Different(Debra Jean Walsh) Different


Cindy Giraffe just moved into the new jungle. Her giraffe friends threw her a grand going away party and now she was ready to start her new adventure!

She moved to a jungle on the other side of the Savanahh, with different kinds of animals than what she was used to, but nonetheless excited to make new friends.

This jungle belonged to the rhinoceros and hippopotamus animal kingdom but Cindy thought she could fit right in. She was kind, fun, and made friends easily. The rhinos and the hippos looked so much alike, both were short, stout, and ran faster than the wind. The rhinos had a horn on their nose and small ears while the hippos had larger mouths with great big teeth and full floppy ears.

Cindy had a long, tall, graceful neck, long, tall, graceful legs. She too could run faster than the wind, something she had in common with the rhinos and hippos.

“Surely they will let me run with them,” Cindy thought.

She imagined running through the fields of flowers, splashing in the rivers, and frolicking about with the rhinos and hippos.

Cindy ran up to the head rhino and introduced herself.

“Hi, my name is Cindy and I just moved to your jungle! Would you like to play with me?”

The head rhino snorted through his nose, looked Cindy up and down, and became very hostile towards her.

“No. You are a giraffe. This jungle is only for rhinos and hippos, we don’t want your kind moving into our neighborhood,” the head rhino sneered at her.

Cindy was taken aback. She didn’t expect such a nasty reply and didn’t know what to say to the head rhino.

Cindy stammered, “but, but, I came here for a new adventure. Your jungle is so beautiful! The flowers are so colorful, the butterflies just amazing; all of the different shapes and sizes!”

The head rhino stared hard at her. “We don’t want your kind moving into our neighborhood. One of you moves in and then ten of you move in, and before you know it, all of you move in and take over our jungle! It’s bad enough we have to share our jungle with the wretched hippos.”

“But you look the same, only with a few differences, why do you hate the hippos?”

“The hippos have big mouths and big teeth, they are ugly,” the rhino smirked.

Cindy’s heart sank. “I don’t want to take over your jungle, I just want to live in a new jungle and experience new things.”

The head rhino turned on his heels and as he began to walk away, he yelled back over his shoulder, “why don’t you go back to where you belong!”

Tears ran down Cindy’s face and she turned away. She didn’t want the rhino to see how much he had hurt her.

“I am proud and believe in myself,” Cindy whispered to herself. “No one can hurt me!”

Cindy’s mother always told her to be proud of herself no matter what others said about her, or other giraffes.

Cindy’s mom told her to believe in herself too. “You can do anything you put your heart into and don’t let anyone take that away from you. You are a kind, graceful, beautiful giraffe.”

She gave Cindy a small hand mirror to look into, “look at all the good in you, the love in your face, the spirit in your eyes.”

Cindy began to smile at the memory of her mother and of the little hand mirror. Determined to find friends, she set off to find the hippos.

She galloped down the hill to the river and waded out into the water where the hippos where sunning themselves. One hippo wore a delightful straw hat adorned with field flowers. Cindy thought this may be someone she can be friends with.

“Hi! My name is Cindy! Can I wade in the water with you? I love your sunhat you are wearing? Did you make it?”

The hippo pretended not to hear Cindy and moved away to another part of the river.

“Hmmm, I guess she didn’t hear me. She waded over to another hippo who was listening to music through his ear phones.

“Excuse me. Excuse me. EXCUSE ME!” Cindy yelled hoping to be heard over the loud music.

The hippo tore his ear buds out of his ears and yelled at her.

“Don’t you raise your voice to me!”

Cindy was shocked at the outburst. “I wasn’t yelling at you. I was trying to talk loudly so you could hear me over the music.”

“Oh, I heard you. I chose to ignore you. You are a giraffe. Take your tall neck and get out of my river,” the hippo yelled even louder!

Cindy felt herself growing angry and remembered what her mom said, “don’t let anyone make you feel any different. You deserve the river, the leaves, the sunshine just as much as any other animal in the jungle.”

Cindy set her jaw out and firmly stated, “this is my river too! I live in this jungle and I can wade in the water any time I want to!”

The hippo said with such hatred in his heart, “we don’t want your kind here. Go back to where you belong!”

Cindy spoke up for herself and refused to back down. “I belong here too!” Cindy began swimming back and forth in the river, enjoying the cool water against her fur. She didn’t see the other hippos lining up.

Cindy felt something hit her cheek.

“Ouch! What was that?”

Cindy opened her eyes and rubbed her cheek. Another stinging sensation hurt her ears and another and another.

“Get out of here stretch! We don’t want your kind in our river. You’re polluting the water!” Jeers were pouring out of the hippos mouths as they threw stones at her.

Cindy was terrified and swam as fast as she could to the shore. She never experienced so much hatred in her life. The rhinos and the hippos hated her because she was different than them and for no other reason. They didn’t even ask her name!

Cindy ran back to her shack as fast as she could. She picked up the phone and dialed her friends in her old jungle. She needed someone to talk to, someone who could tell her it’s going to be ok, but she only got their answering machines. They were all too busy with their own lives to care about Cindy. She had moved on and so had they.

Cindy sat and cried softly. She had no one to talk to, no one who wanted to be her friend, no one who cared about her.

“I can’t stay here any longer. I’ve never known such hatred and anger. The hippos and the rhinos are both the same animal with a few differences and yet they hate each other for being different. How can someone like me even try and fit it? I must find a jungle to live in where everyone loves each other and there is no hatred.”

Cindy slowly began to pack her suitcase. Her heart was heavy and sadness hung on her. She didn’t want to leave her new shack. She had such high hopes for decorating and making a new life of her own, but she knew this was not the place for her to start anew.

Cindy took one more look around her shack, it seemed dark and dismal now, the hopeful glow of a new life waned from the walls. She went outside and the felt sunshine on her face. She smiled, squared her shoulders, held her head high, and looked at the open road, towards her next journey.

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