Once upon a time, there was a little cell. This cell looked like other cells but it was good for nothing. It was always cast away during the games, cause it acted weird and the baby cells were told not to mess with strangers. Without a friend and with nothing to do, this cell was lonely. There was one thing that it could do, though: to live. In fact, it was able to outlive others around it, and this made things only worse, because the little cell felt like an eternal prisoner of nothingness.
A regular day for this ugly cell was like this. First, it would look at the muscle cells and would admire at their ability to contract and stretch, sustaining tremendous pressures. Seeing its weakness near them, it would utter "I wish I, too, ..." and shed silent tears.
Then, the ugly cell would observe the nerve cells and contemplate their unimaginable lengths, providing almost instant communication between distances. Seeing its lack of connection with any other cell, it would utter "I wish I, too, ..." and shed silent tears.
Then, the ugly cell would touch the bone cells and enjoy the elegant shapes they formed, composing a rigid structure for the well-being of the entire community of cells. Seeing its uselessness among everybody, it would utter "I wish I, too, ..." and shed silent tears.
So, everyday, the poor ugly cell would go between appreciation of the qualities of others and its situation devoid of qualities. As each day came to an end and as other cells would take a relief from their routine jobs, they would mock at it, saying "you must be very tired, it's not easy to do nothing", and they would laugh. To these, it wouldn't be able to make any objections, because doing nothing for the entire day and watching others was not really easy. So, the ugly cell would fall asleep, too.
As the days passed by, other cells with a particular job became tired and wearied. They were slowly aging, and becoming like the ugly cell they had been making fun of so relentlessly. However, the ugly cell was not aging as they did. Instead, it was still shining as a young cell; though still useless.
One day, the muscle cells witnessed the death of one of their fellows. A friend who had been serving along with them, with whom they shared so many adventures and memories, was gone. With it, it was as if a part of theirs had disappeared. Life was going to be more difficult and lonely without it.
Watching the mourning of the fellow cells, the ugly cell was also troubled. Of course, this death was not as destructive to the ugly cell as it was to others, given the lack of connection between them. But still, they were a community of cells, and doing nothing while you can was evil. The ugly cell was ugly, but not evil!
With an altruistic urge to help others, but not being able to do anything, the ugly cell wanted to get out of the scene once and for all. Its disappearance wouldn't affect anyone as had done the death of that muscle cell. So, the ugly cell started to tear itself apart!
It didn't happen instantly, unfortunately. It was an action against its own existence. Every second of it incurred pain, but after a few minutes, the ugly cell got used to feeling that pain. After all, it was not as bad as the pain of disconnection and uselessness. After all, there was a light of hope in the end.
Finally, it was over. The ugly cell had torn itself into two. But everybody was shocked, the ugly cell included. Instead of dying, there were now two ugly cells! Although the expectations of the ugly cell had not happened, at least the shock from this event had obliterated the sorrow from the passing of that muscle cell.
As everybody went back to their routine business, one of the new ugly cells gradually changed. Soon, it had become a full-fledged muscle cell. With the fresh power of the new cell, the muscle cells rejoiced. But soon, they were puzzled by a question. If the new ugly cell could become a muscle cell, were they, themselves, an ugly cell long ago?
