How The Sky Turned Blue
I am excited about my children’s story. I hope you like it as much as I do! In honor of Pride Month, you will see that the main character is indicated by the pronoun “they” rather than he or she. The use of the pronoun “they” can be either singular or plural unlike traditional pronouns. Some languages such as Finnish, Armenian, Hungarian, Swedish, and others have never had grammatical gender pronouns. For many of us, it seems unusual the first time we hear “they” used as a singular pronoun. Some people identify their gender as non-binary, meaning that how they identify does not fit traditional definitions of a man or a woman. This is nothing new. Non-binary identities have been recognized around the world for centuries. Some non-binary people prefer the pronoun “they” rather than he or she. It is a sign of respect to use the pronouns people prefer. - Addison Dulaney
A long, long time ago, the sky was not made of color. It sat in the air, plain and white, covering the whole world as if it were a blanket. South of what is now called Albuquerque, rested the Casha people. The children were berry pickers, while the adults were hunters. This strategy of work satisfied all the community because the children adored the beautiful colors the berries produced. There were the darkest of reds and the brightest of purples. In the village these berries were not just eaten, people used them to color fabrics and paint on anything without color. Berry color was a symbol that brought joy and inspired creation.
However, little Roya, an eight-year-old berry picker, was sad. They did not understand why they painted the whole village and left out the sky. It kept them warm and protected them from dangers on the other side. They imagined the sky lonely and upset as it glanced down at their little village.
One day Roya had a brilliant idea. They gathered a group of their closest friends that lived around the village and led them out to where the berry trees stood.
“Roya, why did you take us to the berry trees?” one of them asked with a curious tone.
“I’ve got an idea! You see, the sky is sad. It has no color. It keeps us warm and protects us from what lies beyond it, and yet it has no color. I’ve decided we will pick berries and throw them at the sky. This way the sky will have color.”
There was absolutely no hesitation after Roya gave their speech to their friends. They immediately rushed in excitement to the trees and picked as many berries as their hands could hold. One by one they tossed the berries into the sky, but instead of splashing and spreading all their color, the berries just disappeared. They tried again and again, losing a little hope with each disappearing berry. The ten kids, in confusion, sulked home to their families wondering why the berries didn’t paint the sky.
“Did it not like the colors?” one of them asked.
“Maybe we weren’t throwing them hard enough,” another one suggested.
Roya brainstormed for hours that evening as they thought through all the possibilities of why the sky didn’t change colors. Then it hit them. There were only ten people throwing berries for the whole sky. They needed many, many more people to make the sky colorful.
The next morning Roya leaped out of bed and rushed to tell their parents the idea. Then they went around to spread the word to the adults while Roya traveled to tell all the children.
“12:00 PM, meet at the berry trees!” Were the words that echoed through the village. When the time rolled around, the entire village had gathered at the berry trees. Roya scurried through the crowd until they reached the front then placed themself on a large rock that overlooked all the people.
“Thank you all for gathering here. I want to paint the sky, and I can’t do it without all of you. If you could all gather as many berries as you can, and throw them into the sky, it would be greatly appreciated.”
Not a single villager left. Instead, they all rushed to the trees just as the children did the day before and began hucking berries into the sky. The sight was beautiful. The berries in the air, vanishing into the clouds. 156 seconds after the first throw, color began to seep through the white sky. More and more, the red and purple berries made the sky bleed, forming a beautiful color of blue. Cheers rang around the crowd, as everyone began to notice the magnificent change in the sky.
Roya stopped throwing berries. Tears filled their eyes as they stared up at their friend. They had never seen anything more beautiful in their life.
“Now while you stare down at all the colors of the world, you can have some too.” They whispered before resuming their berry throwing.
The sky finished changing colors shortly after 3:00 PM that day. That day the sky officially turned blue.