Once, there were rats living happily in the
Nisoran forests. They chewed and ate the vines that crisscrossed between the trees, and chewed and ate the roots the crisscrossed along the dirt.
Then some humans came to Nisora. They change the forest to a city called
Galendra, where wires crisscrossed between buildings and under the ground.
The rats had fun in their new home. They ate crumbs and played in trash. When they got hungry, they looked for vines and roots and only saw wires. They chewed and ate the wires that powered homes and shops, making lights go out across the city.
The Galendrans didn't like this. They got angry at the rats, yelled at them and threw things at them, trying to force them to stop chewing and eating the wires. But the rats didn't stop, because they couldn't change who they were. They kept eating the wires, and the Galendrans kept getting angry.
Then the
Protectorate came from across the stars. They arrived on Nisora and saw the Galendrans, who were bright and loud, and got angry. The Protectorate didn't like what the Galendrans sold in the stores, and didn't like what they did for fun, and told them to stop.
But the Galendrans didn't stop, because like the rats, they couldn't change who they were.
After a lot of talking, and some yelling and some throwing things, the Galendrans convinced the Protectorate to let the people of Nisora be who they are. The Protectorate stopped trying to force the Galendrans to be someone different, and left Nisora alone.
Today in Galendra, we wear our bright colors, and put on our bright lights, to tell the Protectorate we are who we are, and you can't force us to be anyone different. And though the rats no longer eat our wires and turn off our lights, we remember them for being who they are, even when we asked them to stop.
So when you see a bright sign in the shape of a rat, hanging on the wall, think of the wire rats who taught us the most important lesson of all: to be who we are, even when someone else doesn't like it.
How did the rats not get electrocuted by eating the wires? Love the moral of the story!
Take a look at my Institutions of Learning challenge article.
Learn about the World of Wizard's Peak and check out my award winning article about the Ghost Boy of Kirinal!
Tiny rubber boots :)
Speculative-Fiction Writing