The school bell began to ring. It echoed across the hills and seemed to reach every corner in the small village of Gremonkious. This village seemed to be common and plain (except for its uncommon name) and the people seemed to be common and plain as well. There were old and young, rich and poor, wise and foolish, and happy and sad.

As the sound of the school bell died out and shadows began to settle in the trees, a very sad person could be seen walking through the village. His head was bent and his body shook from pain at every step. Other children leaving school rushed past him pushing and shoving--almost knocking him down. Boys poked and made fun while girls giggled around him.

This sad person was a boy named Tyler. He tried not to listen to the teasing taunts and giggles from the children around him, but it was no use. Two big tears filled his soft, blue eyes and rolled down his thin cheeks. He stood discouraged in the middle of the dusty road. The children continued to shove past him, leaving Tyler in a cloud of sadness.

Then Tyler lifted his head and saw two girls walking with the crowd of children, holding hands. They appeared to be twins--identical twins in fact--except that one girl had long yellow hair and the other girl had long brown hair. They were both dressed in simple blue dresses with plain white pinafores, and their hair was braided and tied with blue ribbons. The girl with the yellow hair swung a basket on her arm and trilled a beautiful bird song, while the girl with the brown hair carried her school books tucked carelessly under her arm and walked with her eyes focused on a thick book and seemed to notice nothing around her.

When the girl with the yellow hair saw Tyler, she stopped singing and said, "Sister, who is this? I don't remember seeing him in school today." Tyler realized that she had asked about him and started to limp away.

A girl with freckles and thick glasses answered, "Oh, he's Crippled Tyler." She lowered her voice, but Tyler could still hear. "They say he has a wooden leg instead of a real leg and that's why he's crippled. He doesn't have any friends." The girl hurried off and Tyler ignored her words and kept walking.

The girl with the yellow hair reached out and gently touched his shoulder. "Hi," she said, my name is Shela." Then she stopped. Her eyes were full of honest concern. "You look like you are in pain," she said. "Is there anything that I can do to help you?"

The girl with the brown hair lowered her book and said, "We're new here, and we want to be your friends." She smiled a frank and friendly smile and reached out her hand to shake his. "My name is Shala. Will you be our friend?"

"I don't have friends," said Tyler sniffing sadly. "I'm crippled and nobody wants a crippled friend." By this time, most of the children had disappeared and the girls and Tyler were almost alone. He looked around and then limped away as fast as possible, hoping that the new girls wouldn't see him cry.

That night, Tyler kept thinking about the girls and how they had seemed so kind. He wondered if they really wanted to be his friends, or if they just felt sorry for him. More tears rolled down his cheeks as he fell asleep. He couldn't understand why he had to be a cripple.

The next morning when Shela, the girl with the yellow hair, saw Tyler in school, she smiled and waved to him, but Tyler looked at the floor and pretended not to see. Finally, seeing that there was no response, she sat down and studied her lessons. Although he tried to keep his eyes focused on his own lessons, Tyler kept looking back at the girls and thinking about them.

Finally the school bell rang and the regular pushing and teasing began. Tyler slowly limped out of the noisy schoolhouse, for once not even noticing the mean things the children around him said and did. He was too busy thinking about the new girls. He wondered about their unusual names.

Then he heard the familiar bird song and looked back. He tried to pretend he hadn't seen the girls, but it was too late. Shela stopped singing and pulled her sister towards him. "Look, sister," she cried in excitement, "he does want to be our friend."

At the words 'our friend', Tyler stopped walking and turned around. "You can't mean that," he said in surprise and almost horror.

Shala, the girl with the brown hair, once again lowered her book. She looked at Tyler with serious eyes. "Of course we want you for our friend," she said. Then she turned to her sister and said, "Shela, show Tyler what we made for him."

Shela beamed in happy anticipation as she opened the basket on her arm and took out a small package wrapped in plain brown paper and tied with an ordinary string. She danced over to him and held out the package.

Tyler hated to take the gift, no matter what it was. He was sure that the girls only gave it to him in pity. He shook his head in protest, but Shela didn't seem to notice. She pushed the package into his hands and Shala with her frank smile said, "It's not much, but we thought you would like it since we made it especially for you."

Tyler couldn't refuse to take something that the girls had made especially for him. He slowly untied the string and unfolded the paper, with Shela and Shala watching closely. Shela's eyes were sparkling with joy and Shala watched Tyler's face intently for a reaction. To his surprise, the gift was a small, round pillow. It was made from the same blue color of the girls' dresses and even though it had been hand sewn, he could tell that each stitch had been done with care and skill.

He wanted to say something to thank the girls for the gift, but words wouldn't come to his mouth. Shela smiled sweetly and Shala said with concern, "We thought you would like blue best." Then the girls waited as if giving him a chance to speak.

Tyler looked at both of the girls. Then with a lowered head, he shyly whispered, "Thank you."

Now both girls smiled. "Tell him what it's for," said Shela, flipping a yellow braid over her shoulder.

"Do you know what it's for, Tyler?" asked Shala. She saw that he didn't and without waiting for an answer, she walked over and gently pulled Tyler to the ground. "Here, let me show you," she said. Tyler was shocked and tried to protest but soon found that it was no use. Shala quickly, but gently, removed his wooden leg and put the little pillow between the wood and his real leg. Tyler watched in awe. It didn't bother her to look at his wooden leg or even to touch it.

He looked bitterly at his fake leg. "It is so ugly!" he said with feeling. "I wish my leg wasn't different than other kids' legs, so that I could run and play with them." He bent his head deeper in sadness and whispered, "Maybe then they would like me."

The girls looked at each other. Then Shala said in a sincere tone, "You are special, Tyler, and we like you just the way you are." Each girl took a hand and pulled Tyler to his feet.

"Come on, Tyler," Shela said, "let's see what that pillow does." The girls watched as Tyler took a few slow steps. He tested each step carefully and as he walked he found that the regular pain was gone. Then he actually began to smile and walk faster, quickly losing his painful limp. The girls had to run to catch up with him and Shela giggled in her happiness for him.

"How does it feel, Tyler?" Shala asked.

Tyler stopped walking and smiled. His blue eyes seemed to fill with sunshine from its glow. "It feels wonderful," he said, looking at his leg. Then he looked up at the girls. "Actually, it feels wonderful to have friends."