The Runaway Blueberry

Barry didn’t look like the other blueberries. He wasn’t round enough, plump enough, or even blue enough. He was lopsided and wrinkled and he was more purple than blue. Barry lived in a clear plastic box on the kitchen counter with the other blueberries. But Barry felt invisible. None of the other blueberries liked Barry because he was different from them. Nobody paid attention to Barry. Barry was sad. He felt lonely and wanted to be like the other blueberries.

Then one day something happened. The clear plastic box was knocked off the counter. Whoooaaa!! It was a long way to the floor. Barry landed on the floor with all the other blueberries. He was a little stunned from the fall, but Barry knew he was OK. As he looked around, he saw all the other blueberries talking to each other and asking each other if they were hurt. None of the blueberries asked Barry if he was hurt. Once again, Barry felt invisible.

Out came the broom and the dust pan. All of the other blueberries were being swept in to the dustpan. Barry was waiting for the big brush to come to him when he thought to himself, “Wait! Why would I want to go with them? Nobody likes me. I’d be better off alone.”

And then he did it. When the brush came toward him, Barry rolled as fast as he could in the other direction. He rolled and rolled, faster and faster. Barry didn’t know where he was going. He just kept rolling.

Barry rolled until he couldn’t roll anymore. When he stopped, he didn’t know where he was. It was dark and warm. Barry suddenly regretted his decision to roll away from the others. He was scared and alone. As he stood still in the darkness, his eyes became adjusted. Barry then realized that he was not alone.

“Where am I?”, Barry asked.

“You’re under the refrigerator”, said Nicole the Nickel.

“Under the refrigerator? Oh no! Who are you?”, asked Barry.

The nickel replied, “My name is Nicole. This is Penelope.” Nicole pointed to a pen cap.

“Hi there”, said Penelope.

“I’m Harry”, said a wad of dog hair.

“What’s up? My name is Cornelius, but you can call me Corny”, said a corn flake.

“What brings you to these parts?”, asked Mac, a piece of elbow macaroni.

Barry explained to the others that he had been at home in the clear plastic box when somehow the box fell off the counter. He explained that the other blueberries were swept up and now lived in a dust pan. He further explained that he purposely rolled from the other blueberries and that is how he wound up under the refrigerator.

Penelope asked Barry, “Won’t the other blueberries worry about you when they realize you’re missing?”

Barry told the others under the refrigerator that he would not be missed by the blueberries. He told his new friends that the other blueberries did not like him because he was not like the rest of them. Barry told them that he felt badly about himself because he was different from the other blueberries.

Mac said, “Why would you want to be like everybody else? That’s boring.”

Corny chimed in, “Yeah! What’s so great about that? You’re one of a kind”.

Harry added, “Look at us. We’re all different from one another, but we’re all good friends. Kinda like a family”.

Nicole said, “Barry, we’re all unique, but we all care about each other.”

Everyone under the refrigerator asked Barry to stay with them and appreciate his uniqueness. Barry accepted the offer and looked around at his new family. For the first time in his life, Barry felt good about himself and was proud to be different.