The Little Alpaca's Bell

In the tall green grass of the hills, a small alpaca with cream-soft fleece wears a red ribbon collar holding a golden bell. She shakes her head every morning to hear it ring, certain the sound sets her apart. Her friend Sheep, round and woolly with a black face and kind amber eyes, walks along without bells or ribbons and quietly asks whether the noise ever wears her out.

One afternoon, chasing a butterfly through thick bushes, the alpaca feels a pull at her neck; when she stops, the jingle is gone and only the empty ribbon is left. Sheep helps her search under bushes, behind rocks, along the stream and around the old oak, but the bell stays lost. As they look, the alpaca starts to hear what the bell had covered: birds, wind in the grass, paddling ducks, a passing dragonfly. This gentle tale by Çınar BİBER can be read on Masalcı Baba.