Žirafa Vratić – Story About Being Unique

While the other animals mostly got bored at the zoo, the seals filled their days by playing with a ball.

However, it often happened that the Giraffe also took part in the game against her will, because the ball would usually hit her on the head or neck.

The first time the ball accidentally flew toward her head, the Giraffe kept it for herself—first because she wanted to punish the seals, and second because she also tried to perform those fun moves with the ball.

Still, the Giraffe couldn’t manage that playful ball at all. Her neck always awkwardly caused the ball to end up on the grass too quickly.

A little disappointed, she thought how she wished she didn’t have such a long neck, but was like the other animals. She gave the ball back to the seals and continued enjoying watching the game.

It seems the Giraffe wasn’t the only one taking part in the game against her will.

During the last game in the series, the ball flew off and hit the lion прямо on the head.

The lion wasn’t as forgiving as the Giraffe. He kept the ball with no intention of giving it back—and not only that, but he proudly and angrily held the ball in front of him the whole time. He slept with his paw on the ball.

An endless boredom settled over the zoo, which for the seals and the Giraffe turned into sadness because there was no game.

Everyone wanted things to go back to the way they were, but no one dared to stand up to the lion.

No one except the Giraffe, who decided to bring the fun back to the zoo.

She quietly waited for the lion to fall asleep in his lion’s sleep after eating. She knew that in his sleep his paw would slip off the ball. She signaled to the other animals present to stay quiet and stretched her long neck into the lion’s enclosure. She grabbed the ball with her mouth, but as she started to lift her head, the ball slipped out and fell beside the lion.

Luckily, the lion only stirred and went on sleeping.

The Giraffe tried once more. This time she grabbed the ball more firmly and succeeded—she pulled it back to her side and then returned it to the seals.

Everyone was happy.

“How do you have such a long neck?” the other animals now asked her curiously. It seemed that now everyone wanted to be like the Giraffe.

“How? Oh, well that’s very simple—I rub it every day with special almond oil. I can lend it to you too if you want,” the Giraffe replied cheerfully.

Some animals thought about it for a moment and figured they really could try the oil, but they soon realized they didn’t know what they would do with such a long neck.

The Giraffe understood that there’s no need to wish to be like others, because each of us is special exactly as we are.

Fun facts about giraffes:

• Giraffes sleep very little—on average about 2 hours a day.
• Although they’re recognizable for their neck, which can reach up to 2 meters, the truth is they also have one of the longest tails among mammals, with a length of up to 2.4 meters.