A Zebra Named Apolla

Black and white stripes, thick mane, big eyes... That's how you'd recognise Apolla the zebra. When she was a little baby zebra, a huge fire broke out in her native savannah. All the zebra herds that lived there had to go as far away as possible.

Apolla, with her parents, covered a long distance before they got safely away from the fire. They crossed a desert and then crossed water in a boat. After several long weeks, they reached a place they liked very much. It had dense forests and sweet juicy grass that grew everywhere.

They all decided to settle at one of those beautiful pastures. However, upon their arrival, they discovered they were not alone.

“Who are you?” asked a large ginger horse, trotting up to them. Several foals were looking shyly behind him.

“I am Apolla,” replied the little zebra timidly. “My parents and I moved here yesterday because there was a fire in our savannah.” Her voice shook a little as she recalled it.

“Welcome then, Apolla,” snapped the ginger horse, as he flicked his ears and ran away. But the foals stayed and kept staring at Apolla in surprise. They continued to do it at school too. Did you know that even small horses went to school - to a special school for horses?

When Apolla joined them, one black foal pulled her tail. Another spotted one, pulled her mane. When she turned, a small brown horse tried to trip her legs.

“Why are you striped?”

“And why is your tail so weird?”

“Why are you so small?”

“How come you all look the same? How do you tell each other apart?” asked the other foals who had caught up with poor Apolla. And she had no idea what to say. She'd never…