Once upon a time
there was a Sadness called Tears
who lived in the silence.

Tears was sad
because she was all alone in the silence.
It was so lonely that she began to cry,
and she cried for a long, long time.

She cried for such a long time
that a big pool of water formed around her.
Pretty soon she was floating.
As she floated she began to feel somewhat better,
but she was lonely because no one else was there.

She began to feel light
and wanted to feel even lighter,
so she kicked off her shoes
and began to dance in the water.

As she began to dance,
she noticed many other beings had gathered there.
They were all playing in the beautiful pool of tears.
They smiled at the Sadness and sang as they played,
splishing and splashing about.

The Sadness began to play too.
Then as they played in the water,
a song rose up in each of them
and they all began to sing.

As she joined in,
the singing grew louder and more joyous.
Soon Tears was so happy
she couldn’t even be called a Sadness any more.
The being that had once been a Sadness
truly came a Happiness,
and her new name was Smiles.

Even after the pool had dried up
and all had returned to their homes,
Smiles remained a Happiness.
Although she was back in the silence,
she was still happy.
For somehow now that she was a Happiness,
even the silence was friendly,
and Smiles the Happiness sang to herself all day long.