Earth lives in a happy family. Her parents Mommy Sun and Daddy Moon love her so much. Her mom has beautiful long golden hair. Earth wants to be as pretty as her mom when she grows up. And her dad always wears this magical costume that changes shapes at night. It makes Earth laugh each time he puts her to sleep. At night Dad’s one body half disappears but then he looks normal in the morning.

Earth adores going on trips with her parents to different planets. She first saw aliens when she was ONLY THREE. They were actually kind and showed lots of cool tricks, like jumping super high or running super fast. She visited Neptune, Venus, and Saturn. But Earth had never explored her own home planet yet…

After Earth turned six, her parents realized it was time for her to start school. To learn about her home planet and find new friends.

“You’re right! Earth enjoys having fun in her room and reading books – but it’s finally time to step outside,” says Mommy Sun.

Earth lives in an unusual home to her human neighbours – star walls, a rocket fridge in the kitchen, and portal doors. Usually, when somebody visits, they say this home is like another reality.

“HOOORAAYY!!” The whole house shakes off Earth’s joy. ”Finally, I will get to eat lunch in the cafeteria, do homework, and learn about astronomy!”

“Let’s pack up your backpack!” Daddy Moon reveals a little gift to her daughter.

This is the day! Uniform, supplies, lunch – all set and ready. Hugging her parents tight and now Earth is on her way to school. Her smile brightens the whole street. One little birdy greeted her with a sweet melodic song on the school lawn. Wonderful weather makes Earth feel confident and excited about starting a new chapter.

Pressuring low light and skin-burning temperature. The school interior sharps Earth’s eyes with saturated orange colours and smoky air.

“Are all schools like that?” She thought to herself. An unexpected environmental change disoriented and blurred Earth’s vision while figuring out a room number on the schedule given to her. Rough shoulder push. Somebody bumped into Earth. This was Tree, she was running away from somebody and unfortunately did not notice the new student on her way. All of her books fell on the ground.

“Do you need help?” Earth asks but doesn’t receive a reply. Tree just gestures to look back to be careful; by overwhelmingly grabbing all books, she stands up to continue running. Tree looked scared, in Earth’s opinion. “Somebody offended her?”

“HEY! Let me go through or what?!” Earth’s heart jumps from an expected loud voice. “Can you move? What are you staring at?!” This is Fossil, the son of the richest businessman on the planet. He believes his opinions and needs are the most important in this school. His father taught him, people, with money, must be always respected.

For the first time, Earth feels anxiety. Her palms are shaking along with her voice. She’s sure her parents know how to deal with such a situation – but sadly she doesn’t.

“I’m sorry,” she moved to the right side, even though there was lots of space where Fossil could go around her.

“You’re the slowest person I’ve met in my life. Decisions have to be made fast. Time is money. Understand?” Fossil shouted into Earth’s ear. His scream stunned everyone in the hallway.

This is not the kind of first school day Earth dreamed of. She imagined a place of smiles and friendships, where everyone is caring for each other. What happened to her home planet?

“Good morning, class! Please welcome our new student!” The teacher points to the classroom centre for Earth to stand at. “Do you guys remember what we usually say to new classmates?”

“Why should we waste our class time on that? And plus, why are we starting our class without Fossil – he is the class leader?!” This is Litter, he is Fossil’s best friend. He follows Fossil’s every single step and does anything he asks. If somebody tries to misbehave or not listen to Fossil, Litter knows how to defend him. Usually, it involves not very nice actions.

“Here I am! Not a long wait this time – had to teach some students valuable advice,” announces Fossil as he enters the room.

”Oh Fossil, thankfully you are here. Would you like to welcome the new student?” says Teacher.

“That’s my job. Class on 3, 2, 1..”
“NICE TO MEET YOU!” everyone shouted.
“Not bad, but alright for low-income children. Let’s proceed with the class, Teacher.”
“I really appreciate such a warm welcome, Fossil. Earth, go sit somewhere in the back. There are some leftover chairs,” shows the Teacher. Earth noticed that only ‘green’ students like her sat there while all ‘grey’ students were at the front. That made Earth feel very sad and unfair.

Mommy Sun comes back from work.
“How’s our child doing? Let’s celebrate such an important day with cake!

EARTH! Come meet Mommy!”
“Returned without any word and just closed in her room,” says Daddy Moon.

”I’ve never seen her like that. I even briefly noticed something on her forehead.

For some time, Earth’s smile was back when she saw the school playground. She hoped there was at least something that could uplift her mood. But the playground structures seemed so modern and tall like in the sci-fi books she read. It felt a bit conflicting playing here. She couldn’t see sunrays and listen to her favourite bird songs because of the loud construction noise.

“My father built all of that! Lots of investments and capital. Envy?” Fossil appeared in front of Earth.
Earth debated about how to reply. She really wants to keep it nice without any fights.

“This is cool! But I wish they weren’t as high… Can’t quite see the sky and nature. Do you know why this house tree makes gas? But it still looks fun! I’m about to go on a slide with Tree. Have a good day!”
Fossil blocks Earth from going. He gestures to Litter to back him up.

“Did you ask my permission?” Fossil says.

“Oh sorry. Isn’t it for everyone to play?” Earth replies.

“So first you offend my dad’s hard work. Talk to me with accusations. There’s NO WAY I allow YOU to stand on this territory.”

“Sorry? But..”

“Did you hear what he said? You always have to follow his rules!” adds Litter.

Further away Teacher observes the happening but pretends like nothing is happening.

“Calling Teacher! Why school accepts such terrible treatment of their students?”

“No no Mommy, please don’t do that. I’ll get used to this!”

“Used to this! To what? Getting bruises and disrespect? Installing whole factories on children’s playgrounds. Idolizing sons of millionaires who bully ordinary kids in the hallway. Woow, things haven’t changed since my time.”

A few weeks later school reopened its doors. The collective work of parents and students made Teacher reconsider their actions. Earth was involved in repainting the walls into beautiful rainbows. Tree helped to plant flowers on the lawn. The playground was rebuilt into its more accessible and sustainable version. Teacher heard the concerns about Fossil and Litter and realized what harm was caused – and expelled them.

“I am deeply sorry, my dear students” Teacher begins class with an apology. “The power of money blinded me. I thought it would only do good for us. But I was wrong, I completely forgot about the purpose of being a teacher – to create a caring and safe environment for students and their well-being. I promise it’ll never happen again.”

Since then, Earth has enjoyed spending all of her time at school. It became the best place to study and have fun with her classmates, like Tree and Mountain. Now school hallways shine in bright rainbow colours and are full of student smiles. Thanks to her parents, Earth learned that it’s important to be kind and care for one another in order to live a happy life on this planet.