ylvester was a white horse

who lived with a group of zebras.

He was very insecure, of course,

because although his hair was white,

it was unfortunately without stripes.

S

Sylvester would crack jokes

and the zebras would laugh.

Yet he thought it wasn't because of what he spoke,

but because he didn't have stripes on his back.

So one day Sylvester went out and about

in search of a way to make his own stripes.

He sniffed around with his snout

and stumbled upon a bush of the berry-type.

He stomped...

and he tromped...

and he whomped

a great amount.

Sylvester slathered the juice on his back

and thought himself very spiffy.

Yet what he didn't realize was that

the berries were too blue and too sticky!

So then Sylvester went off in vain

in search of something else to make stripes.

He found charcoal deep in the terrain

that along his back he swiped.

But alas, the charcoal didn't last.

It blew off in the wind,

and Sylvester rasped,

"My patience is getting thin!"

He went off on one last mission

to find stripes that would stay,

he strutted up a mountain with less ambition

and looked at the golden cashew trees that swayed.

When he came upon an ocean he was glad

to see a creature swimming below.

It wore a shirt of plaid

and had eight legs but no toes!

"An octopus!" Sylvester exclaimed.

"That's just what I need!"

And he ran down the hill,

his breath caught in his throat.

He let out a shrill

and said to the eight-armed animal now afloat,

"Hello young lad, I don't mean to pester

but I have a question for you."

The octopus looked up at Sylvester

and replied, "Well, I could answer a few."

"Could I use some of your ink?"

Sylvester asked. "To make stripes so I look like a zebra?"

The octopus said with a wink,

"Why of course, what a great idea!"

Sylvester was now delighted

and returned to his family and friends.

But when they caught sight

of him and his new stripes...