Introduction : The Little Girl

A strict father and his sensitive daughter are portrayed as having a relationship in the story (Kezia). In the story, the father is portrayed as being extremely busy. He does not tolerate any sort of mischief and wants his daughter to be a good girl. When she commits a wrong thing, he hits her. Kezia avoids her father because she is terrified of him.
When he is not present, she feels relieved. However, Kezia’s perspective of her father changes at the conclusion of the narrative. This occurs when her mother is admitted to the hospital and she is left at home by herself. Her father is currently providing Kezia with tender care and compassion. She discovers that her father cares for her, leading to the development of her love for him.

Summary : The Little Girl

Kezia, a young child, feared her father. She always shied away from seeing him. His father casually kissed Kezia in her room before heading to the office. When Kezia’s father left for work, she was relieved. Kezia’s mother would ask her to take off her father’s shoes when he got home in the evening. He questioned Kezia about her behaviour that day as she removed her father’s shoes. Kezia used to speak normally around other people but would stutter in front of her father. Her father seemed like a giant to Kezia. His neck and hands were large. When he yawned, his mouth seemed to her to be very large.

Kezia’s grandmother used to send her to the drawing room on Sundays so she could talk to her parents. Kezia frequently visited and discovered her mother reading and her father dozing on the sofa. Her father slept with his feet propped up on the cushion and a handkerchief covering his face. Kezia kept checking to see if her father had awakened. Kezia’s father asked her to stop staring at him after she woke up because she appeared to be a small brown owl.

Kezia’s grandmother once informed her that her father’s birthday was the following week. She suggested that Kezia make her father a pin cushion out of yellow silk. Kezia stitched the pin cushion’s three sides together as a result. She required a filler for the pin cushion. When she entered her mother’s room, she noticed some papers on the bedside table. These papers were torn, and she placed them inside the pin cushion. Her father would deliver the speech to the Port Authority the following day, and it was significant.

There was a commotion inside the house that night. When Kezia’s father couldn’t locate his speech notes, he became extremely irate. The papers were discussed with everyone in the house. Kezia admitted that she had torn up the papers and stuffed them inside the pin cushion when she was questioned about the papers. Kezia’s father thus hit her palms with a ruler as a form of discipline. Kezia should not touch anything that is not hers, which he wanted to instill in her. Kezia shed many tears. After a while, Kezia’s grandmother covered her in a shawl. Kezia was very upset about the incident involving her father’s punishment. What did God make fathers for? she cried and inquired of her grandmother.

The Macdonalds, who had five kids, resided in the home next door to Kezia. When Mr. Macdonald had time, he always engaged in play with his kids. They enjoyed each other’s company and laughed together. Kezia realised there were various types of fathers after witnessing all of this. Kezia’s mother became ill one day and had to be taken to the hospital. Along with her mother, her grandmother visited the hospital.

Alice, the cook, and her father, who was asleep in his room, were the only people in the house other than Kezia. Due to her history of nightmares, Kezia found it difficult to sleep by herself at night. Kezia had a terrifying dream while she was asleep. In her nightmare, she saw a butcher approaching her with a knife and a rope while grinning. She was crying and calling her grandmother while unable to move.

Kezia screamed, and her father had to wake her up. Her father carried Kezia into his bedroom. Kezia was asked to rub her feet against his legs to warm them up as he laid down next to her to comfort her. Soon after, he fell asleep. Unlike her or her grandmother, Kezia found her father’s legs to be harder. Kezia then realised that her father had a very demanding job and would eventually become too exhausted to engage in playtime with her like Mr. McDonald. She regretted ripping his papers. He had a very big heart, she told her father.

Moral : The Little Girl

It is not fair to judge a person based on their outward look; rather, we ought to concentrate on what lies within their hearts. For example, Kezia made assumptions about her father’s personality based on his seemingly tough exterior, but she eventually learned that despite appearances, her father nevertheless possesses a tender heart.