Long ago in a town called Sunland, lived a
girl with very long legs.

Aku was her name. Aku wondered about a
lot of things.

Sometimes Aku’s father, Ataa Ankra, a
fisherman let her go to the river with him to
fish in his canoe.

While Aku fished with her father, she
wondered why the sun always looked at her
from the sky.

Sometimes Aku helped her mother, A’anua
to cook. Aku wondered why palm oil looked
red in calabash but yellow in yam pottage.

And Aku wondered why Oti, her brother, and
the other boys would not let her play
football with them.

Once, Aku asked the boys why. They only
laughed and told her to go and play with the
girls.

The girls too would not play with Aku. “Your
legs are too long,” they always said. Aku was
left lonely. She had no one to share her
many thoughts with.

But Aku soon became friends with the sun.
She looked forward to seeing the sun every
morning when she woke up.

The cocks crowed to announce sunrise. Aku
loved to dance in the early morning sun, her
shadow dancing with her. The tweeting of
birds made the cock crow music sweeter.

The sun filled Aku with happiness and made
her smile a lot. But one day, the sun did not
rise.