⏱ ~5 min reading
In the cold blue-green sea, where the waves were high and the sun glittered on the water like silver coins, there lived a great, great whale. His back was black, like a starless night. His sides were black. His tail was black. Everything was black except for one small spot.
At the very tip of his tail, closer to his fin, he had a white spot. Round, neat, as if someone had placed a small snowball against the black velvet and it had stuck.
The whale's name was Moryan. And Moryan was terribly ashamed of his spot.
"I'm not like the others," he sighed as he swam through the cold currents that morning. "All whales have backs that are solid black. All tails are like coal. And I have this spot. It's like something went wrong with me. It's like I wasn't painted.".
When a school of whales gathered together—rocking in the depths, echoing with long, long songs that carried across the ocean—the Mariner kept to himself. He swam to the great depths, where it was dark and quiet. There his tail was not visible. There no one saw him.
Thus the days passed. The sailor grew sadder and sadder. His long whale song, which had previously rang for miles, was now barely audible. The other whales asked each other:
"And where is Moryan? Why haven't we heard from him for so long?"
Nobody knew.
And on a high rocky shore, far, far from the depths, stood a white lighthouse. Its house was round, with a red roof. Inside lived an old caretaker and his little kitten. The kitten was called Cloudy - because his fur was gray, and on his forehead was a white spot-drop.
Little Cloud liked to sit on the highest rock by the sea and look down. The waves crashed against the rock with a loud «booh-booh.» Seagulls circled over the water, shouting: «kr-r-ra, kr-r-ra.» It smelled of salt, wet stones, and fresh fish drying in the sun.
One evening, when the sun was already sinking into the water and turning the sea pink, Cloud saw it. A large black whale, swimming quietly right under the rock. Very close to the shore. As close as whales usually don't swim.
"Wow!" whispered the kitten. "How big!"
She looked closer. And saw the spot. The same one. Small, round, at the very tip of the tail.
"Hey, kitty!" Cloud shouted from the cliff. "Why are you so sad?"
The sailor shuddered. At first he wanted to dive and escape to the depths. But the voice was so thin and so gentle that he stopped. He raised his head above the water. He saw a small gray kitten with a white spot on its forehead.
“I’m not sad,” he muttered. “I’m just… alone.”.
“Why alone?” Khmarinka was surprised.
"Because I'm not like other whales. I have a spot on my tail. It's white. I'm ashamed of it.".
The little cloud was silent for a long time. She looked at the spot. She looked at her paw, where a small speck of white also stood out among the gray fur. And then something very wise appeared in her little yellow eyes - this happens to small creatures who see the world more simply than adults.
"Listen, kitty," she said, "you know what? This isn't a stain. This is your star.".
“A star?” Moryan couldn’t believe it.
— Well, yes. Look at the night sky. It is big, big, dark, dark. And in the middle of it, stars shine. And that is why the sky is beautiful. If there were no stars there, it would be just black. And with stars, it is the sky. You have your star on your tail. You carry it with you wherever you swim. You are a whale-sky.
The sailor looked at the kitten. Then he carefully turned his head and looked at his tail. At the spot. Before, he had seen it one way. And now he suddenly looked at it differently - as if he had turned the glass from one side to the other.
She really did resemble a star. Small. Round. Bright amidst the dark.
“Do you really think so?” he asked quietly.
"I know," Cloud nodded. "My grandmother the cat had the same spot, only on her tail. Everyone said it was a sign of specialness. That grandmother was born different from the others. And she was the smartest cat on the whole shore. Even seagulls came to her for advice.".
The sailor lay on the water for a long time, thinking. The cloud waited, not hurrying anywhere.
And then the whale did something he hadn't done in a long, long time. He sang. At first softly. Then louder. His long, long song floated through the depths, reached a distant pod, and returned in an echo.
The whales came to their senses:
"Morian! It's Morian! He's found!"
They swam. All of them. Black as night. And Moryan, for the first time in a very long time, did not hide. He raised his tail above the water - and his white star flashed in the sun.
"Wow," said the oldest whale. "I didn't know you had one of those. That's beautiful.".
"This is my star," the Sailor replied proudly. "And it's the only one I have in the whole sea.".
From that day on, Moryan swam with his tail proudly raised. And when other whales or fish asked what the spot was, he calmly answered:
"It's not a stain. It's a mark. Everyone has something special—something that no one else has. Sometimes we just need someone small and kind to show us—it's okay. It's your beauty.".
And Cloudy Cloud sat on a rock in the evenings and waved at him with her paw when he passed the lighthouse. And the Sailor waved back - he raised his tail with a star high, high. And the white spot shone in the sun like a real living star above the sea.
✨ What sets us apart from others is not a flaw, but our star ✨