The Ocean and The Sky

Stephanie Zhang '21

 

Once upon a time, The Sky was so blue that all the creatures on land and in water were jealous of her beauty. Yet The Sky cried every day because everyone else could see her beauty but she herself could not admire it. She cried and cried until one day The Ocean formed from her tears. The Ocean existed quietly. Every day, he only focused on diligently reflecting The Sky’s beauty back to her. The Sky was overjoyed to finally be able to admire her reflection, but as she gazed at herself all day, she slowly started to pity The Ocean for being clear. “Are you not sad that you are colorless?” she asked him. “No. I’m grateful to be the way I am,” he replied. “It is only because I am colorless that I can be your mirror.” The Sky still felt sad for The Ocean, so instead, she gave the whales and the dolphins and the starfish and the coral that inhabited The Ocean some of her color. “There, now you are colorful too,” she smiled. In doing so, however, she lost some of her blue, and now there are days where she is white and colorless or dark and gray. On these days, The Ocean changes with her, still reflecting her beauty, quietly reminding her that it was always more than her color that made her beautiful.