Minni Miyu was not your usual kind of girl. For a start her name was different! But also, SHE was different…
She desperately wanted to be like the other children in her class or even those on the street.
She would look at the ‘heart’ children, who were so well-loved, always smiley-faced and seemed so happy. The ‘star’ kids would stand out and be ‘brilliant’ and would ‘shine’ at whatever they did! The ’round’ kids would be bouncy ‘all rounders’ and were liked by everyone. The ‘triangle’ kids were cool and different but they could slot in anywhere and were happy to be ‘off beat’.
Minni Miyu felt she was none of these. She didn’t think she fitted in with any of them. So she desperately tried to change shape by softening into a heart; pushing herself to be ‘stellar’ like the stars, smoothing herself out to become rounder and found her edges just didn’t fit in anywhere! All this ‘squishing’ and squashing just made her more miserable, confused and so very, very tired.
She really couldn’t understand why she was born the way she was! She started to hate herself more and more, getting cross with herself until she reached the point of giving up trying! She began to go very quiet as if dimming her inner light. Until one day…she stopped comparing herself and started to see all the other shapes out there. They were some crazy shapes, in high definition colours! And they were magnificent.. and so, so different! They stood out and they were happy? They seemed to notice her too. And there was an understanding like a strange ‘magnet’ feeling that drew them together. They welcomed her and loved all her differences. They seemed confident and enjoyed their uniqueness. So she began to feel so well-loved like a heart; she shone out like a star; she bounced with them and fitted in so very nicely but without dimming her inner light! Finally Minni Miyu knew she was meant to be different but also knew she belonged.