Frankie Flamingo

Frankie Flamingo 

Frankie was an ostrish. His mom was an ostrich, his dad was an ostrich and all of his brothers and sisters where ostriches, too. Frankie didn't want to be an ostrich. He wanted to be a flamingo. He loved the way their pink feathers shone in the morning sun, and he loved the way they stood on one leg to rest. He loved the grace, style and flamboyance of the flamingos. Oh, how he wished he had been born as a flamingo! 

Once, when he was younger, his mom caught him trying to us red mud to color his feathers pink."Franklin Oswald Ostrich, what on earth are you doing, son?" she squawked.
"Oh mom", Frankie said, "I just want my feathers to be pink like flamingos!"
His mom didn't understand. "Frankie, you are an ostrich. You can not be a flamingo, and no amount of mud is going to change that fact. You should love who you are, son, and never forget that we love you!"Then she sent him off to play with the other ostrich kids.

She didn't know that they were mean to him, or that they made fun of him. "Frankie flamingo, Frankie flamingo!" The other kids chanted. They chased him and teased him and Frankie was very very sad!

One day, Frankie decided to run away and join a flamingo flock. "I just don't fit in here." Frankie thought. So, he set off in search of his destiny.

Before long, Frankie came across a young zebra. "Hi there!", he said in a very friendly sort of way. "I am Frankie, who are you?" "I am Chelsea", said the zebra. "What are out doing out here, so far away from your flock, Frankie?" "I am running away. My family doesn't understand me. I want to be a flamingo." Chelsea sighed. "I am running away too. I don't want to be a zebra anymore. I want to be a giraffe. They are so tall and graceful,.. I hate being so short. And STRIPES! Oh, don't even get me started on the stripes! I want spots, so bad..." Chelsea sighed. "I just don't know what to do about it."

"Why don't you come with me?" Frankie suggested. "Maybe we can find a place together where we can be something different!" Chelsea agreed, and the two new friends set off to find a place where they could be different, together.

A few days later, Frankie and Chelsea stopped by a beautiful lake to get a drink. Frankie's heart soared! There was a flock of beautiful, graceful flamingos there! "Oh look!", he cried. "Flamingos!" He ran up to one and said shyly, "Excuse me, sir, but I was wondering if I may join your flock? I don't fit in back home, and I have always wanted to be a flamingo!" The big flamingo looked down his beak at Frankie and laughed.
"Absolutely not!" he said in a very mean way. "You are NOT a flamingo! You do not look like us, you do not act like us. You are not one of us. Now, go away! You are scaring off my meal with your squawking!"

Franky was crushed. He did not know what to do. His dream was gone. Suddenly, Chelsea came running up. She had heard everything! 

"How can you be so mean?" She cried. "Frankie is a great friend, and even if his feathers aren't pink, he is still beautiful. His heart is kind and he is never mean to anyone. If you guys don't want to be his new flock, then I will! I will be PROUD to claim Frankie in my herd, or be part of his flock, or whatever!" , she stomped her hoof angrily.
"Come one Frankie. Let's go somewhere else!"

Frankie smiled at Chelsea, because a new idea was forming in his head. he didn't want to be a flamingo anymore. He had a better idea. Frankie and Chelsea left the mean flamingo flock and continued on their journey. Soon, they came to another lake.

At this lake, they came across a lonely hippo. She was standing on the other side of the lake, crying. Chelsea walked over. "What's wrong?", she asked. 
"No one wants to be my friend!", the hippo bowled. "I am all alone."
Frankie came over. "What is your name?", he asked. "Amanda", the hippo replied.
"Come with us!", he said. "We are different too, and we are looking for somewhere that we can be different together without being made fun of." The hippo smiled. "Ok", she said.
They all agreed that three was better than two, happily, soon set off again.

As they walked, the three friends talked about their problems. Frankie talked about wanting to be a flamingo, Chelsea told Amanda that she had always wanted to be a giraffe, and Amanda told her new friends that the other hippos didn't want her around because she wanted to dance.

Frankie said "You know what? We should just be our own herd. We like each other despite our differences, and we can stick up for each other when others are mean to us. We can be our own family!" Chelsea and Amanda thought for a moment. Then they agreed, they were going to be the strangest herd in the world, but they were okay with that!

On and on they wandered, and soon they added new friends to their family. Emory, the giraffe who wanted to be a zebra, Mango the elephant who only wanted to sing and Renaldo, the dancing monkey.
They felt good this way and they had fun for the rest of their lives.

Moral of the story

It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside. What matters is who you are inside. True friends come in all shapes and sizes. Always love yourself for who you are because who you are is beautiful!