There once was a wondrous valley enclosed by the tallest mountain in a mystical, far away place. There was green grass that stretched as far as the eye could see. Beyond that, the great mountains rose up, tall and glorious, isolating the beautiful valley. The trees grew, the birds sang, and the crickets chirped, but this wasn’t just an ordinary valley. Every morning the whole valley would join in and create music. The crickets would play their violin-legs, the frogs would ribbet, the fireflies would twinkle, and the birds sing. With the rest of the animals adding their own little flair to the piece, this performance quite literally, makes the sun rise. For the rest of the day the animals would fool around and occasionally practice for the next concert. Their days went on with the same routine-playing in the morning and doing whatever they felt like at night. Everyone was blissfully happy, except Nightingale.

Nightingale, or Night as she liked to be called, wasn’t like the other birds. She was far too shy to sing in the morning. When it did come time for her to sing, she got all choked up and hid behind the others. She was too timid to come out and show her own voice, and for that the other animals would make fun of her. Almost everyday she heard “Oh look, there’s Night again hiding from the sun. What a freak!” or “Oh my gosh! Why doesn’t Night sing? She’s so weird!”. Everyone avoided her, she felt like the valley; isolated from the rest of the world.

One day, however, her situation got worse; the odds just weren’t in her favor. Night was randomly chosen for a solo. She tried not to freak out, but it didn’t help. During the next performance, with her solo coming up, just as the sun began to rise, Night got stage fright and couldn’t sing.

After that, the rest of the animals would tease her more than ever. As much as Night tried to forget what happened, she couldn’t. The animals would never stop. It was day and night; non-stop insults. “Wow, Night! Look the sun’s coming up, you gonna choke?” and “Hey Night! You afraid of the light?”.

Finally, Night just couldn’t take it anymore. So, she took off and flew, and kept flying. She flew for hours, not thinking about where she was going. Night flew over the mountains and on to the open land beyond. She soared over miles of green grass, growing trees, and quiet ponds. Finally, unable to fly any farther, she landed in what seemed to be a deserted are. She found a cozy tree to spend the night in and cool off. Although, as she was drifting off to sleep, the night suddenly erupted into song. Beautiful melodies and remarkable harmonies seemed to becoming from everywhere. Looking closer at her surroundings, Night saw a whole community of animals performing. They were happy, they played with intensity, and their music was full of life. These animals were ten times better than the valley animals. Mesmerized and almost moved to tears by the music, Night went to meet these miraculous animals hoping they were accepting of her. Just like she hoped, they welcomed her warmly and showed her around.

These new animals performed only at night, making the moon and the stars come out and shine. In the mornings, they would rehearse their performance and the rest of the day they would just play-classic, jazz, blues, samba, swing, funk, any kind of music. They loved performing, they loved music, they had a passion. Within a couple of days, Night became a part of that performance; a part of that passion. Now, as the sun set, and her performance drew nearer, Night wasn’t afraid. In fact, her singing moved all the animals to tears; she was that wonderful. Her voice was so sweet and mellifluous, that everything, throughout the entire land, stopped to listen. Even the animals in Night’s former home heard her. The valley animals were so surprised when they found out Night was singing; they had no idea she was that talented. They wanted that voice as part of their performance. So, they invited her back; welcomed, wanted her back.

But Night said no; she finally found a place that accepted her not knowing, not caring, about what she could do. Night was part of something bigger; a desirable society that welcomed her no matter what. And that’s where she wanted to stay, where she knew she belonged. In a place of acceptance, she could finally be her self.