Zander's Wish

This is a story about what happens when a boy named Zander feels uncomfortable about himself and wishes he was just like everyone else. A message about the beauty of diversity, and the importance and gift of being yourself. About 10 minutes of story and 5 minutes of music and nature/bell sounds.

Transcript

Welcome,

My dear ones.

Thank you for joining me.

I'd like to tell you a story about a very special boy who was struggling because he felt different.

Have you ever felt left out or like you didn't fit in?

I think we all have wondered about our own self-worth at some point in our lives.

So let's start by taking a great big full body stretch from your toes all the way down to your fingers.

Hold it there for a moment and release.

Then take a nice slow deep breath.

Okay,

Find the most comfortable position you can.

Get all settled in and let's begin our story.

There was a boy named Xander.

Xander loved to play chess,

Swing on the monkey bars,

Build robots and his blue and orange running shoes.

He loved the tree that was in the field behind his home with its many low and smooth branches.

It was perfect for climbing.

And he loved making up stories and jokes to make his friends and family laugh.

There are also some things that Xander did not like as well.

He did not like getting out of bed when he was cozy and warm.

He didn't like the smell of new mulch in the springtime.

And he didn't like it when someone would ask him a question but not actually listen to his answer.

One day when Xander was drawing a picture of the tree he loved to climb in art class,

He heard one of his classmates say that trees were silly.

Xander felt sad that he liked trees when his classmate did not.

So he stopped drawing and threw his picture away.

He started to draw a dinosaur instead.

He liked dinosaurs too but his heart wasn't as excited about the dinosaur picture.

He was only drawing the dinosaur because he thought his classmates would like a dinosaur better than a tree.

During recess while Xander was swinging on the monkey bars two at a time,

He noticed some of his friends were playing frisbee tag on the soccer field.

They were laughing and having a lot of fun.

Xander didn't know how to throw a frisbee.

The few times he tried it veered straight down to the ground and went in any direction other than the way he wanted it to go.

He wished he could play frisbee too.

But he didn't want to embarrass himself by trying and failing.

Xander also realized that none of the other kids had shoes that were blue and orange like his were.

And he started to feel nervous about looking different.

He wondered what everyone thought about his shoes.

He questioned himself and why he liked them so much.

Maybe they weren't as cool as he thought.

That night when he went to bed,

He shut his eyes very tightly.

He said to himself,

I wish everything was the same and I was just like everyone else.

And then he went to sleep.

The next morning when he woke up,

He noticed all his toys had changed into his Botastic 300 robot builder set.

Xander was confused thinking maybe he was still dreaming,

But at least he loved building robots.

So he reluctantly pulled himself out of his cozy bed to go downstairs for breakfast.

For breakfast,

Xander wanted pancakes.

His mom said all he could have was yogurt and strawberries.

That was okay.

Xander liked yogurt and strawberries.

When his mom drove him to school,

Xander blinked and rubbed his eyes as he stared out the window.

It seemed that every home he saw looked exactly the same.

They were all square with red brick,

A big bay window in the front and a chimney on the right side.

And every tree looked exactly the same too.

But it wasn't his special climbing tree.

It was a very tall oak tree that did not have any low branches.

Xander wondered if he'd ever see his special climbing tree again.

Xander couldn't believe what was happening.

Had his wish come true from the night before?

As Xander continued to look around,

He noticed that every dog he saw was small and tan.

Every flower was yellow and round,

And every shrub was short with red berries.

Things got even stranger when Xander got to school.

All of his classmates looked just like him.

They all had light brown hair,

Hazel eyes,

A green sweatshirt,

And blue and orange running shoes.

When his teacher would call on someone,

She always said,

Xander,

And everyone in the class would answer at the same time.

Xander never got a chance to speak on his own.

At lunch in the cafeteria,

Xander noticed all he had was yogurt and strawberries in his lunchbox again.

And so did every other student.

They all ate out of the same superhero lunchbox too.

During art class,

There was only one color of paint,

Brown.

And everyone painted the exact same bear picture that Xander was painting.

And at recess,

None of the other kids played Frisbee tag or hopscotch or dodgeball.

All the kids went straight to the monkey bars just like Xander.

The monkey bars got so crowded,

Everyone just had to hang on to their own bar in a big clump.

There was no room to swing.

When it was time for pickup at the end of school day,

All the parents who came to pick up their kids looked exactly like Xander's parents.

And they were all driving the exact same car.

Xander didn't know who his real parents were.

He started to get really scared.

What if he went to the wrong house with the wrong parents?

What if he got lost in the sea of sameness and never found his real home again?

That night at dinner,

You guessed it,

Yogurt and strawberries again.

When Xander went to his bookshelf for a book to read,

They were all the same book.

The music his mom was listening to while she folded identical clothes played the same song over and over.

The show his dad watched on TV was the same show too,

Repeated again and again.

Everything was exactly the same.

Everything had any variety or difference to it at all.

When Xander went to bed that night,

He realized he didn't like being like everyone else.

Life would be confusing and boring if everything was exactly the same.

So before he went to sleep that night,

He closed his eyes very tightly again.

But this time he said,

I don't want everything to be the same anymore.

I'm glad I'm different than the other kids.

I like being me.

The next morning,

When Xander woke up,

All the botastic building sets had changed back into his other toys.

He had cereal for breakfast.

And on the way to school,

All the houses and trees and dogs and flowers and shrubs looked different.

Xander felt especially relieved when he saw all his classmates looked like themselves again.

Xander even made a new tree drawing an art class.

And this time he felt proud when he showed it to his teacher,

And she hung it on the wall.

And whenever he started to question himself to feel insecure,

Or like maybe his thoughts and opinions weren't valid,

He'd remember how it felt to be exactly the same as everyone else.

And he'd remind himself how lucky he was to be unique and special.

The one and only Xander.

I hope you can see how important and special our differences are.

Even though differences can feel unfamiliar,

They are to be celebrated.

You are a unique and beautiful individual,

Just as you are.

No one else in the whole world has your same thoughts,

Experience or feelings.

Your life is meant to be lived by you.

So I hope you always feel proud of who you are.

That you always honor your feelings and know that you are just as important as anyone else.

You can always remain true to yourself and remember that you matter.

Goodnight sweet souls,

And sweet dreams.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.