Zolly the Zebra
A Children’s Story by
Derek Barton
Zolly the Zebra was a wonderful zebra. He loved to laugh and he loved to
play with his friends. Zolly’s friends liked him because he was fun. He would
always make up new games for them to play. Zolly loved being a zebra.
One day when Zolly was playing Hide & Seek with his friends in the
jungle, he spotted some lions. Zolly was scared. He stood very still. His beautiful
stripes camouflaged him perfectly among the trees. The lions did not see him.
Zolly felt helpless and alone. He felt weak and powerless. Trying not to blink, he
looked carefully at the pride of lions.
“They never feel scared,” he thought. “They never feel helpless or alone
like me. It must be nice to be a lion, so strong and powerful.”
Zolly studied the lions very carefully. He thought and thought about what
it would be like to be a lion instead of a zebra. “Lions roar,” he thought. “They
run fast. Other animals fear them. Lions are King of the Jungle. I’m only a zebra.
I don’t want to be a zebra,” he continued thinking. “I want to be a lion!”
Zolly stood there thinking while he watched the lions slowly disappear
over the ridge. Zolly looked back toward his zebra friends. He did not care about
the Hide & Seek game anymore. He was sad now.
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With his head down, Zolly walked back to his friends. His friend, Billy,
who was “it,” saw Zolly and ran to the base.
“One, two, three, on Zolly,” Billy called out loudly.
“I’m not playing anymore!” Zolly exclaimed.
Billy was surprised. “Why not, Zolly?” he asked.
“These are baby games,” Zolly answered. “Hide & Seek is dumb. Lions
don’t play these games.” Zolly walked away.
Billy and the rest of Zolly’s friends were confused. “He loves these
games,” Billy said to the others shaking his head in wonder.
“Zolly taught us this game,” another said.
“He taught us many games,” still another friend added.
“What’s wrong with Zolly?” They all wondered.
When Zolly wandered past his parents, they could tell something was
wrong. “What is the matter, Zolly?” His mother called to him.
“Oh, nothing,” Zolly replied.
“It isn’t like you to be so sad,” his father said.
Zolly walked over by a tree and stood by himself. His family was
surprised by his change of behavior and did not know what to do.
One of Zolly’s friends trotted by his parents.
“Do you know what is wrong with Zolly?” His mother asked.
“No,” Zolly’s friend yelled back.
Zolly’s parents looked at each other, confused. They walked over to the
tree where Zolly stood. Zolly’s head was down, as if he were trying to hide.
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Right now he just wanted to be by himself. He thought about walking away, but
he knew sooner or later he would have to tell his parents how he was feeling. As
his mother and father neared, Zolly became nervous. His parents felt the same
way. Like Zolly, they didn’t know what to say.
Finally, Zolly’s Mother spoke. “Did something happen during your Hide
& Seek game, Zolly?” Zolly slowly nodded his head.
“You can tell us, Son,” his father said.
Zolly was searching for the words to match his feelings. “There’s really
nothing you can do,” Zolly muttered.
“We cannot help you if you don’t tell us what is bothering you,” his Mom
replied.
“I don’t think you would understand,” Zolly said.
“Give us a chance!” his Father exclaimed.
Zolly felt like running, but instead he blurted out, “WHY DO WE HAVE
TO BE ZEBRAS?”
Zolly’s outburst surprised his parents. “What would you like to be,
Zolly?” his father asked.
Zolly raised his head and answered, “A lion!”
“A lion?” his mother asked curiously.
“Yes a lion.”
“Why a lion?” his father questioned.
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“A lion is never scared,” Zolly answered. “He never has to run from
anyone. Nobody chases him. He goes wherever he pleases and never has to fear
another animal because he is the King. I want to be King of the Jungle!”
Zolly ran off into the jungle. His mother started to go after him, but his
father stopped her. “There is nothing we can say or do,” said Zolly’s father.
“But he is too young to be in the jungle alone,” said his mother.
Zolly’s father paused, then said, “Sometimes we all have to learn things
on our own. I think this is one of those times. We must not interfere with our
Zolly. He must find his own answer.”
Zolly’s mother wanted to run after Zolly, but she knew her husband was
right. Together, they slowly walked back to the herd.
Meanwhile, Zolly was strolling through the thick jungle brush. With his
head down, deep in thought, he was soon nearing danger.
As Zolly followed a small narrow path around a sharp bend, he suddenly
came to a stop. He was very scared. His heart started to pound and he wanted to
run but somehow he couldn’t. At the other end of the path was the biggest lion
Zolly had ever seen. They both stared at each other for a moment. The big old
lion seemed surprised, too, staring at his “dinner” only five feet away.
“Aren’t you going to run?” The lion asked.
