The Blue Blanket

There once was a dark blue blanket that sat on the edge of a little girl’s bed. The blanket was so soft it felt as if a thousand kittens had died just for its existence. The little girl had begged for the blanket until finally her parents gave in.

As soon as the blanket was purchased, the little girl refused to let go of its comfort. Every day she carried the blanket to school, wrapping herself tightly while on the bus. She walked with the blanket. She played with the blanket. She even ate dinner with the blanket. At last, when she had retreated from life too much, her father threw the blanket into a basket and put it in front of the house for their annual yard sale. “It’s become a crutch and you’re not as strong because of it,” he answered when the little girl pleaded for him to reconsider.

The blanket was found by a childless couple who had been together for a very long time. It was folded neatly into a perfect square with a couple of threadbare pillows and a heating pad. The wife immediately took it out of the basket and with great exclamation declared that this would be her new blanket. It was large enough to cover her California king sized bed and hide the ugly orange comforter her husband had gotten her ten years prior.

She bought the blanket for only a dollar. “Why so little?” She asked the man behind the cash box. “Things that are too delicate rarely last,” he smiled.

But it was delicate because it was good, she thought. She dumped the blanket onto her bed and smoothed out its wrinkles. It covered every ugly blemish on the antique puff. Its fabric was like heaven to her fingers and she thought of how she could spend her mornings lounging in it with a cup of coffee and the paper.

But as soon as she pressed her palms against the softness, the fabric ripped. Not a wide rip, but a small one at the edges.

No one will notice, she thought to herself.

Her husband came home later that day and was surprised to see the blanket covering their bed. “It’s so soft,” he rubbed his fingers against the material. As he got into the bed later that night, he pulled the covers up to his chin and tucked the blanket neatly under his beard. Although not as warm as the comforter, there was something about the fabric that tickled him. He pulled the blanket closer to him and when his wife did not give up her portion, he pulled harder. The softness did not stretch.

Instantly another rip creaked at the edges.

All night the couple fought over the blanket until its material had so many tiny rips, they couldn’t possibly justify salvaging it.

“What do we do?” The husband looked down at the blanket.

Suddenly, the wife remembered the man from the yard sale. “We have to throw it out.” She said. “It was just too soft.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2013/10/14/simon-says-toughen-up/