If Only

Walking across the prairie, the giraffe looked in all directions. He didn’t see anyone except his friend, the little one. Little One was also looking out. They got to a spot where there were a few trees and there were a few birds looking on but they were friends. 

Giraffe looked down at his friend Little One and Little One looked back up and they smiled at each other and Giraffe slowly shrank and got smaller and smaller until he looked just like Little One and they played in the grass and jumped around and found nuts and little foods that they could eat and they had fun and then they went over to the tree and the birds came down and they turned into birds and flew around in the sky with all the other birds. 

Then, after a time they all came back and the birds settled in the trees but Giraffe and Little One settled on the ground and they turned into beings like Little One and then Giraffe slowly got bigger and bigger and bigger until he was his normal size and they looked at each other, Little One and Giraffe, and smiled and Giraffe could see into the trees and the birds were all smiling too with their eyes glittering and they were almost winking, the way birds wink, in a happy way. 

Giraffe thought to himself, “If only people could do this so they could find out what it’s like to be other beings - to be different - to be completely different then what you are but to discover the joy of it as we are able to do by some miracle.”

Giraffe discussed this with his friend, Little One and they said, “If only” and the birds nodded in agreement. 

“Maybe it could happen for people somehow if they imagine it and actually try to feel it - you know - feel what it feels like,” Little One said. Little One looked at Giraffe and Giraffe thought about it and said, “Maybe.” Little One looked at the birds and the birds nodded with their maybe nod. They all smiled at each other. Maybe.