“No,” said Zolly with all the courage he had. The lion was amused, but
curious.
“No?” The lion questioned.
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Zolly was so scared inside, but he didn’t want the lion to notice. With his
strongest voice, Zolly repeated, “No!”
The old lion had never seen anything like this. Never before had anyone
stood up to him. Maybe an adult elephant or two, but they were as big as a
house, he thought. Nobody this small or weak, especially a zebra, had ever stood
in his way. The lion was confused and at the same time, impressed with this
courageous little creature blocking his path.
“All the zebras I have ever seen have always run away from me,” he said.
“Why not you?”
“I am not a zebra,” said Zolly.
Again, the lion could not believe his ears, as his curiosity grew.
“You
are not a zebra?” The lion asked.
“Not anymore,” Zolly said.
“What are you then, may I ask?”
“I’m a lion!”
The old lion blinked a few times, shook his head and just stood there
staring at Zolly. He looked Zolly up and down slowly. Then he looked himself
up and down, too.
“Now that’s odd,” he said, “then what am I?”
“You are a lion, too,” Zolly answered.
“Then why do you look like a zebra?” the lion asked.
“I used to be a zebra.”
“But now you're a lion?”
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“Yep!” Zolly stated proudly.
“When did this change happen?” the old lion asked.
“Recently,” Zolly answered.
“And who changed you?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I was tired of being a zebra. Lions eat zebras. Zebras don't eat lions.
Nothing eats lions. Lions aren't afraid of anything. They're King of the
Jungle!”
The wise old lion finally understood as he looked at Zolly's young face and
smiled. “Well then, what's your name?”
“Zolly!”
“Well, Zolly, I was just on my way to dinner. Would you like to join me?”
“Okay,” Zolly said.
“Then let's go get us a good one,” the old lion roared. “Follow me.”
Zolly followed along as the big old lion led the way through the green
leafy jungle. They came to a clearing, where the old lion motioned to Zolly to be
quiet.
“What is it?” Zolly whispered.
“Our dinner,” the lion replied.
Zolly looked into the clearing, but all he could see was a small herd of
elephants.
“Where?” Zolly asked.
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“Right in front of us,” the lion answered.
“Elephants?” Zolly questioned.
“Why are you so surprised?” the lion asked. “You know lions love eating
baby elephants.”
“We do? I mean yes, we do,” Zolly quickly caught himself. “I, ah, didn't
think we were going to have such a big dinner tonight.”
“You're not hungry?” The lion asked while licking his chops.
“Well, ah, not that hungry,” Zolly replied.
“Well, I am,” the old lion said, “and that baby elephant looks just right.”
Zolly started to feel bad inside. “There is only one big problem,” the old lion
exclaimed.
“What?” Zolly asked.
“Tusks!”
“Tusks?”
“Yes, elephant tusks.”
“But we're lions, Zolly said, those elephants will run away from us.”
The old lion smiled and said, “See this?” The lion pointed to a big scar on
his side. Zolly didn't like what he saw. “When I was young like you, I made the
mistake of challenging something I was not ready for. I got the painful message
from a big bull elephant protecting his baby. Even when you’re King of the
Jungle, there's always someone more powerful. Are you ready, Zolly?”
Zolly knew the answer, but paused to think. “Not yet,” he finally said.
“Well, I cannot do it by myself,” the lion said. “So, I guess we better eat
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something smaller.”
“What do you have in mind?” Zolly asked.
“Follow me!”
The lion roared as he ran back through the jungle. Zolly stayed right
behind him. After a long run, the lion stopped at the edge of a vast plain with a
watering hole about fifty yards away. At the watering hole were hundreds of
different animals. There were giraffes, gazelles, water buffalo, elephants,
hippos, deer and lots of zebras.
The lion licked his chops again and said, “Look at all that food, Zolly!”
Zolly felt nervous as he stared out at the watering hole. Suddenly, the old lion
whispered, “There's our dinner. He's perfect and he's by himself. He's your size
too, Zolly.”
Zolly became frightened when he realized what the old lion wanted for
dinner. “That's Billy!” Zolly cried out worriedly.
“Who is Billy?” The lion asked.
“He's my friend!”
“Lions don't have friends, Zolly.”
“They don't?”
“Of course not, we just have each other. Look out there and tell me what
you see, Zolly?”
“Many of my friends.”
“Like who?”
“There's Jerry Giraffe, Ellie Elephant, Gary Gazelle. . .”
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“My, you have many different friends,” the lion said. “And I bet you have
a good time with them, don't you?”
“I guess so,” Zolly said.
“You're very lucky, Zolly.”
“Why?”
“Look out there, the lion said, and tell me what animal is not at the
watering hole with the others.”
