Once upon a time in a quiet village surrounded by green hills and golden fields, there lived a kind and creative girl named Lily. She lived with her grandmother in a small cottage with flowers growing all around it. Lily loved to paint. She would paint animals, trees, skies, and everything she saw in the world around her.

But Lily’s family was poor. They had just enough to eat, and her grandmother could not afford new brushes or paint. Still, Lily painted with whatever she could find—charcoal, mud, and sometimes crushed flower petals.

One day, while Lily was walking through the forest to collect berries, she saw a strange bird stuck in a bush. Its wings were tangled in vines. Lily carefully freed the bird and gave it some water. The bird looked at her with glowing blue eyes and flew away, disappearing in a flash of light.

That night, Lily found a box on her windowsill. Inside it was a beautiful paintbrush with a golden handle and soft, shiny bristles. A note beside it read:

“To the girl with a kind heart — this brush holds magic. Use it wisely.”

Lily’s eyes sparkled with joy. She dipped the brush into water and painted a small apple on a piece of paper. Suddenly, the paper glowed—and to her amazement, a real apple appeared right in front of her! She couldn’t believe it. She tried again—she painted a bird, and it flew off the paper and into the sky.

The next morning, Lily showed her grandmother. “With this brush,” she said, “we can have anything we need!”

Her grandmother smiled gently. “Use this gift with care, dear. Paint what is needed, not what is wanted.”

Lily nodded.

She painted food when they were hungry, warm clothes for winter, and even fixed broken tools in the village by painting new ones. Soon, the villagers noticed. “Where did you get these things?” they asked. Lily told them the truth, and they were amazed.

“Can you paint us new houses?” one man asked.

“Please paint me gold!” said another.

At first, Lily tried to help them. She painted what they truly needed—blankets, bread, water for dry farms. But soon, people became greedy. They asked for gold, jewels, palaces, and fancy clothes. Lily began to feel uncomfortable.

One day, a rich and selfish man named Mr. Greed visited Lily. “I heard about your magic,” he said. “Paint me a palace! I’ll give you lots of money!”

“I don’t want money,” Lily said. “The brush was a gift for helping others, not for selfish things.”

Mr. Greed was furious. That night, he sneaked into her house and stole the magical paintbrush.

The next morning, he ordered artists to paint for him using the brush. He had them paint piles of gold, horses, a castle, and even a crown. But nothing came to life.

“No matter what we do, nothing happens!” the artists cried.

Mr. Greed grew angry and tried to use the brush himself. But when he painted gold, the painting turned into rocks. When he painted a horse, it became a donkey. Everything he painted turned into something useless or silly. The brush refused to work for him.

Meanwhile, the bird that Lily had saved returned. It circled the house three times and dropped a feather on Lily’s doorstep. When Lily touched the feather, the magical brush flew back into her hands. It glowed even brighter than before.

Lily realized something. “This brush works only when used for kindness and love,” she said.

She decided to paint something special—a beautiful garden where the village children could play, where flowers bloomed all year and birds sang sweet songs. She painted a small school with colorful walls and books for everyone. She painted smiles on people’s faces by painting laughter in the sky.

The villagers slowly began to understand. They stopped asking for riches and began helping each other. Inspired by Lily, they planted trees, shared food, and built homes together. The village became a place of joy and harmony.

Even Mr. Greed, embarrassed by his failure, changed. One day, he came to Lily and said, “I’m sorry for what I did. I’ve learned my lesson.”

Lily smiled and handed him a normal paintbrush. “Here,” she said. “Make your own magic. Not with spells, but with effort.”

He took the brush and began to paint his own home, slowly and honestly.

From that day on, Lily continued to paint only what was truly needed: hope, kindness, and beauty. And though she could create anything, she knew the real magic wasn’t in the brush—it was in the heart that used it.

---

Moral of the Story:

True magic lies in kindness, not in riches. Use your gifts to help others, not to serve greed.

---

Would you like this story translated into Urdu, turned into a colorful picture book, or formatted as a PDF? Let me know!

Top of Form

Bottom of Form