Why the Sky is Far Away
A long, long time ago, the sky was not way up there where the airplanes fly. No, the sky was so close that you could reach up and touch it. It felt soft like a marshmallow. Back then, people didn't need to cook or go to the supermarket. Whenever they were hungry, they just reached up, broke off a piece of the sky, and ate it!
The sky was delicious. It tasted like whatever you liked best—maybe juicy mango, sweet corn, or even yummy chocolate. The people didn't have to work at all. They just went munch, munch, munch all day long. But there was one problem. The people were getting very wasteful. They would tear off giant pieces of the sky, take one tiny bite, and then throw the rest into the rubbish bin. Snap, rip, toss! The rubbish heaps grew higher and higher.
The sky began to turn a grumpy, dark blue. "I am giving you my body to keep you full," the sky boomed with a low rumble of thunder. "But you are wasting my gifts. If you do not stop, I will move far, far away." The people were scared for a little while. They tried to be careful. But soon, they forgot.
One day, at a big festival, a woman named Adunni was so excited that she tore off a piece of the sky as big as a house! She ate and she ate until her tummy was full, but most of the piece was still left. She tried to hide it, she tried to give it to her friends, but no one could finish it. Finally, she tried to bury it in the ground. The sky let out a giant crack of lightning and a roar of thunder! "I warned you!" the sky shouted.
Slowly and surely, the sky began to float up. The people cried out and reached for it, but it was too late. The sky moved higher and higher until it was out of reach. Now, the people had to learn how to plant seeds, water the ground, and work for their food. And that is why today, the sky is so far away—to remind us to never take more than we can use.
