Red, Blue, and Green People

A Parable of Sharing

The red people lived in the red town.

The blue people lived in the blue town.

And the green people lived in the green town.

The red people spoke red.

The blue people spoke blue.

And the green people spoke green.

The red people ate red food and worshipped a red god.

The blue people ate blue food and worshipped a blue god.

And the green people ate green food and prayed to a green god.

On the first of the year, a new child was born in the red town. His face was yellow. The red people did not know what to do.

On the third day of the new year, a purple baby was born in the green town. It was a color the green people had never seen.

One day an old red man overheard a young red man speaking blue.

An old blue lady overheard a young blue girl speaking red.

And a thin green man sowing green seeds spied a blue man eating red food.

The green man approached the blue man and gestured with his green hands over his green belly.

The blue man smiled, his blue teeth sparkled. He held out a piece of red fruit.

The thin green man hesitated. He had never eaten red food. Never received it from a blue man.

But something in his heart fluttered.

He reached out. His green skin brushed the blue man's fingertips.

He took the red food. Sunk his green teeth into its red flesh.

Red juice dripped out the sides of his green lips all the way down his green neck onto his green chest.

The blue man took a bit of the red fruit too. The juice dripped all the way down to his thighs.

The green man looked at the blue man. The blue man stared at the green man.

They burst into laughter. The blue man reached into his sack and grabbed another piece of red fruit, handing it to the green man.

Their green and blue fingertips pressed into the red fruit.

Juice dripped down their legs into red puddles by their feet.

They finished all the red fruit in the blue man's sack.

Not a single piece remained.

Except a large puddle of red juice.

A story by Pemba Umoja