How we got the crying-laughing eyes emoji| Story by Tejal, 10, Bangalore

Once upon a time, there was a strange world called the Emoji World. It was a place where all the emojis lived. 

Now there was one emoji among them who was not happy to be himself -he was the sad emoji, and his name was Roger. 

Roger had only one wish – he wanted to laugh. But he could not. Why? It was because he was the sad emoji. His parents told him, “Be yourself son,” but he did not want to; he just wanted to laugh. Roger had a group of emoji friends who were kind. They tried to help Roger. But all in vain. 

Then one day, the thinking emoji suggested, “Roger, you should go and meet the other emojis. Maybe they can solve your problem.”

Taking his friend’s advice, Roger packed his bags and set off. First, he decided to explore the jungle. There he met the emoji tiger who was laughing. Roger looked at the emoji tiger and thought – “There seems to be something very funny here.” So, he went up to the emoji tiger and asked, “What is so funny? Why are you laughing?’’ 

The tiger replied, “My favorite painting broke but I cannot cry as I am a laughing emoji tiger. But that is not all – the worst part is everyone thinks I meant to break the painting, as they have seen me laughing.”

Roger felt sad and started picking up the pieces of the broken painting and said, “Do not worry I will help you fix it.”

Very quickly, Roger and the emoji tiger fixed the painting together. After they had finished, the emoji tiger said, “Thank you so much. It is very kind of you. Can I help you with something?”

Roger replied, ‘’Yes please, I want to laugh but I cannot as I am a sad emoji. My wish is to laugh. Can you help me in any way?”

The tiger said, “Yes! I can help you. A friend of mine is the emoji monkey. He can make anyone and everyone laugh. He is awesome at jokes.” Roger followed the wind and then he saw the emoji monkey. But alas, he was on the other side of the river. Roger had to think of how to get there. He saw a boat. He quickly took the oars and went as fast as could to reach the monkey. After he reached the other side, he said to the monkey, “My friend, the emoji tiger, told me that you can make me laugh.”

“Of course, I can,” replied the monkey “And I will.” 

The monkey started sharing some jokes – he made peculiar noises, funny faces, and amusing acts. Roger began to cry. “I am finding this funny, but I am crying. You were supposed to make me laugh,” cried Roger in disappointment. 

Very calmly, the monkey replied, ” Though you are a sad emoji, it does not mean that you cannot laugh. You are different from others – you laugh through your tears. Enjoy being you. Be yourself and you will find your way. And most importantly, you will be happy.”