A beautifully painted sun shines artificially behind a tall tree. Mr. Sunshine enters, greeting the children playing underneath.
“Well hello, my little Sunbeams.”
“Hi Mister Sunshine!” The children chant back in joyful unison.
One child does not play with the others, she is sobbing at the base of the tree.
“Little Susie,” Mr. Sunshine greets her with a smile. “Whatever seems to be the problem?”
The girl holds out a toy, a little raven. Its head has fallen off.
“It’s broken!” The girl sobs. “My favourite toy, it’s broken!”
Mr. Sunshine kneels down next to her.
“Well, Little Susie, some things simply cannot be mended with sticky tape. Some things break and cannot be fixed. That’s just the way it is, my little Sunbeam.”
She blubbers.
“B-b-b-but Wee Mally said that he could fix it if I promised to be his friend. But now the head keeps falling off.”
Sunshine motions towards the broken raven.
“Look at your toy Suzie. If I told you that I could fix your toy, but that you’d have to be my friend or I wouldn’t help you, what would that make me?”
Susie mulls for a moment.
“A friend?”
Sunshine shakes his head, his smile still ever-present.
“An emotional manipulator, Suzie. Emotional manipulation is the tool of bullies. What do we do with bullies, Suzie?”
She slowly, but surely, beams a huge grin.
“We… Spread a little sunshine!”
He helps the girl to her feet, twirling her till she giggles.
“We can hold on to broken pieces, wishing them to fix themselves, but then we miss the sunshine that exists around us.”
“But what do I do with my broken toy now? However can she play with all the other little owlies in the tree if she’s broken?” A parliament of owls blinks back at them, menacingly. “She’s damaged, she’s different. Held together with sticky tape, she looks like a freak!”
“I see that you’re upset, but we can’t use words like that. People aren’t freaks, we shouldn’t judge people because they’re different. Everybody shines in their own unique way.” He gathers the children near. “Beauty comes from within, that’s where your sunshine shines from. People that cannot see that will point and laugh, but really, they’re the ugly ones… for they have no sun to shine.”
He holds out the broken raven.
“As hard as it is, I think it is time to say goodbye to your toy. Always remember her, but holding on is only going to take away your sunshine.”
Susie nods, hugging the raven then letting her go. Mister Sunshine gives her a hug.
“That’s a brave thing you just did Susie. There’s lots of poor Ravens around who are stuck, holding onto the broken pieces of their lost loved toys.” He looks up at the owls in the tree. “Those nocturnal animals prefer the sun not to shine. You’re braver than those Midnight Owls and those that judge others as freaks, Susie.”
Sunshine addresses the group in his sing-song voice.
“Remember, Sunbeams, everyone spreads sunshine in their own way. Don’t let anybody take your sunshine away.”