Mel, the Feathered Camel

Mel the camel was born on a dark desert night. As Mel’s mother licked the newborn, she noticed that Mel’s skin felt different from that of his sister Melanie when she was born. Instead of the thick fur that covered other camels, Mel’s skin seemed to be covered by something soft and fluffy, like... bird feathers? When daybreak casted light on the new member of the family, were they surprised to see that Mel was not beige, or tan, or brown, but yellow and orange! Yes, Mel the camel was born with brightly colored feathers.

The camp where Mel’s family lived never had a camel with feathers before then. There were camels with fur, and birds with feathers, but there were no other camels with feathers. As the home pack was settled in the middle of a desert, Mel’s bright colors stood out against the beige background of the sand, and among the other camels, whose fur was tan or brown.

As a baby camel, Mel was quite content. Mel enjoyed playing in the sand with relatives and friends from dawn to dusk.

But growing up was not easy for Mel. Mel’s parents loved Mel, but quietly wondered why their child was not like all the others. And Mel noticed that Melanie seemed embarrassed by Mel in front of her friends.

Mel spent hours and days alone, reading about the world beyond his camp. Mel fantasized about being somebody else, someplace else. Mel dreamed about a different life.

In real life, Mel was lonely. Those who were Mel’s friends when they were younger would now be very unfriendly.

‘Mel laid an egg!,’ they would tease Mel. Other young camels would not want to play with or be around Mel just because of Mel being different.

‘Mel is odd, Mel is weird,’ they would whisper, but loud enough that Mel would hear them.

Mel’s feelings were hurt. Mel felt very sad. After all, Mel did not choose to be born with feathers. Everything would be easier if Mel looked more like the other camels.

‘I’m so unhappy. I wish I could go to sleep and look like the others when I wake up,’ Mel would pray. Yet every morning Mel would wake up the same old feathered Mel.

Sometimes Mel would hear some of the adult camels say: ‘Mel is not normal.’ ‘There must be something wrong with Mel.’

That made Mel angry, and confused, for Mel felt like a normal camel. Mel had two humps as camels do, ate like camels eat, walked like camels walk, and slept like camels sleep. But camels were not supposed to have yellow and orange feathers, were they?

Trying to look more like the others, Mel once got a beige fur coat and wore it over the feathers. But it felt uncomfortable, and Mel could not move or walk well with the extra weight.

Another time, in an attempt to match camel fur colors, Mel dyed the feathers brown. But the dye made Mel’s skin itch, and the brown color washed off when Mel took a bath.

One afternoon, Mel noticed a commotion in the camp. Everyone was gathering around some visiting cranes. The cranes had been traveling for some time and had been where no one in the pack had been before. They had visited distant lands, and had brought the most unusual objects: shiny rings and chains, pieces of fabric with elaborate designs, scraps of paper with writings in foreign languages… The cranes were showing pictures and sharing amazing stories of their adventures abroad.     

Having a longstanding interest in life in far-off lands, Mel joined the crowd around the cranes. Everyone was quite surprised when the cranes showed pictures of what seemed like other camels with feathers, just like Mel!  

There were not one, or two, but many feathered camels. Some were pink and red, others were blue and violet, and others were shades of green. Indeed, these pictures showed camels with feathers in all the colors of the rainbow.

Mel sat for hours listening to the visiting cranes, absorbed with the stories and the pictures. Mel would love to visit these places and meet these camels.

‘If only I were like a crane, and could fly around the world, and meet other feathered camels…’ Mel said, and sighed.

One of the visiting cranes heard Mel’s plight, walked over, and told Mel: ‘Mel, you don’t have to become a crane, and you don’t have to look like the other camels around you. You need only to accept yourself just as you are, discover and share your talents, and pursue your aspirations!’

The crane’s wise words inspired Mel.

‘Accept yourself,’ repeated Mel. Deep inside, Mel actually liked the feathers and the way they helped with staying cool on hot days. Mel was also secretly proud of the beauty in the bright colors, as they glistened in the sun. 

‘Discover and share your talents,’ continued Mel. It was ruffling the feathers playfully when Mel noticed that a large, strong pair of wings had been growing on the front hump. Still a camel, Mel could fly, even take others along, quite a special talent for a camel!

‘And pursue your aspirations!,’ Mel recalled. That night Mel decided to pursue the dream of exploring the world beyond the camp. So, the next day Mel said good-bye to family, pack and homeland. And took flight.

Mel traveled to places where camels had fur, or feathers, or both. Mel befriended creatures as diverse as nature is in the vast multicolor world that Mel explored.

And when coming back to visit, Mel brought to everyone in the home pack colorful cooling fans, made from ca-Mel feathers.