sadness at Daniel's sadness, you will now be able to be there for him and be able to be his voice. By being there for him in this next life, you will be able to heal the wrongs you did to him in your life as Milly, and he will eventually regain his ability to speak. If you choose this life, you will be able to give Daniel love and acceptance. But you will not be able to remember your previous life. You will just know deep inside that you have to protect and love your little brother. Will you choose this task?”

Chapter 4

Milly mulled it over and over in her head. Oh, how she so wanted to make it right! Milly, suddenly feeling hopeful, said to the angel, “Yes, I choose to be born Daniel's older sister. I want to be his voice and love him and protect him.”

The angel went to Daniel and asked him if he would be willing to be born Milly’s younger brother. He agreed immediately.

So, a few months later, a young girl was born to loving parents. They named her, Dawn—meaning new beginning. Dawn learned the importance of love and kindness from her parents and at age five, she became the big sister to a baby boy. Her parents named him Kai—meaning forgiving. Kai was indeed born with the inability to speak.

Chapter 5

When Dawn turned ten and Kai turned five, Kai began to be tormented by other youngsters in the village. They would call him names, throw rocks at him, and did not allow him to play any games. Dawn saw the hurt in Kai's eyes and always was there to wipe his tears and stand up for him. But due to her little brother's sadness, Dawn often felt hopeless and sad, too. When Kai would cry, she would cry. But through all the hard times, Dawn stayed with Kai and comforted him day in and day out.

Kai even lived up to his name and was very forgiving towards the bullies. Even though he could not talk, he would show kindness. There were many instances, where he allowed a child who made fun of him to go first in line or he'd smile at them as they walked past. Even though they were mean to him, he would try his best to be nice to them. What a kind soul he was!

Dawn, though, began to feel bitter and angry with the bullies. She felt like she hated them! “How dare they be mean to my little brother,” she thought. “They do not deserve my kindness.”

Chapter 6

Then one day a surprising thing happened. Her brother spoke his first words.

It started out like any other day. Dawn and Kai were in the park playing. Another child came over and started making fun of Kai. Dawn, who had had enough, started to scream at the mean little boy, “You leave him alone! He is my brother, and I am here to protect him. You're just a big, ol' bully who no one likes! I hate you!”

The little boy who had been bullying Kai stopped at these words and said, “Everyone hates me! So, what?” He walked away and tears started streaming down his cheeks. Dawn did not notice, but Kai did. He walked over to the boy, took him by the hand, and said, “It's ok. I forgive you. God loves everybody, even bullies.”

“He does?” The little boy asked. “Yes, I just know he does. C'mon let's play together.” From that point forward, the young boy who bullied Kai, became his friend.

Dawn, so surprised by her brother's kind, first words, could not speak. She looked at her brother with new eyes. Something deep inside Dawn changed. The hate she felt towards the bullies vanished. She saw the power of forgiveness and love and began to follow her young, but wise, brother’s example and took with her three important truths: One, everyone has a heart, even bullies. Two, people’s hearts are really more the same than different. And three, kindness can heal even the most hardened hearts—her heart and the heart of a bully—which were really not so different.

The End