The Rainbow Zebra

Once in a jungle far away, a herd of zebras spent each day. They grazed on grasses in the sun. They pranced and played and had great fun. They all wore stripes of black and white, which to the zebras seemed just right. "Black and white's the way to be," they all agreed contentedly. They were quite happy with their lot, except for one. His stripes were not black and white but a brighter hue...yellow, green and red and blue. This little zebra said with a sigh, "I want to be like you...oh why can't I be black and white too, not yellow, red and green and blue?" He tried to scrub his stripes away! He tried to fade them in the sun! He tried to cover they with clay! But nothing worked. No way. Not one. So finally one dismal day he waved, "Farewell!" and went away. He told the herd, "I must go see if somewhere there's someone like me."

He walked until he came by chance upon a place called Jungle Ranch. "Here," he said, "I hope maybe to find someone who looks like me." He met a leopard wearing lots of splendid orange polka dots. A silly green gazelle was there and a sleepy lion with red hair. He met all sorts of jungle creatures with bright colors and pleasant features. "You're nice," he said, "as nice as can be, but none of you are striped like me." And so he walked for hours and hours until he came to the Land of Flowers. Their smiling faces were green and blue and red and pink and yellow too. "But none of you are striped like me," the zebra sighed unhappily. And now quite tired, he lay his head upon the fragrant flower bed. He woke again to thunder and lightning and rain so heavy it was frightening. A dreadful storm had come to pass. It shook the trees. It shook the grass. And when at last the storm passed by. A rainbow arched across the sky. The zebra smiled with great delight at seeing such a wondrous sight. "A rainbow's beautiful to see. And it is striped...just like me."

Above is a cloth storybook that I found at a fabric store with my mom when I was a younger child. I asked her to sow it into a pillow case because this story meant something to me. I was always the odd one in the family in that I was a heavy child, I was always alone, and I didn't get along well with anyone. I wanted to keep this pillow case (even though I don't sleep on it) to remind me that I don't have to be like my siblings, my friends, or my peers to be AWESOME. Therefore, I hope this story inspire those who are feeling low. Think about the wonderful things in life and not those that bring you down. Most important of all, love who you are because we're not meant to be the same when we're shining in our own hue :)