Once upon a time there was a Sadness who lived in the silence.
It was sad because it was all alone in the silence and felt very lonely.
It was so lonely that it began to cry, and it cried for a long, long time.

It cried for such a long time that a big pool of tears formed around it. Pretty soon it was floating. As it floated it began to feel better,
but still it was lonely because no one else was there.

It began to feel light and it wanted to feel even lighter,
so it kicked off its shoes and began to dance in the water.
As it began to dance, it noticed
that there were many other beings there.
They were all playing in the beautiful pool.
They smiled at the Sadness and sang as they played,
splishing and splashing about.

The Sadness began to play too.
As they all played in the water, a song rose up in each of them
and they began singing. Soon the being was so happy
it couldn’t even be called a Sadness any more.

As the being joined in, the singing grew louder and more joyous,
and the being that had once been a Sadness truly came a Happiness. Even after the pool had dried up as tears will do,
and all had returned to their homes, it remained a Happiness.
Although it was back in the silence, it was still happy.
For somehow now that it was a Happiness,
even the silence was friendly,
and the Happiness sang to itself all day long.

A Pujatale by Photo and verse by Tasha Halpert