There was a very fancy gentleman, and he had a whole drawer full of shirts. But one Shirt Collar thought he was the fanciest of them all. "Oh, I am so fine!" he would whisper when the drawer was closed. "Made of the best linen, and I sit right under the chin of a very important man!"

One day, all the gentleman's clothes went into the big wash tub. Splash, swish, bubble! It was quite an adventure. In the soapy water, the Shirt Collar bumped into a Garter. She looked a bit worn and a little sad.

"Well, hello there!" said the Shirt Collar, puffing himself up as much as a wet collar could. "I am a Shirt Collar, you know. Very important."

"Oh, hello," sighed the Garter. "I used to belong to a lovely lady, a dancer. She was so graceful."

The Shirt Collar, who mostly thought about himself, said, "You seem like a sensible sort. Will you marry me? We could be quite a pair!"

But the Garter just shook her threads. "Oh, I don't think so," she said quietly. "I'm just a simple garter, and I miss my dancer."

Soon, the Shirt Collar was taken out, starched stiff, and ironed smooth. He felt grander than ever! "Ah, this is the life!" he thought.

That evening, the gentleman wore him to a grand party. The Shirt Collar looked around proudly. He saw a beautiful, delicate Fan fluttering in a lady's hand. "My, she's pretty!" thought the Shirt Collar. He tried to lean closer. "Ahem," he said, hoping the Fan would notice him. "I am a Shirt Collar. I've been in a wash tub, you know, quite an experience. And I'm very well-traveled, sitting on this gentleman."

The Fan just giggled and fluttered. She didn't seem very interested in a boasting collar. Little did he know, the Fan belonged to the very same dancer the Garter had told him about!

Time went by. The Shirt Collar was washed and ironed, worn and washed again. He started to get a little frayed at the edges. He wasn't quite as crisp as he used to be. "But I'm still a Shirt Collar!" he'd tell himself, though not as loudly.

One day, the gentleman said, "This collar is too old and worn." So, the Shirt Collar was put in a bag with other old clothes and bits of fabric. They were all sent to a paper mill.

What a noisy, busy place! All the old rags were chattering, telling their stories. And who do you think the Shirt Collar saw amongst the heap? The Garter!

"Well, fancy meeting you here!" said the Shirt Collar, trying to sound important even as a tattered rag. "I've had so many adventures since we last met. I've been to parties, I've met a Fan..." He went on and on, telling all his stories, even though he was now just a scrap.

The Garter listened patiently. She didn't say much, but she smiled a little.

Then, all the rags, including the proud Shirt Collar and the quiet Garter, were mashed and pressed and cleaned. They were turned into big, smooth sheets of clean, white paper.

And guess what? Someone decided to write a story on one of those very pieces of paper. It was the story of a proud Shirt Collar who thought he was the best, and a gentle Garter, and all their little adventures from the drawer to the wash tub, to the party, and finally, to the paper mill.

So, in the end, the Shirt Collar got to tell his story after all, even if he was just a piece of paper now. And the Garter's story was told too, right alongside his.

1672 Views