The Town of Samesame
Loni was a boy full of questions. He asked them in the morning, at school, in the car, even when his mum was trying to watch her favourite show.
“Why do zebras have stripes?”
“Why do birds fly but chickens don’t?”
“Why do my toes wiggle but my ears can’t?”
His mum and dad never got tired of answering. They always said, “Keep asking, Loni. Questions make the world brighter.”
At school, Loni’s best friend was Micah. Micah had light skin and curly hair. Sometimes Loni wished his hair curled like Micah’s. Other times, he wished it was long like Micah’s. In fact, there were days he wished he looked exactly like Micah.
One evening at dinner, Loni asked a question that made both his parents stop and stare.
“Why is my skin brown, but most people in my class have peach skin?”
His dad put down his fork and smiled gently. “Loni, that’s a very good question. Let me tell you a story about a town called Samesame.”
Loni leaned forward. He loved when Dad told stories.
Samesame was not a happy place. The rivers moved slowly like they were yawning, and the sun never shone very brightly. But the strangest thing was that everyone looked exactly the same.
Every man, woman and child had the same round head, the same tiny nose, the same brown eyes and the same straight hair. They were the same height, the same size, even the same smile.
“Like a town full of photocopies,” Loni interrupted.
Dad laughed. “Exactly.”
It caused all sorts of problems. Parents lost their children in the park because every child looked the same. Teachers couldn’t tell who had done their homework and children mistook their teachers for another. People even got blamed for mistakes they didn’t make, just because they looked like the real troublemaker.
Life in Samesame was boring, confusing and very lonely.
One day, an old man with hair as white as cotton came to town. Nobody knew where he had come from. He said he had heard the prayers of a little boy in Samesame who wished things could change.
The old man told the king, “Take me to a pond. I will stir the water, and anyone who jumps in will come out different.”
The king was curious but agreed.
The next morning, the first family came to the pond. The old man swirled the water with his stick, and the first boy jumped in. When he climbed out, everyone gasped. His hair had turned black and curly, his ears were bigger and his eyes were smaller.
The next child jumped in. She grew taller, her arms stretched longer and her nose became pointy.
The king clapped his hands in delight. Soon, family after family lined up.
By the end of the week, no two people in Samesame looked alike anymore. The rivers danced again, the sun shone brighter, and life was full of colour and laughter.
Dad leaned closer. “Can you imagine if everyone in the world looked the same, with the same hair, same skin, same eyes and even the same voice?”
Loni giggled. “Mum would never know which one of us to scold. She might tell off my brother for something I did.”
They all laughed.
Dad ruffled Loni’s hair. “That’s why God made us different on purpose. He solved a problem that could have existed. Our skin, our hair, our faces, our voices, all of it makes the world beautiful. You are special, Micah is special, and the world is better because we are not the same.”
Loni thought for a moment. Then he smiled proudly. “I’m glad I’m brown-skinned. And I’m glad Micah is peach-skinned. I don’t ever want to look exactly like someone else.”
Mum raised her glass of water. “To differences that make the world wonderful.”
They clinked glasses together, and Loni felt lighter inside, like the rivers in Samesame after they learned how to sparkle again.
