Writing Through
This is my second time having projects with Writing Through. Writing Through is an organization that teaches students in some different countries about thinking skills, self-esteem and language fluency through creative writing. For this time, we have a short project to write a short story influenced by the story “Animal Farm”. When I think of Animal Farm, I always think of inequality. The author of Animal Farm used animals to represent humans, so I wrote a short story that used vegetables and fruits as my characters. It’s called “The Vegetable that Wanted to be a Fruit ”. It was a really great experience to improve our thinking and writing skills. I hope we can do it again next time.
The Vegetable that Wanted to be a Fruit
Huykea Sun – 14 Years old
“It’s 2020 now but why am I still different from a fruit? I want to be like them too but why can’t I? Why am I born to be a vegetable like this? Why was I not born to be similar to a fruit?” These are the questions that come to mind. I am a potato. I wonder, “Can I change myself to be similar to a fruit? I feel that being a fruit would be so awesome. Everyone is going to welcome me, so I can make friends. They will stop disliking me as a vegetable.” I keep wondering about these things all day long because I know that I can do this all day. Day by day, this wondering has become my hobby, because I don’t have any friends to chat or to play with. I’m different from others and no one wants to be my friend. Sometimes I’m mad at myself about why the world isn’t fair and why I was born this way. I alway say these words to myself. I can’t stop wondering about it.
One day, while I was wondering, I had a pretty cool idea that I thought could help me to be like the fruit. I knew that if I talk to the fruit, it might help me somehow. That day, I went to my room and prepared everything to talk with the fruit. It was just like going to interview someone. After preparing everything, it was already nighttime. So I went to bed excitedly because tomorrow I would be like the fruit and stop being a vegetable that others don’t really like and appreciate.
Tomorrow came. I went to one of the fruit’s houses near mine. But suddenly I thought, “How can I go talk to the fruit if they don’t like me as a vegetable?” But I said, “All right let’s take another chance to go talk to them”. After I arrived in front of the door, I clicked on the door bell of the house. Ring! Ring! The fruit stood in front of me. Guess what, he was so friendly! He welcomed me full of excited feelings. I asked him if he had some time to talk with me.
He said to me with a big smile, “Sure”.
He walked me inside the house to the living room. I started to explain the reason why I came there and asked him if he could help me to become like the fruit, too.
He started to put his face down and said, “We can’t change ourselves to be like someone else.” He continued, “ We should appreciate what we have, I mean, there’s a lot of other vegetables and fruit that like you and appreciate you for who you are. We can’t change ourselves to be someone else but we can change others’ minds. We can make others that don’t appreciate you for who you are, become the ones that care for you the most.”
I started to say “But how can we do that? ”
He answered quickly, “Start talking to them and explain it to them. Stop being alone as you are doing nowadays.” He continued, “ This can lead you to become a person who doesn’t like to talk much. Be active, go talk or play with others and explain to them and at least they will understand it. Maybe not all of the fruits will agree with your idea but some may like your idea and understand it. And they can care for you and appreciate you for who you are.”
This was really helpful for me. “Thank you to my friend. You are my good friend.” I thought to myself. After that, he became the first friend that I ever made. The next day, I went to school as usual. I started to talk to the other fruits and make friends. First, some fruits didn’t agree with that idea and still thought I was different. But after a few conversations, others started to know and get it. They started to get how it feels. After having talked to many people, I made a lot of new friends. They all seemed to appreciate me for who I am.
Starting from now on, I know that, “We can’t change ourselves to be like someone else, but we can change others’ minds.” Not all of them will dislike us. At least there will be some that will care for us and appreciate us for who we are. Be sharp like water, don’t put yourself down or be alone all day. Start making friends and be happy.