I knew her when

This is a story written by one of my former students. She is currently in 2nd grade and well on her way to being a very accomplished story teller. I promise to forward any congratulatory comments to her.
I added the graphic, just for the sake of visualization.

The Opposite Zebra

By Caroline McS.

Hello my name is… Well… You could say… White
stripes… But some people call me… Whitey… Oh and some
people call me… Stripes… Ok ok my real name is Kelly. I
don’t really care what I am called. Did you know I am a
black zebra with white stripes? I know that sounds
impossible but it happened so. You may think I am
popular. But you’re wrong. I am actually made fun of. I
am the opposite of all the normal zebras.
I would like to tell you how my mom died. The story of
how my mom died by Kelly. It was a hot summer day
when smoke filled the air then BAM! Fire shined in my
mom’s eyes and she gathered her children and ran. The
fire traveled quickly behind. At last she made a help
signal. An eagle swooped us up and carried us to fire free
land. My mother’s tail was on fire. She ran to cool it off.
But the fire got bigger. Then it was over she put her head
down and died. The End.
My eyes hurt from crying. I was miserable. I stood up
and wabboled. I didn’t want to move but I knew I had to.
I walked forward and fell face first. I banged my head in
the silky grass. I thought in my head bummer. I got up
and you know what? I fell again but this time I fell
sideways I rolled and ran into a tree. A short furry tree.
I looked up and screeched! I had ran into a lion. But it
was asleep. I ran and ran but I stepped on a twig. The
lion woke up. He stared at me for a long time. I knew he
was trying to figure out if I was grass or an all you can
eat buffet. I also knew if I ran I would give away the
blendness. Then I would be an all you can eat buffet.
Finally the lion walked away. I started running again. I
found a nice cave it looked like no one lived in it. I curled
up in a ball and went to sleep.
I had a horrible dream. I dreamed I was being tossed up
like a pancake and salt was being put on me. I woke up
and that was happening! A bear was tossing me in the
air like a pancake and pouring buckets of stolen salt on
me. I jumped up and ran for my life. I went back into the
woods. I turned right and sat down. It was getting dark.
But before I went to sleep, I wished on the brightest star I
saw. I said “I wish My life was easier”. A little 1 foot
angel zebra came floating up. I rubbed my eyes and
stared again. The angel zebra was still there. She said you
have wished upon the right star. She snapped her fingers
and twirled. Then she vanished. I rubbed my eyes and
curled my legs and closed my eyes. I fell asleep.
In the morning there was a zebra that looked exactly like
me. The angel zebra appeared. She said, “Your wish has
been granted”. The two of us zebras went back to our
herd. We showed up and everybody started laughing. I
felt stronger with a friend. I started to ignore them. It
was working! Everybody started getting bored of
laughing and left. We went to the pond and the hippos
started laughing. I started to ignore them. After a while
they got bored and left. But my fight to be treated like
everyone else was not over. We walked over to the
flamingo’s bay. They pointed their feet and laughed.
These were the last animals I had to go thru. But they
were the hardest. I held my head high and flicked my tail
down. I sat there ignoring them. I sat there until it was
down to two flamingos. One of them left. It was down to
one. I started to lose hope. I put my head down and
started to cry. My friend stood in front of me protecting
me. I felt greatful for her. I stood on my feet. My feet
wabboled but I did not dare fall. I put my head high
again. I straightened my legs and flicked my tail down. I
made my chest look bold. Finally the flamingo nodded her
head and left. I felt good. I finally could live without
being laughed at. I smiled at my new friend and said
thank you. I looked up and smiled. I closed my eyes and
said thank you.
THE END