Doboro, the tiger without tail

Doboro, the young tiger without a tail, walked through the jungle with his head low. The other animals often laughed at him. “A tiger without a tail? How strange!” they would say. No matter how fast he ran or how strong he was, they only saw what he lacked.

One day, after a particularly harsh round of teasing, Doboro went to his mother, his golden fur ruffled in frustration.

“I want to leave,” he declared. “I want to see a world where no one laughs at me.”

His mother, wise and loving, nuzzled him gently. “Go, my son. The world is big, and there is much to see. And I can’t wait to hear all the stories you have on the road, when you decide to come back as I know you will..”

And so, Doboro left, venturing beyond the trees and vines of his familiar jungle.

As he traveled, Doboro saw plants unlike any he had known—flowers that sparkled like the sun, vines that curled like a sleeping snake. Birds of colors he had never imagined chirped songs that were both foreign and beautiful. He met monkeys who did not mock him and deer who gazed at him without judgment.

For the first time, he felt free.

One afternoon, as he wandered into a shady grove, he heard a deep, rumbling sound. It was rhythmic and calm—until it stopped with a loud snort!

Doboro turned just in time to see a massive brown bear sitting up, rubbing his eyes.

“Who dares interrupt my nap?” the bear grumbled.

“I–I’m sorry,” Doboro stammered. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

The bear stretched, his powerful muscles rolling beneath his fur. Then he let out a great yawn.

“Well, you did,” he said. Then, after a pause, he added, “But since you’re here, what’s your story, little tiger?”

Doboro hesitated, then told the bear about his journey—how he left his jungle because the other animals laughed at him.

The bear listened, nodding thoughtfully. “Hmm… I see. You should talk to Billy.”

“Billy?”

“A wise turtle. He lives by the big river. He sees everything and knows many things. Go find Billy, and maybe you’ll see the world a little differently.”

Doboro followed the bear’s advice and traveled until he heard the sound of rushing water. And there, by the riverbank, was a turtle as ancient as time itself.

Billy looked up with slow, knowing eyes. “Ah, a tiger without a tail. A rare sight indeed.”

Doboro braced himself for another round of laughter, but Billy simply smiled.

“I met a bird once,” the turtle continued. “It had no wings, but it danced across the water like the wind. And I knew a fish that couldn’t swim, but it learned to jump and ride the waves.”

Doboro tilted his head. “But weren’t they… different?”

Billy chuckled. “What is ‘different,’ young tiger? Every creature in this world is unique in some way. The bird was still a bird, the fish was still a fish, and you—tail or no tail—are still a tiger.”

Doboro thought about that. For so long, he had believed that being different was a weakness. But maybe… maybe it wasn’t.

He turned to the river, watching its endless flow. It did not care if he had a tail. The wind that danced across his fur did not laugh at him.

For the first time, he saw himself not as the jungle’s outcast, but as Doboro—just as he was meant to be.

Then and there, Doboro knew he was ready to return home.

is mother was waiting for him, as if she had known he would come back all along.

“I met a bear, and a turtle, and I saw the big wide river!” Doboro told her excitedly. “And I learned that being different doesn’t make me less. It just makes me… me.”

His mother purred with pride. “The world is vast, but home is where you truly belong. And now, you know who you are.”

From that day on, when the animals in the jungle saw Doboro, they no longer saw a tiger without a tail.

They saw Doboro—the tiger who had traveled far, seen the big wide river, and returned with a heart as strong as ever.

And when they laughed, he laughed with them. Because he was proud of who he was.