A crane story

A few years ago I sent my friend Aly's three daughters a box full of golden origami cranes, which they use on their holiday tree. This year I wanted to send them a packet of origami paper, so I wrote a little story to go along with it.

(I told them they could name the story if they wanted, and they came up with "Kiku & Mai Learn to Say Hi" :))

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There once was a flock of golden paper cranes who nested in a tree near the house where Malia, Eliana, and Sasha lived.

The cranes led a merry life. They chased each other around in games of tag. They turned flips in mid-air. They even flew upside-down and hummed at the same time!

The best days were the days the sisters came to visit. Malia would tell stories; Eliana would sing and dance; and Sasha would tell joke after joke after joke. The cranes were so full of joy, then, that they would smile from ear to shining ear.

But there was one thing that was missing. It was something that filled Kiku and Mai, the smallest of the golden cranes, with sighs when they thought about it: crane friends.

When the breeze stirred the branches of their treetop home, Kiku and Mai glimpsed distant cranes in all the colors of the rainbow. They caught flashes of bright wings in the noonday sun and under the full moon. They heard flute-like voices rising together in song; and watched with longing the mysterious, magical games the rainbow cranes played.

Kiku and Mai yearned to join them. Yet the rainbow cranes never invited them to play. Not once. They never even said hello.

This was the sole grey cloud in the lives of the golden cranes.

* * *

One day, Eliana told Kiku and Mai that she had learned a new song. They clamored to hear it.

"Why are there so many songs about rainbows," she sang, "and what's on the other side?"

Kiku started to cry. The song made her feel lonely. It reminded her of what she was missing.

"What's the matter?" asked Sasha, "Don't you like Ana's song?"

Between tears, the whole story came tumbling out. Mai told the sisters about the wonderful rainbow cranes - their haunting songs, their clever games, their loving bonds. And then Kiku spoke, more haltingly, about how it made them feel, to have to watch from a distance. To always be left out.

"You think because they don't play with you that they don't like you?" said Eliana, wonderingly. "But, why wouldn't they like you?"

"Did you ever ask them to play with you?" asked Malia.

"No," wept Kiku, "they never asked us… so we thought they would say no if we did."

"What if...," Malia hesitated, choosing her words carefully so as not to hurt the golden cranes' feelings, "what if the rainbow cranes are thinking the same thing?"

"What do you mean?" asked Mai.

"What if they think you aren't asking them to play because you don't like them?"

"What if they feel left out when they see you playing?" added Eliana.

"Ask them! Ask them to play! You have to be brave!" encouraged Sasha (who almost always was).

Kiku's wings trembled, but Malia said gently, "Sometimes you have to be the one to make the first move, if you want to make a new friend."

"We've never had friends outside our flock," said Mai doubtfully.

The sisters put their heads together to whisper, and soon came out all smiles.

"We know what to do! We can help you make friends," they grinned. "We have a Secret Plan! It will be our gift to you."

No matter how much Kiku and Mai coaxed, that was all the sisters would say!

* * *

One day a yellow envelope arrived at the sisters' house. When Sasha saw it, she cast a gleeful look at the cranes; then ran into the house, calling to her sisters, "IT'S HERE!"

Kiku and Mai looked at each other with shining eyes. That envelope must have something to do with the Secret Plan! They had thought and talked about it for days, but it was still a mystery to them. Now they would know what the sisters were up to! Too excited to sit still, they fluttered down to the windowsill and peered inside.

The girls were hunched together whispering over whatever had come out of that mysterious package. Kiku and Mai nudged and jostled each other trying to see. They could hear rustlings and crinklings … but whatever was making those sounds was just out of sight. The eager cranes could hardly contain themselves!

They waited and waited. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they heard a triumphant "Ta da!" and a great whoop of joy; and saw the girls dash for the back door!

When the door opened, the golden cranes saw a sight that made them gasp: there was a rainbow crane perched delicately on each of Malia's hands!

"Konnichiwa!" the crane on Malia's left hand said in a gentle voice. "My name is Sakura. I am tickled pink to meet you!"

"Kiku!!!" giggled Mai, waving a wing at the cherry-colored crane on Malia's left hand, "It looks like she is!"

"I am Aoi," said the crane on Malia's right hand, with a shy smile. "I was blue before I knew you."

"Mai!!!" whispered Kiku, waving bashfully at the second crane, who was changing color from navy to plum before their eyes, "I think she is right!"

The golden cranes fluttered around Eliana and Sasha, peppering them with questions, interrupting each other in their excitement. "Where did you find them?" "How did you meet them?" "Where did they come from?" "They are so nice!"

"You said you didn't know how to make friends," said Sasha.

"...So we got a packet of origami paper and made some for you!" grinned Eliana triumphantly.

"A chance to meet new friends is the best gift ever!" said Mai with a smile as bright as the sun. And Kiku thanked each of the sisters with a gentle kiss.

Then, turning to Sakura and Aoi, they asked, first shyly, then with growing delight, "Sakura? Aoi? We are Kiku and Mai. Would you like to play?"

Please help, do something good

Read the story of Anya, Nastia, and Keri Cahill here. An effort is currently underway to try to reunite these long lost sisters. You can follow the latest efforts here.

The younger sister, Nastia, collects postcards from all over the world. If you could find it in your heart to send this girl a supportive postcard I think it would mean the world to her. She's absolutely distraught over the fact that the government has broken up her chance to be with her sister, after all these long years, and she really deserves every kindness that can be shown.

The address is available on the Facebook page, but if you can't get on that page, let me know and I will forward the address to you directly.