(Originally published in "Classical Fairytales and Life Lessons" by Jon Miller.
Foxy and Thumper
Once upon a time there lived a fox named Thumper. He lived in a forest with all of his friends. Every day of every year the fox and his friends would play in the woods. The sun would shine down as they threw acorns back and forth. The dragonflies usually watched in anticipation waiting to see who would drop it first. The deer and the antelope cooked three daily meals and all the animals were fed well. All was as it should be in the forest until one day a curious creature appeared in the field across the way. The two worlds were divided by a line of trees.
It was an animal not a single one had ever seen before. The creature had long ears and a bushy white tail. It moved strangely as it hopped to and fro, without a care in the world. Thumper was intrigued and went to the edge of the forest to greet this peculiar being.
“Why hello there, my name’s Thumper. What’s yours?”
“I’m Foxy,” replied the animal.
Thumper was always anxious to make a new friend so he immediately opened up to this thing. “Well Foxy, I’m a fox. I’ve never seen an animal like you before. What do others call you?’
“I’m a rabbit. You all don’t have rabbits in your forest?” Foxy asked.
“Nope, but you’re welcome to come join us. We’ve just begun playing acorn toss. It’s the greatest game ever!” Foxy and Thumper trudged over to the woods where the rest of the gang was just beginning to play
“Who’s this?” One of the dragonflies replied.
“Well this here’s Foxy, she’s a rabbit. And she really wants to play acorn toss. So lets show her some good old forest hospitality!”
The animals and Foxy all played acorn toss. It was a lovely day, however Foxy was surprisingly good at this game. So good in fact, that none of the other animals got a chance to even touch the acorn. Foxy tossed the acorn over and over again and eventually won the game.
“Hey, what’s the big idea! This game is for everyone,” yelled the dragonfly.
“I’m sorry,” Foxy said apologetically, “I guess I’m just good at this game for some reason.”
“Well that’s not how we play here,” said the dragonfly, “we SHARE here!”
Foxy was beginning to feel uneasy. She slowly hopped away as the other animals began to laugh.
“I’m hungry! Let’s eat Foxy!” all the animals chanted at once.
“Wait what?” Foxy said
The animals circled around her. “Yeah, We’re going to eat you because that’s what we do to animals we don’t like.”
“Nooooooo!” screamed Foxy. Thumper looked on in horror as the animals all pounced on Foxy the rabbit. One of the bears ripped off her tail as blood streamed from the open wound. Another took a bite from one of her long, pointy ears. Several others grabbed at her limbs, pulling in every direction.
“Ohhhhh, Ahhhwwwww!” Foxy screamed in pain. “Please, I didn’t know the rules of acorn toss, I’ll never pla-” but just then a swarm of dragonflies engulfed her face. As they streamed down her throat and up her nostrils Foxy became suffocated by the furious insects.
Thumper had stopped watching, not because he couldn’t bear to see it, but because he had noticed a frog hopping around on a lilly pad, and he thought it was the cutest thing.
A pool of blood seaped out from the animals piled on top of Foxy. She had stopped moving and now only the sound of chewing could be heard from the group. “We are full,” replied the animals, “I guess we should go to bed.”
As they began to trudge off Thumper stopped them in their tracks. “Ok guys, just because someone is different from you it doesn’t mean you can treat them like that. From now on we must treat everyone equal regardless of what they are! She was my friend and she will still be my friend, in memory.”
“You’re right Thumper. We’re sorry,” replied the animals.
Full of pride, Thumper nodded his head and hurried away. As he neared his foxhole he tried to remember the rabbit's name, but he couldn’t.
“Whatever,” Thumper muttered as he let out a long, wet fart.
THE END
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