One day, after the mother breastfed her little daughter Marjorie and she slept, she placed her in her crib. She said to herself, “I will go to my neighbor to give her these things and return in one minute before the girl wakes up and feels my absence.” The mother hadn’t seen her neighbor for a while, so when she went to her, the neighbor stood to talk with her about some matters. While the mother was talking with her neighbor, they heard a fire alarm and the smell of smoke throughout the area.
The neighbor said to the mother, “Don’t worry. It’s surely one of the forest fires. They occur frequently at this time of year.” But the mother felt anxious. She said to her neighbor, “I must go quickly before my daughter wakes up.” The anxious mother hurried toward her home, but she found people also hurrying toward her house!
The mother was frightened and ran quickly. When she reached the house, she found firefighters and police officers at the house, trying to control a fire that had broken out. The mother screamed loudly and said, “My little daughter is inside.”
One of the neighbors said to her, “Don’t worry. The firefighters will control the fire quickly before your daughter is harmed.” But the mother couldn’t stand by with her arms folded while her daughter was inside. She ran quickly toward the house door. One of the firefighters tried to prevent her from entering, but she pushed him aside and entered quickly toward her daughter’s room.
Smoke filled the house, but the girl was sleeping peacefully. Her mother carried her and tried to exit through the house door, but the thick smoke made her lose consciousness and fall to the ground. But one of the firefighters entered quickly, carried the mother and the child, and took them out of the house.
The child was safe, but the mother’s hand had been burned by the fire. The mother was transferred to the hospital. The doctors did their utmost to treat her, but she had been severely injured, and their shape became ugly.
After several years passed, Marjorie grew up. She suddenly noticed that her mother’s hand was ugly. She asked her, “Why are your hands so ugly, Mother?” The mother looked at her little daughter, her eyes filled with tears because she remembered the day she almost lost her nursing baby. Then she told Marjorie about the day of the fire and said to her, “My hands became ugly, but for me, I’m happy because I saved your life, my little girl. This is what’s important.”
At that moment, Marjorie also cried. She embraced her mother and said to her, “These are the most beautiful hands in the world, Mother.”
Translated from story: Mother’s Hands