The lonely Meerkat with the top hat

One morning, when the sun was barely over the hills, that lined the Kalahari Desert, a Meerkat was scampering away from his hole in the ground looking for grubs. He has been stuck there for quite a while. You see Mr. Meerkat, who was the smallest and thinnest of his siblings was banished, left behind by his family. He has been stuck there ever since.

Mr. Meerkat always wore the best of clothes though as he always decided he wanted to look his best. He wore a rather large top hat with a ribbon adorned to it and a magician’s coat that made him look like a well-dressed trickster. He loved the outfit and would press it every night before bed. His family, before they left decided they hated anything to do with a magician's coat and top hat. And many times threw his garments in the garbage.

Mr. Meerkat would prevail though, sigh as he scurried to the trash from his little burrow and get his outfits each night. He never felt in and they always made him feel like an outsider. Even his closest siblings disliked his difference. He always wanted to look like a well-dressed Meerkat getting ready for the theater. But they hated the very idea of it.

Mr. Meerkat decided he was going to look for a new family and new friends that would accept him. He made a bag of his grubs and set out to find a new family.

He was scampering for quite a while when he met Mrs. Elephant who was a posh elephant. She held her trunk up in the air you see and flaunted it like it was royalty. The other elephants were praising Mrs. Elephant for her long elegant trunk.

“Scuse’ me Mrs. Elephant, is there any room for a small meek Meerkat in your quarters?” Mr. Meerkat asked as he tipped his rather large top hat to her.

She rolled her eyes stomping the ground as she moved towards him. Her eyes looked at him callously, brutish, almost like she was better than him and he wasn’t anything to her other than a thorn on her backside.

“Mr. Meerkat, we don’t take kindly to dressing like crude theater junkies. Scram before I stomp on you. We don’t like different people. And even if we had room for you, I wouldn’t allow it because dressing differently doesn’t go up with our morals.” She barked stomping towards him as he patiently grabbed his rucksack filled with grubs and scampered off.

He wandered for some time feeling defeated when he saw the old watering hole. He kindly went to take a drink and saved some more for later. He looked up to see Mr. Zebra taking a sip himself.

Mr. Zebra wore his black and white stripes with tenacity. You see he loved to wear the stripes with proud virtue. And didn’t let anyone tell him to tell him what to wear or who to care about.

Mr. Meerkat approached him slowly as he stood up on his hind legs to get his attention.

“Mr. Zebra, do you have any space in your living quarters?” Mr. Meerkat said, repeating himself once again.

Mr. Zebra looked up from what he was doing and huffed. He slowly went back down and drank from the watering hole and stopped for a second to say something to poor Mr. Meerkat.

“Mr. Meerkat, we have no room for a Meerkat like you. And even if we did, we don’t welcome Meerkats with coats and top hats into our dazzle, so beat it.” Mr. Zebra spoke as he went back to drinking the water.

Mr. Meerkat sighed as he grabbed his rucksack and started to scurry once again. He was starting to feel that there was no home for him. He wasn’t going to change or be different but he just wanted a home. He knew he was different. And he was starting to think that it was a bad thing as nightfall started to come out.

Mr. Flamingo was sitting by another watering hole trying to get some sleep. Mr. Meerkat could tell right off the bat that he was an older Flamingo, with faded pink feathers and a grumpy beak to him. Mr. Meerkat cautiously approached when he made an error of snapping a twig under his little feet. Mr. Flamingo awoke immediately to see Mr. Meerkat standing a few feet away from him.

"What do you want?" He barked, making Mr. Meerkat jump a few more feet back.

"Mr. Flamingo, is there any room for me here?" Mr. Meerkat asked as the Flamingo looked him up and down starting to laugh his head off.

"Not with those clothes and garments." Mr. Flamingo cackled as Mr. Meerkat scampered off, tears starting to run down his cheeks.

He was torn to just run home but he didn't know what to do.

He noticed a colony of kudu slowly stopping as they were getting ready for bed. Mr. and Mrs. Kudu were putting their foul asleep when Mr. Meerkat slowly approached them, his top hat was down and his little eyes were welling with tears.

Mrs. Kudu slowly walked over to him as she looked at Mr. Meerkat with empathy.

“Hello Mr. Meerkat, how are you?” Mrs. Kudu asked as she looked down on the little Meerkat with the elegant top hat.

“Not so good Mrs. Kudu, is there any chance you have a spot for me in your living quarters?” Mr. Meerkat finally asked her, blurting it out.

She paused, smiling at the little Meerkat.

“Of course Mr. Meerkat and I love your top hat, by the way, come along, we have enough room for all animals, no matter how tall or small they all are.” Mrs. Kudu said starting to lead him to his new home.

He was overcome with emotion at that point as he scurried to hug her. He wiped his tears on his sleeve as she led him to his new home, where he could be accepted for being a Meerkat in a top hat. Mr. Meerkat knew from that day on that he had friends who would accept him for who he was and for what he wore. He also from that day on learning how to accept himself because accepting yourself can open the doors for you in the world.

The moral of this story is to accept your differences like Mr. Meerkat and not to change who you are. We all are unique and all are different people.