This is dedicated to @BeautyandtheBeastUK for holding this contest and allowing me to share this with you lovely people! Thank you once again for reading :) 

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The sun was out despite the depressing bitter cold that wrapped around Vanessa's small frame. Her mother had pulled her hair back into two pigtails that morning but over the one hour of P.E at school and changing her clothes, she had lost the pink ribbons and her chestnut soft curls were now softly bouncing on her shoulder. Her father said the colour reminded him of the time he had first met her mother who had a cup of roasted almonds in her hands.

Vanessa turned her head, smiling at the puppy across the street. She saw the puppy waggling his tail and knew he was happy. Her mother had told her that when a dog waggled his tail, he was happy. Or did she say upset?

Turning her head, she saw the large green dustbins outside the old flat. She had to walk past the row of flats with her father every weekday to go to school. As she passed she would make up stories listening to the screams, cries, laughter, music and dogs barking. Her favourite story was of the family that skipped a day of school to stay home and have a dance party. She had done that once.

She glanced further at the green bins and frowned. On the floor lay a pile of tattered Barbie dolls. Vanessa let go of her father's hand and stepped towards the pile. Her small hands reached towards the top doll, ignoring the others. This doll had a leg and arm missing, scribbles across its naked torso whereas the others just had hair pulled out and clothes missing.

With a small smile, she stroked its remaining blonde hair. Her own light brown eyes stared into the open blue eyes of the Barbie. Taking a glance at the rest of the pile, she sighed and walked back to her father. He stuck a hand out for her and she fit her fragile hands back into his. They began walking again.

Vanessa focussed her eyes on the doll in her hands. As she walked around the corner, passing the café that her father took her to every Sunday for a chocolate milkshake with extra cream, she formed a plan in her head. When she would get home, she would wash the blonde hair and then comb through it, maybe plaiting it to the side and then she would pick out a beautiful dress her other Barbie's had, careful not to press too hard on her scars.

She glanced down at the open blue eyes and knew that the Barbie wanted to say thank you for picking her amongst her other friends. Vanessa knew what coming last felt like. She knew that whenever she got dressed in class, everyone would steal glances at her and look at the prosthetic leg attached to her torso that she had got just two years ago following a terrible accident that her family had been in. Before the accident, she remembered running in the park, letting her hair hold as many flowers she could fit in and no one spared her a second glance. However, she knew that as soon as she woke up from the surgery, everything had changed.

At first she was upset but her father had taught her that she was still beautiful in his eyes and any man would be lucky to have her although he never wanted to let go of her. He taught her that just because she had something missing, that never meant she would mean any less. She smiled softly at the memory.

Whenever she looked in the mirror, she saw the long scar along her chest. Her fingers would graze over it, feeling the smooth surface of skin beneath her fingertips. She would then slip her dress on. Her hands would brush down her dress, coming to contact with the cold metal. At first she couldn't stand looking at her reflection knowing that she didn't look like the other girls in her class who had no line down their chest and both legs attached to their body. Then she would stand in front of the mirror, glance over her shoulder at the line of dolls on her table and smile. The dolls were just like her.

They all had a leg missing, scars on their chest and had been isolated from their friends but no matter what happened, Vanessa still found them beautiful. She learnt that although she may not be the same as everyone else, her being different is what made her shine. Despite the stares that she got in class whilst changing, hiding away from them as she changed quietly in the classroom, she had learnt to love herself. She had learnt to love the line down her chest that saved her life. She had learnt to love the one leg she had left, savouring every moment in fear that her last leg she walked to school with, would be taken away too.

She had gotten the dolls when she woke up from surgery. Her father said that there were ordinary people and there were different people, but deep down was were beauty lay and everyone had to look further than what met the eye to see how special someone was.

Vanessa glanced down at the doll again and grinned. After all, if she could love the dolls that looked like her, why couldn't she love herself?