There was once a boy who woke one day to find out that he had lost his voice.

“Aakkk… Akkkk…!” The boy tried to speak. But nothing came out from his mouth other than the air he breaths.

Feeling scared, he immediately ran to his parents and waved frantically at them. He clutched his throat and waved his arms to show them that his voice was gone.

The boy parents were so worried that they decided to bring him to see a wise old woman who lived by the sea and was rumoured to be able to cure all kinds of traditional sickness and curses.

The old woman checked the boy’s throat.

“You haven’t lost your voice,” said the old woman, "because someone has taken it!"

The old woman dug through her collection of books and found the book she was looking for. She opened the book to reveal a picture of a mysterious dark figure that appears to be standing at the entrance of a cave.

The old woman pointed at the dark figure. “It must be Cricket King who has stolen your voice. You must go to the deepest forest to find the Cricket King. Search everywhere, even in the unlikeliest places, for this thief is clever and will have hidden your voice where you least expect it to be.”

The boy's parents stared at each other in disbelief, not knowing whether this old women can be trusted or she might just be throwing a prank.

“But the boy has to make this journey alone," warned the old woman, "because he will need to make friends with silence if he ever hopes to find his voice and return.”

The boy's mother broke down and cry, feeling scared and uncertain about what is going to happen to their little boy. Feeling very certain to do this, the boy reassured his parents with his only body language that he has that he's going to be okay.

The very next day, the boy set off alone to find the Cricket King and his voice.

Days went by.  The boy looked everywhere for his voice. Under stones and leaves, in hollow trees and abandoned houses, by the sides of the streams and in every single drop of water. While he was searching for his voice, he slowly made friends with the silence of the forest.

One night, the boy heard an echo of his voice, accompanied by a loud cricket sounds.

“Crick… Crick… Crick….”

Both the voice and the sound of the crickets were coming from a tunnel.

The boy slowly and carefully crawled into the dark tunnel, and he realized he was standing in an open tunnel space. And there, stood there before him, was the Cricket King and his troops of singing crickets.

“Crick… Crick… Crick….”

Upon seeing the boy, the Cricket King and his cricket troops all fell silent.

The Cricket King took a step forward and smiled. "Welcome little boy! You must have been searching for us for a very long time!"

The boy stood there without moving an inch, somewhat feeling calm and focused despite the fact that it was his first time seeing a gigantic cricket talking to him.

"Are you looking for something?" The Cricket King asked.

The boy moved his hands to his throat and tried to speak, but again, no words came.

"Ahhh!!" The Cricket King exclaimed."You must be looking for this!" The Cricket King rubbed his wings together to reveal something familiar to the little boy.

"Help me! Please help me!" The voice came.

The boy's eyes widened. It was his voice!

“Surprise? We’ve dressed your voice up as one of us,” said the Cricket King. “I believe it’s quite happy being with us. But if you can guess which cricket is your real voice, you may take it and go home unharmed.”

The Cricket King raised a hand and the hundreds of crickets started to sing.

The boy listened carefully. He glanced through the thousands of crickets who were all flapping their wings and some of them hopping around.

As much as he can, he walked and listened closely to every one of them. And because he had made friends with silence, it was easy for him to recognize which of the crickets didn't have his voice.

Finally, he came across a small shriveled cricket. Small and weak as it may seem, but the voice came easily to him as he was able to identify his voice!

He immediately threw his arms around it and though the cricket struggled for a while, the invincible voice of his finally crept through its cricket disguise and entered the boy's mouth.

The boy slowly stood up and smiled gleefully. "I found my own voice!" cheered the little boy.

“Very good!” the Cricket King cried. “Now you must go before I change my mind.”

With his voice, the boy thanked the Cricket King and quickly left the underground cricket kingdom and its roaring sea of crickets.

* * *

In this story, the boy represents us.

Each and every one of us has a voice of our own. The voice represents our own opinions, values, and beliefs that we hold strongly. This voice of ours is very important as it helps us shape our identity and plays an important role in how we express ourselves.

But what happens when our voices are taken away by society? The Cricket King and his cricket troops represent society. If we let our voices be robbed by society, we are conformed to the opinions of others, and this forces us to conform to society's standards and opinions. We only do what is only accepted by others, but not by ourselves. Thus, if we let that happen too often, soon we may lose sight of our true selves and our inner voices.

We should learn how to listen to ourselves and speak up for what we agree and do not agree. Don’t let society turn you into a person you’re not. We have to fight for ourselves and not let society tell you what to do even if you’re different from them. You may look different, sound different, and dress different, but the true fact is, everyone is different.

Being different is unique, it makes you for who you are. Learn to love yourself and be yourself. Do what you really want and not what pleases other people, because at the end, who’s there? You!