The Girl and the Little Vicuña

Maya lives in a village at the foot of the Andes, where the mountains seem to touch the sky. Curious about the peaks above her home, she sets off one bright morning along the mountain path, wearing the red hat and mustard-yellow sweater her grandmother made for her. High in the cold, thin air she meets a small vicuña with a golden-tan coat, a white chest and a red thread collar around its neck. She names it Pichi, and instead of running away the little animal leads her through the high grassland it calls home.

As Maya follows Pichi, she learns what the vicuña needs to survive: fresh grass to eat, clean water to drink and wide open spaces to run in. She notices bare, dry patches in the grassland and understands that these things cannot be taken for granted. Back at school, she shares her discovery with her friends Tomas and Luz, and together they build a model of the mountain habitat from sticks, stones, clay and moss, showing the hills, the stream and the open ground the vicuñas depend on. This tale by Ebru Mina TOMURCUK can be read on Onlinemasal Com.Tr.