Long ago, in a far away jungle, there lived a vibrant ecosystem brimming with life and colour. From the Tigers to the fish, a huge variety of diverse and amazing animals resided there. It seemed that every night someone was hosting a party or gathering. Yes, everybody was happy. Everybody that is except for Leopard, who was never invited to parties because of his bad mood. But he was in a bad mood because he wasn’t invited to the parties. It was quite the unfortunate recurring cycle. “Tiger has his stripes, and Lion from the Savannah has his mane, but do I have anything luxurious? No, just this dumb yellow coat!” Leopard would complain. While everyone partied, Leopard only chatted with Tree Frog, who was an up-and-coming designer who would say “I have no time for small talk with people when I know I’m neglecting my work!”

One day, while sitting alone next to the river, Leopard thought to himself, “I don’t really want to live like this forever. Maybe at Lion’s big Savannah party tomorrow I can make some new friends since it is open to everybody.” After a long moment of pondering, he continued, “I really should try to make a good impression. Maybe Tree Frog can help me look good for the party!” Leopard then proceeded to do something he almost never did, he smiled, and with his mind and heart content, he slowly drifted off into sleep.
He awoke the next morning refreshed and walked over to Tree Frog’s workshop. As Leopard approached, Tree Frog looked up from her work to say “Hi Leopard how are you?”

“I’m fine Tree Frog. You look good. Your vibrant colours continue to astound everyone. I was wondering if you could do me a favor?” Leopard asked, his tone sharpened to the point where he was afraid Tree Frog would be offended.

To his relief she replied “Sure, what is it?”

“Well..” Leopard started hesitantly. “You know Lion’s big party tonight? I was thinking of going and making some new friends and I was wondering if you could help me make a good impression.”

“You’re going?!?!?” asked Tree Frog. Leopard gave a small nod. “Thats great news Leopard!”

“So you will help me?”

“Of course I will! I’m gonna be the best designer in the whole jungle you know,” replied Tree Frog. Then, with the prankster within her getting the better of her, she thought, “ If I make him look bad, then everybody will laugh, and I’ll be as popular as Tiger! Then I’ll get more customers and become the best designer ever!” With a sly smile, she said, “Lets start brainstorming.”

Leopard then sat opposite Tree Frog and they started. Leopard had lots of ideas and thoughts, but Tree Frog mainly just nodded with an unreadable stare. “It has to be unsurpassed in quality,” Leopard said. Finally, with Tree Frog growing increasingly impatient, Leopard said, “I’ve got it! I could combine Tiger’s amazing stripes and Lion’s extraordinary mane!”

“Great idea, Leopard. It’s simply marvelous. Now if you could just lay down and close your eyes we can begin.”

Tree Frog got wild blackberries, squeezing the juice into a small hole in the ground and mixing the juice with sap. She then dabbed it on Leopard’s coat in ugly black spots all over his body. When she was finished Tree Frog told Leopard to walk home and look in a puddle. Leopard was puzzled why he couldn’t just look in the river but Tree Frog insisted he look in a puddle once he got home. Eventually Leopard agreed. As he walked home he thought to himself, “Why didn’t she want me to look in the river? It’s much closer.”

Once he arrived at his home he was horrified to see in a puddle that Tree Frog had not given him a mane and stripes but black spots. “Oh no, this is a disaster. It’s too late to go back. The party is starting soon,” he said. “I could just stay home but then if I don’t show up when I already said I would go it will make me look even worse.” He weighed the pros and cons of both choices. He finally, after much deliberation, decided to go to the party. As he walked there he thought, “This is going to be a disaster.”

As he entered, as discretely as he could, he expected to be greeted with laughs and sneers, but this was not the case. He was instead met with cheers and applause.

“That’sssss cool,” hissed the snake.

“Awesome,” exclaimed Flamingo.

Everyone formed a line to compliment Leopard. He was in such shock from the positive attention he was getting he could barely talk. Then Lion and Tiger came to the front of the line. For a split second Leopard was afraid they would insult him. He knew that a bad review from them and everybody would change their opinion, but instead Lion said, “I love your coat, Leopard. It’s the best one here.”

“It’s even better than my coat. It’s truly amazing,” exclaimed Tiger.

Once they walked away Tree Frog came up to Leopard. “I would very much like to apologize to you Leopard. What I did was mean, even though it looks like you made more than a few new friends.”

“I forgive you Tree Frog. You were foolish but by apologizing now it shows me you are owning up to your mistake.”

After a silent moment Tree Frog asked, “Friends?”

“Friends,” agreed Leopard. They then shook.

Everybody had fun that night and Leopard became a party king. Tree Frog stopped her pranks and fully pursued being a designer. And that is how the Leopard got his spots.