There once was a giraffe. He was quite little. He was brown. He had a short neck. And he had a big, bushy tail.

The little giraffe lived in a tree and a good life. The only thing that upset him was that he fought with his mom a lot. She tried to force him to be someone he wasn’t.

One afternoon the little giraffe set out to eat some leaves as giraffes do. He stood on his hind legs on a branch to reach the nearest leaves and began to munch them. His mom called out “honey, stop eating those leaves. Come eat some nuts!”

“Leave me alone, mom!” he replied. “I am a giraffe, and I eat leaves!”

“You’re a squirrel! Eat your nuts!”

“No!” He ran away to look for some tasty leaves somewhere farther from home. Coming upon a tasty bush, he decided he’d try to eat some of the leaves. Just as he began to chew his first leaf, he heard some movement behind him. He turned around to face four other squirrels – known bullies.

“Hey giraffe,” one squirrel exclaimed mockingly. “You really should eat some nuts!” The little giraffe felt something hit him in the back of the head. Turning around, he saw that three more squirrels had come up behind him. They all began pelting him with nuts.

“You’re a squirrel! Learn to eat nuts!” another yelled.

Just then he heard someone loudly yell, “leave my son alone! He is a giraffe because he says he’s a giraffe, and he wants to eat leaves, let him!” She jumped at the squirrel bullies, and they all ran away.

“Thanks, mom,” said the little giraffe.

“I love you, my little giraffe,” said the mom squirrel. “I just want you to be safe and happy.” They walked home together, and the little giraffe and his mom shared a dinner of leaves and nuts.

The end.