Turny

Turny, the curious Sunflower - drawn by Jennifer Andersson

Somewhere, not too far, not too close to the Danube, there lives a sunflower called Turny. Why was he given such a strange name? Because he did not turn towards the Sun but towards everything else.

- Look how shiny the sun is! - said the other sunflowers.

- Look how shady the woods are! - answered Turny.

- You feel how warm the sun is? - sighed his mates.

- I’d rather go to the river and feel how fresh and cold it is! - replied Turny.

- It’s amazing how perfect shape the sun has - said his friends finally.

- What about the skay that never ends? - asked Turny.

His mates did not care about him anymore. They let him watch the sky or whatever he wanted because they knew that he would never find anything nicer than the Sun.

One day Turny met the deer, the turtle and the eagle. The deer was speaking about woods and fields, the turtle about lakes and rivers while the eagle said to Turny:

- There is not much to tell you about the sky, it’s not an intresting place. The sun shines during the day while the moon and stars during the night.

- Moon? Stars? - Turny was surprised - I have never heard of them.

- They are like sun but their light is silver not golden – said the eagle.

- I have to see them - decided Turny and he asked the deer to help him to stay awake during the night. But however hard they tried they fell asleep at sunset.

- We will succeed tonight - Turny promised to himself and called the turtle. But when the sun disappeared from the sky, both of them fell asleep again.

- It must be a joke or something - Turny was angry and he asked the eagle this time to find out why they fall asleep whenever the sun sets.

- You are lucky because I happen to know the answer. The Sun is very jealous of the Moon so she sprinkles dreampowder on your eyes before the Moon turns up. It is impossible to stay awake with dreampowder on your eyes.

- Tell me, my friend, what can I do? -  asked Turny.

- I don’t know - the eagle shrugged his shoulders and also the deer and the turtle were clueless. Turny was racking his brains all morning and by the afternoon Turny was so tired that he was to sleep when the eagle arrived.

- What brought you here? - Turny asked the eagle.

- I thought it was a good idea to bring you some shade in such a sunny day - replied the eagle and started to fly right above Turny.

- You are genious! - yelled Turny happily - If you were flying above me at sunset, the dreampowder will  not fall on me.

- You are right - the eagle giggled - Will you also talk to the Moon and the stars?

- Of course.

- If you find a little star that wants to come down to the earth, will you tell me? This is what I would like the most, to meet a real star.

- If I find one, I will bring that to you - promised Turny.

So the eagle started to fly above Turny till the sun was up and then he fell asleep. Slowly everything became black that Turny was a bit scared because he has never seen black before. He then noticed the shining stars and the Moon on the sky.

- Here you are - he sighed - you are amazing.  

- Oh my God, there is a sunflower talking to me - the Moon was shocked - How come you are not sleeping?

- Because I was smarter than the sun - Turny was very proud of himself.

- Ha-ha-ha - the Moon laughed - And what do you want from me?

Turny took a deep breath

- I want to know who you and the stars are.

- We are planets like the Sun just we do not have our own light - said the Moon.

- Why do you shine then?

- We do not shine but reflect the Sun’s light.

- I don't understand - Turny was puzzled.

- What don't you understand?

- Why cant we meet you if wherever we turn, we see the sun’s light anyway?

- Because this is something the Sun is not aware of. The sun comes before us so she does not know who comes behind her. She suspects there must be someone on the sky after she leaves that's why she sprinkles dreampowder on you. I would love to tell her the truth but we can never actually meet. If only there was someone who could explain that to her.

The moon blinked at Turny.

- Me? - asked Turny.

- Yes - the Moon nodded.

- If I do it, can I ask something in return? Send me a star, please, that I can bring home for my friend.

- You are a lucky little Sunflower. The smallest star on the sky was always longing to go down to the earth but I was too worried to let her go. You seem to be brave and smart - if your friend is the same, I am happy to leave her with you.

Turny was happier than ever and the star who was listening to them all the time was cheerfully slipping under Turny’s wing.

- I have to say goodbye now, little Sunflower, because the dawn is coming. Take good care of the star and let her come home every night when we need her. Have a shiny day! - the Moon was waving.

On the following day Turny told the Sun everything about his adventure and the Sun promised that she would never sprinkle dreampowder on the sunflowers again. The eagle was flying with the star happily and at night Turny was watching the Moon and the stars with his mates.