The lesson learned at Watchimacoo : A story for children aged 8 - 15:
In a little town called Watchimacoo lived a tiny little kangaroo named Macaroo. Not only was he small but he had the shortest little kangaroo arms in the world.
Macaroo was the only little kangaroo in town. He lived with his mother and father on a farm and his best friend was Ziggy the Zebra. The two of them had something in common.
To Macaroo, Ziggy was the most beautiful zebra he had ever seen. Because Macaroo didn't like his own body shape and hated the fact that his legs were so big and his arms were so short, he couldn't resist feeling a little jealous that Ziggy's arms and legs were the same length. Ziggy was able to walk evenly and didn't look odd at all.
Ziggy, on the other hand, wasn't very happy with his own body either. He loved that Macaroo was able to jump onto his back and didn't have so many stripes. He didn't want to be black and white but preferred to have fluffy brown hair like Macaroo.
One sunny afternoon while these two best friends were sitting on the grass, discussing their imperfections, they heard strange noises in the ground below them. They looked puzzled at one another as they could literally feel the earth moving below them. Ziggy made a very loud, strange noise when something scratched his bum and thanks to that, Macaroo was able to jump out of the way just in time before his own bum was scratched too.
A heap of soil appeared where they were sitting and they both stood in awe on either sides until they saw a funny looking animal coming out of the ground. It was Mickey Mole who had decided to come up for some fresh air.
With their mouths hanging open, they could not believe their eyes. An animal with a pointy nose, no eyes and very very long nails sniffed around.
"Hello?" said Mickey Mole. "Is anyone there?"
Macaroo and Ziggy had a big fright. With his big and powerful back legs, Macaroo jumped onto Ziggy's back and in turn, Ziggy ran as fast as he could with his tall and even legs. They have never seen or heard of a mole before and couldn't get away fast enough. They ran into Macaroo's father who was hopping around in search for something to eat.
"Dad! Dad!" Macaroo yelled. "You would not believe what we just saw!"
Macaroo was still trying to catch his breath when Ziggy explained what they had seen. "It was the strangest looking animal we've ever seen."
Daddy Roo laughed out loud!
"It was just a mole..." and he sat them down and explained to them what they had seen and how each and every animal have different features that they need to survive.
"I'm so thankful that I have eyes." Ziggy giggled.
"Yeah, me too!" Macaroo giggled in return and from that day on, neither of the two ever complained about their own bodies ever again.
