Tracy is a phenomenal tiger. She was born in Germany in early 2020, and she developed quickly. She would be growing into a beautiful Siberian tiger.

Her birthplace was a recently updated zoo in Berlin. In her first days, she regularly saw new faces. Besides her mother, Diana, she saw creatures walking erectly on two paws.

And these creatures pressed their noses on the glass that separated them from her mother and herself.

Everyone was smiling. Tracy asked her mother who these smiling creatures were. Diana answered that these beings were called humans.

Tracy immediately decided to like these humans as they smiled, sheered, and knocked on the glass to gain their attention.

#1. First steps into a new world

It was a magnificent start to her new life as a tiger. Everybody was so caring and interested in her development.

Diana was impressed by her rapid growth. She told the turtle, Dr. Wisdom, that Tracy seems to be gifted. Dr. Wisdom, who was sharing the compound with them, was an ancient soul.

He lived alone in the compound decades before the humans turned it into the “Tiger-compound.” He never had a name until humans brought Diana there. And as he was very educated, Diana thought that Dr. Wisdom would be the perfect name.

His reply was simple: “Names mean nothing to me. Actions do.” Diana liked the newly introduced name even more.

Tracy smiled as the two were speaking about her. The smile of a tiger might look frightening to others but only to the non-educated.

Tracy’s teeth were white, long, and sharp. And she took good care of them. She was served delicious food regularly by her carer.

And she also got more food from Diana, who did not like the new food: “I hope these changes stop one day. Why does this always happen to us? Ten years ago, we got raw meat. Now, we get vegetables.”

Tracy did not spend too much attention to this remark. She liked the new food, and as she has never eaten anything else — how could she even miss something she never had?

#2. The first day in school

The first months of Tracy were coined by eating, sleeping, and speaking to her mother or learning from Dr. Wisdom.

She learned that communication is vital, and therefore, she studied the languages of the other animals around them.

She even started to learn the language of humans, but that was a hard thing to do. They sounded so different and used accents or even complete other words she has never heard before.

Dr. Wisdom was impressed by the quickness of Tracy. She reminded him of Harry Potter — a person he heard of by the humans. This person was capable of speaking with snakes. He believed it was called “parseltongue;” he was confident that Tracy was some sort of parseltongue.

It was three months after her birth when everything changed. Not only did the humans now wear masks in all different colors, but her first day in school would be on the next day.

Tracy was very nervous. Dr. Wisdom calmed her: “Don’t be afraid. You don’t know what lies in front of you. Why should you bother then?”

Tracy began to smile. Dr. Wisdom was right.

The next morning, Tracy proudly walked to the other side of the compound. At that point, the compounds of the other animals were close together.

This compound is called the “Tales of Asia”-area, and Tracy loved this expression.

The first animals showed up. There were giant elephants who were good friends of Tracy, even if she made fun of their long noses. Partly because she would love to have such a long nose, too, it seems so practical to grab the food from a longer distance.

Dr. Wisdom told her that she should not watch too much towards others. She should instead focus on her development.

Tracy nodded, even though she was confused but ready to learn. She waited for the last animals to arrive.

There were pandas, beavers, water buffalos, and many birds. Thus, everyone was waiting for the teacher.

The teacher was an old peacock. The peacock was allowed to wander around in the zoo freely. And he was responsible for the education of all animals.

His name was Fierce. Tracy was curious about why someone would name his kid Fierce but gave up all hope after hearing the humans' names.

And she remembered Dr. Wisdom’s words: “Names are nothing. Actions are everything.”

#3. The first life lessons

Fierce introduced himself as the teacher. And that a strict schedule would lay in front of them.

The first course was roaring. Tracy smiled. She knew that she could do this correctly beside her youth. And she performed exceptionally well.

Fierce complimented her on her roars. All other animals were making funny noises, but nobody came close to Tracy’s achievement.

She got the best grade. All others only got the worst rating. Fierce was very strict about it.

Flying was the next course. And Fierce admitted that he divided flight lessons into two separate classes — one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

The elephants were trumpeting. It was unfair as they were a bit overweight to fly. All others accepted their fate that only the birds could fly.

All others? Not Tracy — she tried. And fell miserably but did not hurt herself. Therefore — she tried again. And again. But flying was not possible for her.

Dr. Wisdom was wrong. He told her that everything is possible. She had to talk with the turtle later.

The grades reflected the achievements and not the effort. Therefore, only the birds got excellent rates.

The next lesson was swimming. The beavers outswam all others. The elephants were too big for swimming — their paws reached the ground, but they didn’t say anything and were the second quickest. The water buffalos didn’t enter the water.

The birds were all wet and couldn’t fly anymore for hours. And Tracy? Tracy was having fun in the water but wasn’t making any progress. She enjoyed the shallow water too much — at least for Fierce’s taste.

Time for the grades: the beavers and the elephants got the best rates. Tracy was among the worst ones despite her having the most fun.

It was time for the second phase of flying. Now, nobody could fly as the wings of the birds were still wet.

Fierce adjusted the grades accordingly — now everyone in the group got the worst ratings.

Tracy was irritated. Why was Fierce so harsh? Another question she would ask the turtle later on.

#4. Sharing experiences with Dr. Wisdom

Tracy saw Dr. Wisdom sitting on a stone — his favorite place to stay. She ran towards him and immediately talked to him about everything she observed today.

“I think Fierce carries the name because he is cruel!”

The turtle smiled: “Haven’t I told you that names don’t mean anything? Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

“But he was unfair! Nobody could have done the things he asked us,” Tracy sorrowed.

Dr. Wisdom continued: “That is not true — every single animal has its strengths. Nobody has to be good at everything. It would be best if everybody could find out what works best for him or her and stick to it.”

“But I loved swimming — I enjoyed it and still got bad grades.”

“Grades don’t mean anything too. It is your feeling that counts! How did you feel while you were swimming?”

“Great!” Tracy admitted.

“There we go. Don’t be too hard towards Fierce. Tracy, you have to remember that Fierce spent too much time with the humans as he is walking around them in the zoo all day. He copies and grasps too many of their ideas.”

“And what about flying? You told me that everything is possible.”

“Oh, it is possible! Even for tigers. Sometimes, things develop quicker than you think. You have to believe in it.”

“Okay, but isn’t school meant to be fun?”

Dr. Wisdom smiled even brighter: “Oh absolutely, but I believe the humans call Fierce’s approach — life.”

Stay tuned for the next episodes of Tiger Tracy.

And as always — please enjoy the ride!

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