Venetian Vase

This fictional short story offers readers a chance to sit in child's favorite place for just a moment. It is the sacred, secret place of a young girl suffering from obvious physical challenges who is contemplating her value in her small world. While in her favorite place--on the grassy slope of the town's cemetery--the ground's caretaker decides that today, of all the days he has seen her, he is going to reach out to her. He too suffers from disabilities due to an accident that took place on the Island of Murano, Italy while watching his Great Grandfather, a glassblower, masterfully create a beautiful Venetian glass vase. Beside the girl, readers listen as the ground's keeper attempts to share a story that he heard repeated on the evenings he was alone and healing from his life-altering accident, as told to him with only slight variations. And in the process, he helps her realize that she is more precious to the Lord than a Venetian Vase. This short story is written to inspire readers to contemplate their value as individual's despite the value assigned to them by the world. It encourages readers to look at others in a very different, encouraging light.