Leikki

    Not too long ago, there was a little kitten.  Her name was Leikki.  She was the happiest kitten that ever lived, and she especially loved playing with friends.

    One morning, Leikki woke up with a happy thought in her head.  “I want to make some friends today,” she said to the Sun.  “So then I can play with them and we can all be happy!”

    The Sun smiled down on her and said it was a good idea.

             So Leikki went bouncing joyfully down the path to find some friends.  Soon she came upon three adorable bunnies.  “Hello!” She said.  “I am looking for friends.  Will you play with me?”

    The bunnies liked Leikki’s happy smile.  The brown one said, “Our favorite thing to play is racing down the path and seeing who can bounce the farthest.  Let’s play it!”

    The other bunnies agreed and lined up.  Leikki was excited to play with her new friends, and she lined up next to them.  But when they started bouncing, Leikki kept getting her feet tangled up and she fell down.  

The bunnies looked at her.  The black one said, “Why can’t you bounce like us?”  The white one said, “She’s too different.  See?  Her ears are too short and her tail is too long.  We can’t play with her.”  And the bunnies bounced away.

Leikki was sad.  But she still remembered her happy thought and the Sun's encouragement; so away she went to find some other friends.  After a few minutes, she met a tortoise. “Hello!” She said. “My name is Leikki. Do you want to be my friend?”

The tortoise slowly turned to look at her. He liked her bright eyes. “Okay,” he said, “I will be your friend. I am going to see my other friends. How about you come with me.”

So Leikki and the tortoise started down the path. Leikki was so excited that she kept skipping ahead. Then she would remember that tortoises walk slowly, so she would come back and skip along beside him. But the tortoise was bothered. “Would you stop that?” He asked in an angry voice. “You need to slow down. I don't want to be friends with someone who goes too fast. Your legs are too big, anyway.” And he turned to walk away from her.

Leikki wanted to catch up with him. She could have. But she didn't, because she knew he would say she was going too fast. Instead, she walked the other way.

Leikki was starting to feel very sad. She liked her friends, but her friends didn't seem to like her. Her ears were too short and her tail was too long and her legs were too big and she went too fast.

Leikki saw a pond and stopped to look at herself. The more she looked, the more she saw that her friends were right.  

“I want friends,” she whispered. “But nobody likes me. I'm not good enough.”

The Sun looked down and warmed her back. “Leikki,” He said, “you are good enough. You are good enough for me. Keep looking for friends, little one. I promise you will find some.”

The Sun's words made Leikki feel better. She smiled and lifted her head.

Suddenly, a face popped out of the water. It was a fish. “Oh, hello!” The fish said. She liked Leikki’s graceful way of moving. Leikki smiled even bigger. “I'm Leikki. Can you be my friend?”

The fish nodded. “Yes. And my other friend is down here. Do you want to come swim with us?”

Leikki wasn't sure about the water, but she jumped in anyway. These must be the friends the Sun was talking about.

But kittens aren't meant to be in water. Leikki couldn't breathe, and the water in her fur made her sink. The fish pushed her to the shore and put her head out of the water. “You're a kitten,” they said. “You can't swim. You have too much fur.” And they swam away.

Leikki was very sad now. She thought she would never find friends, so she started walking home.

“Leikki,” the Sun said. Leikki hung her head and didn't look at Him. “Leikki, my little one,” He said again.

Leikki looked up. “What? I don't want to listen to You anymore. You lied to me. You said I would find friends if I kept looking, but I didn't. So I'm going home. Alone.”

The Sun warmed her back. “Oh, my little one. You haven't been looking long enough. Keep looking. I will keep my promise.”

Leikki shook the water out of her fur. She didn't know what to do. Then the Sun pointed His light on a path next to her. “Follow my light down this path.”

Leikki did. She walked along the path, following the light of the Sun. Then, as she came close to a corner, she heard noises. They were happy sounds, and they made Leikki feel very excited. She ran around the corner and was met by a most wonderful sight!

There, jumping and playing around on a beautiful, sunny patch of grass, were more kittens than Leikki could count! All of the other kittens had short ears and long tails and strong legs and soft fur--just like Leikki. All of them liked her happy smile and bright eyes and graceful movements. And all of them were her friends forever after, and played with her all day.

That night, before Leikki fell asleep next to her wonderful new friends, she looked at the beautiful setting Sun. “Thank you,” she said.

And the Sun smiled kindly as he slipped behind the mountains. “Goodnight, little one,” He said. “Remember: I will always keep my promises.”