Dimples was perhaps the farthest thing on Earth from an ordinary donkey. With gargantuan violet ears, similar to that of a rabbit's, sticking straight up and towering over the creature's white horse-like head that was speckled with rainbow colors, a varying set of six legs, each of another completely different animal, a tail that was twisted and bent in all directions like a poorly handled children's slinky toy, and a body covered in fur that varied in length, texture and color all around the animal's structure, "Donkey" was perhaps the last word that the average human being would mutter upon taking in the sight that was Dimples. And yet, Dimples spent every day of his existence standing upon a small mountain labeled "Dimples the Donkey" in the Happy Fun Time Land's world famous, "Critters of Imagination" ride, swinging his robotic head and kicking his animatronic legs day in and day out, endlessly smiling at the children who would squeal in delight as the boat passed by him in the man-made river below, whilst their parents either smiled gently with nostalgia, looked in disgusted horror at the ridiculous sight, or stared mindlessly down at their phones.
However, whilst Dimples spent the first blindly innumerable years of his life in an impossibly high state of endless joy, finding every day to be filled to the brim with wonder as he made the day of seemingly millions of children, eventually, something very strange happened. Whilst Dimples spent the day marching through his usual routine, he found that he was...struggling. With painted smile painfully forced and kicking horrendously offbeat to the mind-numbingly catchy tune that rang throughout the theme park attraction, it was so much more than obvious that Dimples' previous happiness had mysteriously vanished.
Whilst Dimples' mind was merely cluttered with devastatingly overwhelming confusion at first, eventually the truth of the situation smacked him over the head like a restless theme park worker trying to get his head to start swinging again after it was jammed. As much as he'd hate to admit, Dimples had inevitably grown tired of his variety-free existence, performing the same simple actions day in and day out. While making young humans smile WAS quite rewarding, Dimples knew, no matter how selfish it may be, that he had a desperate need to explore. And tonight, that need was going to be fulfilled.
After the park was completely shut down at the first minute of the midnight hour, Dimples was prepared to put his secret agent-like scheme into action. First, he had to do something he never thought he'd accomplish, or event attempt to: move from his spot. It couldn't be that hard, right? It couldn't possibly be harder than the kicking in tune he already did day in and day out. Hesitantly, but surely, Dimples put one octopus tentacle in front of the Great Dane paw, until the first pair of his six strangely mismatching feet was off the mountain and now residing on the flimsy plastic grass that littered the ground of the attraction's stage for their animatronic performers. Dimples felt a powerful wave of pride and relief wash over him as he realized that he was not only capable of leaving, but that it wouldn't kill him either. His elephant's foot, horse hoof, goat hoof, and final hyena paw followed his first two feet as he slowly crept along through the ride, Dimples whispering sorrowful goodbyes under his breath as he passed the sleeping robotic animals he had called friends for many years, for even if they could not here him in their slumber, he felt it was only right to make the final journey a little more final through words. He had no idea what tears were, due to the fact that it was impossible for him to create them, but if he could, he would've been choking them back during those heartbreaking farewells.
At long last, Dimples arrived at the entrance of the ride. He was naturally forced to freeze in place and gape like a young child, overtaken with awe at the brand new site. The moon, more satisfying full and grand than a kingly elephant god among mortal creatures, bathed the entire surrounding area in a crisp ocean of dazzling silvery light, from the lifeless waiting line ropes that hung carelessly around the sidewalks, to the humongous mountains of roller coasters that leaped from the ground and took their rightful place among the sky, looking down at the puny metallic animal. Once the illusion of Dimples' first night view finally wore off with a hardy shake of the head, he forced himself to flee as fast as his six legs could possibly carry him, through the smooth sheets of rock streets and passed the endless numbers of attractions, refusing to give any of them a second glance. Leaping over obstacles with grace and sneaking past lingering security guards with skill, it wasn't long until the gleeful creature had succeeded in escaping from the brightly colorful prison, and it took every little ounce of power and might inside that eccentric donkey's body to not scream in delight as he galloped towards the barren plains that could be found miles and miles from civilization.
It wasn't until that morning time that Dimples had found his previous rebellious excitement drained and replaced with heart-crushing anxiety. Whilst he was planted at the top of a hill, expertly hidden behind wildly overgrown bushes that masterfully masked his endless magnitude of varying colors, Dimples was forced to look down upon the massive collection of donkeys below, all perfectly identical in appearance and all munching along the freely flowing plains grass in nearly exactly similar order. Dimples couldn't believe himself, being so foolish as to think that he could just run off and join the average donkey, such a majestically simple creature, and be accepted for the heart-stopping mess of imagination he was.
While the poor impersonation of a donkey tortured himself, pacing back and forth with his mind far too busy swimming through the ocean of terrible possibilities that followed every choice he could make in this scenario, he failed to notice the pebble right on the horizon of the hill on which he stood. It was a gorgeous pebble, one that shone and glittered in a heavenly fashion when kissed by the natural morning sunlight. While it was too small to notice, it was not too small to cause an unfortunate animatronic donkey to trip and tumble down the hill on which he was hiding at top speed, before finally coming to a skidding stop near a horde of donkeys, all of which were frozen in confusion and shock.
After the reality of what had just happened settled in, Dimples couldn't bring himself to lift his head, which was currently lodged deep into the dirt, out of nothing more than the purest and strongest form of shame and humiliation that was ever to be felt. That is, he couldn't, until he heard a devastating chorus of screeching. No, it wasn't screeching, it was something more....positive. It was cheering!
Slowly and curiously rising up from the ground, Dimples' eyes were met with dozens upon dozens of donkeys, leaping and galloping about, singing songs of glee and dancing dances of joy. Finally, before he could properly calculate the details of the situation, Dimples was lifted into the air by about ten of the donkeys, all of which were whooping, "THE DAY HAS COME! FINALLY! AT LONG LAST! OUR BELOVED KING HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!”
Dimples never felt more amazing, than when a donkey climbed onto the pile to place that gargantuan crown of golden and sapphires upon the white, polka-dotted creature's head, making him wonder what he was so afraid of. It was then that he learned his personal motto, and a lesson he would never forget:
You never know what may happen, until you try.