Zolly looked again at all the giraffes, zebras, deer, hippos, gazelles,
antelope, water buffalo, elephants and many others enjoying the water together.
“Everyone is there,” Zolly said.
The old lion smiled and said, “Everyone except us lions.”
“You're
right,” Zolly realized.
“Whenever we lions come to the watering hole to drink, all the other
animals run away. Wherever we go, they all run. We're always by ourselves and
sometimes that can be very lonely. But, we're lions and we have to accept the
good with the bad. Just like you, Zolly, have to accept the fact that Billy can no
longer be your friend, now that you're a lion.”
The feeling Zolly now felt in his stomach as a lion was worse than how he
felt as a zebra. He was so confused. As he looked at Billy and the rest of his
friends, he thought about the good times he had as a zebra. As he stood there
thinking about the differences between lions and zebras, Zolly and the lion heard
a sudden noise behind them. They both quickly looked back. Three hunters were
pointing rifles at them.
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“SHOOT THE LION!” a hunter yelled.
In an instant the old lion sprang away as the three rifles fired. Zolly
watched the old lion slide to the ground. As quickly as he went down, he sprang
back up and ran off down the path. Before the hunters could aim their rifles at
Zolly, Zolly darted off after the old lion. Zolly could hear the hunters chasing
them through the thick jungle brush. Bullets from their rifles were flying past
Zolly as he tried to catch up to the lion.
As they zigged and zagged through twists and turns, Zolly saw the old
lion disappear from the path. Zolly stopped just in time as he came to a big hole
in the ground. Zolly walked up to the edge and looked down into a deep trap.
There at the bottom was the old lion. Zolly could hear the voices of the hunters in
the distance.
“Go save yourself!” The lion said. Zolly looked back at the voices that
were getting nearer. Then he looked back into the deep pit where the old lion lay
hurt. “GO, ZOLLY, demanded the lion, I’ve lived many years. You're still young.
GO LIVE!”
The sound of the hunters was getting closer as the old lion saw his little
friend run off. The old lion laid his head down on his paws. After a moment, he
felt something fall upon him. It was a vine. He looked up and saw the other end
in Zolly's mouth.
“Put the end in your teeth and hold on tight,” Zolly said while biting
down hard.
The old lion smiled, and then did what his little friend had asked. Zolly
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slowly pulled the mighty lion up from the bottom of the trap. The sound of the
hunters seemed terribly close now as Zolly kept pulling backwards. He strained
as he pulled. Zolly suddenly slipped, but then dug in with more determination
as the voices grew louder.
The old lion held the vine as tightly as he could. He pawed his way up,
trying to climb. Zolly kept inching backwards, looking towards the hole. In the
distance he could see the tops of the bushes moving from the force of the fastapproaching hunters.
Using all the strength he had left, Zolly pulled back as the old lion peered
out through the top of the hole. With one final tug, Zolly pulled the old lion out
of the trap.
“THEY'RE AT THE TRAP!” they heard a hunter yell.
“COME ON!” Zolly motioned, as he showed the old lion the way. As
shots rang out over their heads, Zolly and the lion disappeared into the thick
brush. After several minutes of running up and down through trees and across
streams, they finally came to a stop. They were finally safe. They stood close to
each other trying to catch their breath.
The old lion looked at his new friend and said, “You see Zolly, even lions
must run away sometimes.”
Zolly noticed a trickle of blood from the lion's leg. “You're bleeding! Are
you shot?” Zolly asked.
“The bullet went through,” said the lion. “I'll be okay. Just one of the
things we lions have to deal with, right Zolly?”
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Zolly thought for a moment.
The old lion smiled, looked at Zolly and said, “Thanks for saving my life,
Zolly.”
“I guess that makes us even,” said Zolly.
“What do you mean?” the old lion asked.
“You know,” Zolly smiled.
The old lion nodded and smiled as Zolly started to walk away.
“You
have more courage than most lions I know, Zolly. You're a great zebra!” Zolly
looked back and smiled as the old lion bowed his head in honor. Then, like Zolly,
the old lion went back to his family.
Zolly did a lot of thinking as he made his way back to the watering hole.
His family and friends were still there. He smiled. As Zolly approached Billy and
the rest of his friends, they all looked up, surprised at his new attitude.
“What are you all standing around for?” Zolly asked. “Let's play some
games! Put a smile on your face! WE'RE ZEBRAS!”
Billy and the others smiled. His parents smiled too.
“What are we going to play?” Billy asked excitedly.
“A new game,” Zolly stated proudly.
“What?” They all asked.
Zolly climbed up on a hill top, puffed out his chest, held his head up high
and said, “KING OF THE MOUNTAIN!”
THE END