Shinjirumba
Once upon a time,
between the sky and the meadow,
there was a small village.
In that village,
a mysterious wind blew.
When people were happy, it smelled of flowers.
When they were sad, it smelled of rain.
When someone fell in love,
a small light would float in the sky.
However,
the children of the village had recently
stopped smiling little by little.
"It's impossible anyway."
"There's no point in believing."
"It's tiring to have expectations."
Such words
made the sky feel heavy.
Then, one night,
from beyond the moonlit hill,
a strange creature arrived.
A round hat.
Fluffy shoes.
Large ears.
And,
for some reason, every time it walked,
Rumba♪
Shinjirumba♪
Rumba-rumba♪
it would sing.
The child's name was
Shinjirumba.
Whenever Shinjirumba
found someone in trouble,
it would quietly approach and say,
"Hey.
Just for a little bit,
why don't you try believing?"
"In what?"
"In tomorrow.
In yourself.
In someone else."
Everyone laughed.
"That won't change anything."
Then Shinjirumba
took out a small seed
from its pocket.
It was
an ordinary seed,
neither glowing
nor particularly beautiful.
"This is a 'Seed of Belief'."
"This is
just a regular seed."
"Yes.
But you see,
if you plant it while believing,
a different kind of flower will bloom."
Half-skeptical, the children
tried planting them in the soil.
"I hope I can smile a little tomorrow."
"I hope I can make up with my mom."
"I hope I can go to school, even though I'm scared."
That night,
a gentle wind blew through the village.
The next day,
to everyone's surprise,
sprouts had emerged from the seeds.
And what's more,
each one was a different color.
Red.
Blue.
Gold.
Rainbow-colored.
The flowers
had become the color of the feelings they believed in.
"No way..."
"They really bloomed..."
At that moment,
a girl who had been silent all along
said in a small voice,
"I...
hated myself."
Shinjirumba
sat down next to her.
"Yes."
"But...
I thought that maybe, just a little,
I could start to like myself."
Then,
the girl's flower
glowed softly.
Warmly,
gently.
As if
the morning sun were rising inside her heart.
From that day on,
mysterious things began to happen in the village.
When they fell, more children said,
"Maybe I can stand up again."
When they fought, more people said,
"Maybe we can make up."
Lights began to float
in the sky once more.
And then,
one morning,
Shinjirumba
quietly set off on a journey.
From its retreating figure as it disappeared over the hill,
only that song could be heard.
Rumba♪
Shinjirumba♪
The heart that believes is an undying rumba♪
The villagers,
even now, sometimes
look up at the night sky.
There are painful days.
There are days when they want to cry.
Even so,
"Just for a little bit,
let's try to believe."
When they were able to think that,
somewhere,
a small flower
would bloom once again.
##Creative Awards 2026
#Fantasy Novel Category
#Shinjirumba
#Fairy Tale
#Marchen
#Power of Belief
#Flower of the Heart
#Gentle Story
#Touching Fairy Tale
#Self-Affirmation
#Story of Hope
#For Children and Adults