In a vibrant rainforest, where trees reached high into the sky and colors danced at every corner, there lived a chameleon named Coco. Now, this was no ordinary chameleon - Coco had a dream that soared higher than the tallest tree! She wanted to sing like the magnificent birds that graced her home. New possibilities ignited within her every time she heard their sweet melodies:
- “Oh, how wonderful it would be to sing like that!” she often thought, chirping softly to herself.
Now every year in the rainforest, the animals gathered for an exciting event - the Great Singing Competition. This was a chance for everyone to show off their singing talent, and the most special bird of all, the Golden Raven, judged them all. He was famous for his wise advice and had traveled throughout the world. Each year, the bird with the most wonderful singing voice received a golden crown made of real gold.
Years passed, and Coco watched in despair as her friends practiced for the competition. Her best friend, the green parrot, with a voice as bright as a sunny day, urged, “Coco, come sing with me! It will be so much fun!”
“But I’m just a chameleon,” Coco replied sadly. “I can’t sing like you or my other friends. What if I tried and failed? All of you might laugh at me.”
“Oh, Coco! You must try!” the parrot insisted. “You might be surprised with what you can do. We’ll all support you. You just need to be yourself!”
Be yourself! Coco gazed at her friend, courage transforming her quiet sobs into whispers, her heart growing light. She realized that she had been trying too hard to fit in with her friends, adjusting her form and colors to sing like them. However, it was not enjoyable pretending to be someone she was not. She returned to her leafy home, cobwebs of dejection clearing from her mind, wishing she could finally express herself freely.
The next day, as the jungle roared awake, she decided to give it a try. She climbed high up her favorite tree, perched on a branch, and began to practice. Surprisingly, songs filled the air, resonating from the heart of little Coco! Her voice flowed like a gentle breeze, sweet yet strong as she realized that each note seemed to echo her delight.
“I am a chameleon, little Coco. I can change colors or sing a soft note, and I do not need to be like the others,” she chanted. Her words added more notes, her songs turning into a joyful chorus, growing louder and clearer with each passing minute.
“Oh, I feel so light! It doesn’t matter if I do not win; no one else can sing the way I do.” Courage surged her and came forth in vibrant songs. It poured down her branches to the butterflies, ants, and grasshoppers. The green parrot paused in her singing and took flight over to Coco, “I’m so glad you came out to practice today! You sound beautiful!”
“Thank you, dear friend!” coco replied. “Guess what? I am going to join you.”
The parrot’s beak dropped wide open in disbelief, and her friend laughed gaily. Croaking frogs and the faint honk of far sea-horned whales joined her, filling nooks, crannies, and hollow places throughout the forest.
“I am coming!” answered a flash of flashing wings tinged with white and red. The purple pigeons informed everyone in an instant with sounds resonating throughout, soaring high into the sky.
“This is a matter of life and death! Come all quickly!”
A tiger’s mighty roar stopped everyone short. Most of the animals froze in shock, whatsoever they were. Then a chill ran down everyone’s back. Was the tiger warning the animals to remain quiet so that she could catch dinner now, or was there something else terrible happening?
To their utter surprise, the last of the animals to come straight from the sea was a castaway crocodile with big ruby eyes, waving her heavy tail behind. Everyone in the forest pushed forward to whisper and cry with astonishment: “Coco has been elected to carry the news of the Tiger’s sudden marriage to the Cheetah!”
“But, why are we getting married? I don’t like her!” growled the quarrelsome Cheetah.
“That is just the reason why, sweet Cheetah,” tooted little Coco, trembling. “I disliked you so much that I told the royal tigers I was your slave to kill you, if possible, so that I could remain a free ‘chameleon’ in my own department, at birth the prettiest animal after them, and in appearance just a little larger than you.”
“Why we could not do without!” snapped the Cheetah.
The tiger overlapped a bit now as Coco danced precariously near the edge of his gigantic jaws. Above all, the honor of a single royal command was greater than her detestation for a whole family of prying cheetahs. It was also to repel attacks from others for the future that she married a haughty cousin.
A day passed. The next morning, all the cats and rats, elephants, buffaloes, and dogs in the forest, the whole tiger tribe, the last of which had been represented in person at the Great Singing Competition, respectfully bowed their heads during the bride’s last rehearsal, caught the tiger-tone, and asked the royal tigers to lift proverbial slumbers from their own eyes.
Little Coco was not only elected arbiter of native singing audibly on the road outside.
“Ah! our shining crown of deepest feeling plays, when bearing off the palm of ticklish jokes of yesterday,” so sang each animal in passing.
After all, it is easier to be a chameleon queen than a tiger.
In secret, alone, in a shady corner of the forest, a could be spotted. Coco wished now to foretell light-hearted incidents, even of profounder tread.
Friend, if asked, will you undertake at least to be yourself?
At that very moment, Coco’s last prayer came fitted with deep feeling from the hearts of all the other animals out of pure transparency and unaccountable reverence in unison.