Tony the Tiger Gets a Trim

Once upon a time, in the heart of the jungle, there lived a magnificent tiger named Tony. He had bright orange fur and black stripes that ran all over his body. But as much as he loved his stripes, they made his fur all tangled and messy, and itchy too! One day, Tony was strolling along the river that ran through the jungle when he overheard some monkey chattering. "Have you seen that messy tiger? Ugh, he gives me goosebumps. He needs a haircut, don't you think?" The monkey sneered at him. Tony felt awful hearing that. He looked down at his stripes and wished that he had been born with neat, tidy fur. Without wasting another second, Tony went on a hunt to find a barber who would be able to give him a trim. He searched and searched, but all the jungle barbers he found were scared of him and refused to help him. Feeling hopeless, Tony sat down with a heavy heart to rest when suddenly, he heard a soft voice whisper, "Are you okay?" Tony looked up to see a small rabbit standing in front of him. "Yes, I am fine," replied Tony, feeling surprised that a rabbit would come so near to him. "But everywhere I go, people shun me like I'm a monster." The little rabbit looked at Tony and smiled in a friendly manner. "My name is Ruffles, and I don't think you're a monster. Let me help you." Tony looked at him in surprise. "What can you do?" Ruffles took out his scissors and comb, and with his nimble fingers, he worked his magic into Tony's fur. Snip, snip, snip- Ruffle snipped the straggly bits off Tony's fur, and before Tony knew it, he was transformed! Tony looked at himself in the river, marveling at how neat and tidy he looked now. He turned around to thank Ruffles, but when he did, he saw the real twist of the story. For when Ruffles turned around, Tony saw that he had no fur on his body. He was bald! Tony felt horrible that he had judged Ruffles too, for he was different than him. He had thought that Ruffles was not good enough to have friends because he looked different from other animals. From that day on, Tony and Ruffles were the best of friends, and Tony made sure to always be kind to everybody, no matter what they looked like. Moral of the story - Always be kind to others, even if they look different, for everyone has something unique to offer.