A Spotty Story

Once upon a time, in the Big Green Forest, there lived a beautiful Leopard. His silky satiny golden coat was dappled with beautiful black spots. He made an amazingly graceful picture as he strode through the Big Green Forest, swishing his long tail or licking his paw, every once in a while.

Leopard was proud of his beauty, especially his spots – they made him different from everyone else, you see. True, the Zebra and the Tiger had some nice stripes, but almost everyone else just had plain dull skin. So, he took extra care of himself and made sure he cleaned every inch of his coat with his rough pink tongue at least twice a day.

One day, as Leopard was trying in vain to get rid of some stubborn berry stains from his tail, Postman Pigeon flew by and dropped a bright blue envelope outside his den. Leopard took a break from his grooming to open the envelope. Gee! It was an invitation to Tiger’s Birthday Party tomorrow. Leopard daydreamed of outshining even Tiger with his gleaming coat, until he remembered the berry stains. He decided that it was time to get professional help and soon. Off he went to Elephant’s Laundry where Elephant patiently listened to his problem and offered a rather simple solution.

“Let’s take off the spots and give them a thorough washing with my new stain remover,” he said.

“Are you sure my spots won’t damage or fade?” asked Leopard.

“Of course not! I wouldn’t dare take such a risk. I have a business to run, don’t I?” asked Elephant, annoyed.

Elephant called his helpers and they got all the spots off Leopard in no time. Leopard looked at himself in the mirror and felt naked. He said he couldn’t face the world looking like this, so Elephant had another brilliant suggestion.

“Let’s paint on some spots for now. After all, it’s just a matter of a day. Mind you don’t go splashing yourself, though,” he cautioned.

So Leopard rushed back home in his painted spots and began reading the latest issue of “Spots and Stripes” to bide the hours till tomorrow.

Meanwhile, LadyBird (who in those days had a plain red shell) had been invited to a 70s party by Cricket. She desperately needed something stunning to wear and went to her friend Elephant for help. Elephant said he would paint some polka dots on her shell, and LadyBird loved the idea. Unfortunately, Elephant had used up the last of the black paint on Leopard. He was just turning to share the bad news with LadyBird when he noticed Leopard’s spots all freshly washed and gleaming. “I could lend some of those spots to LadyBird, she’ll return them to me in the morning, and no one will be the wiser,” he thought. So he picked up a handful of the spots and arranged them over LadyBird’s shell.

“Be sure you take good care of them and get them back first thing in the morning,” he warned.

“Of course, don’t you worry,” assured LadyBird.

LadyBird was the center of attraction at the party. She was toasted so much that she had to be carried home on a leaf by GrassHopper and Cricket. The resulting hangover the next morning drove all thoughts of the spots from her aching head.

Elephant meanwhile, was pacing up and down and cursing himself, as he thought about how Leopard would react. Leopard came by around mid-morning and was so thrilled to see the berry stains gone that he didn’t really notice that his coat wasn’t as dappled as before. However, Elephant and his helpers ran out of spots when they reached his tail. Elephant spilled the beans and said he’d got some bright new crème that wouldn’t wash off for months. Leopard was furious but relented – what else could he do? So Elephant painted some stripes on Leopard’s tail and refused to accept any money for washing the spots.

As Leopard walked back home, he received several compliments on his new look. At the party, he was a big hit. The next few days saw various animals appear with striped tails!
As for LadyBird, she decided to keep Leopard’s spot for herself. I believe that’s how LadyBirds got their spots. What do you think?