The Oak Tree of Courage

Some children had laughed at her. They had said unkind things that made her heart feel heavy. “I wish everyone would just be kind,” she whispered.

“Mean words are like the wind,” Atlas said. “You can feel them. They might shake your branches. But they cannot decide who you become.”

“If someone called the moon too small,” asked Oliver the owl, “would it stop lighting the night?” Victoria smiled. “No.”

Courage isn’t about never feeling hurt. It’s about remembering that your kindness is stronger than someone else’s unkindness.