Have you ever heard about the enchanted forest? I have. It's a magical place free from global warming, environmental disasters and deforestation. It's a magical place where the animals of the world communicate with each other. They co-exist and live in their natural habitats just as nature intended. It's such a wonderful place to witness.
Once upon a time, there was a shabby trampy cat and a classy popular cat. What these cats do, is what cats normally do. They played tig, they played hide and seek, and they went off exploring and showing each other the discoveries that they had found.
One day, whilst the cats had finished playing, the classy cat told the shabby cat to go collect some food, as the shabby cat would always do. It was too laborous and dirty for a classy cat to look for food, with all the hunting, scavenging, time and effort. So it was the shabby cat that had to do it.
Along the journey, the shabby cat had met some other cats which were also looking for food as well. Some had salmon. Some had trout. Some had tuna. Some had cod. Some had robins. Some had geese. The shabby cat wondered how an animal which walked on land could get food which came from the sea or the air; and the other cats told the shabby cat that they got the food by trading worms for other food. The shabby cat did not know that food could be gained from trading. The shabby cat had to try this out.
The shabby cat started off by collecting some worms to eat. The thing is, that collecting worms is harder than you think. First, the shabby cat had to peck and hit the ground to trick the worms that it was raining so they could reach the surface. Second, the shabby cat had to dig through the ground to look for worms which were trying to reach the surface. Third, there might be no worms in the area the shabby cat had dug, so the shabby cat would have to start the whole process again.
After enough collecting of worms, it was getting late. It was time for the shabby cat to return to the classy cat with the food that had been collected. There wasn't enough time to do any trading. The sky had become darker.
When the shabby cat returned to the classy cat, the classy cat was stunned because of the shock. The classy cat was disappointed with the food that was available to eat.
"What do you call this?" asked the classy cat upset to have unappetising food to eat. "Where's all the food?"
"This is the food" replied the shabby cat finding no fault in the food.
"Normally you rummage through the food for me to share" explained the classy cat "Where's the banana skins? The dropped acorns? The bruised apples? The steamed nettles? The poisonous berries? The unharvested wheat grains? The fat birds? The un-nutritious cabbage? The sour milk? The torn bread? The sour grapes? The unwanted grisle? The discarded bones? The plain soya?"
"I knew you would get upset if you had to wait any longer for those things, so if you're willing to wait, I can give you those things but more"
"How can I trust you? You've done some inconsiderate things in the past"
"Inconsiderate I may be. But I've always been there for you, loyal to you every day. What I've done today in bringing you worms is not inconsiderate. You say alot of the things I do are inconsiderate when I'm only trying to help or make mistakes. I have so much food, fun and friendship to give"
"If you was a true friend, you wouldn't give me worms. I say you spent your time eating all the good food. It doesn't take that long to get only worms.
The shabby cat looked down at the worms and realised how pitifully small the amount of worms looked.
"I'm leaving" said the classy cat with serendipity.
"You can't leave" said the shabby cat its face all red and worried. "Who's going to play games with you everyday when I'm gone?"
"I don't know. But now I'll never have to deal with your failings ever again. Too many times you make me sad to be your friend as you always hurt me. How could you eat my food to yourself like that?"
"Please listen to me. I can get you more food with trading"
And with that, the classy cat kissed her teeth, and shook her head and was gone; never to be the shabby cat's friend again. The classy cat did not believe that food could be gained by trading, otherwise, why would the shabby cat come back with worms?
The shabby cat had plenty of food to eat but not a friend in the world. The classy cat was the shabby cat's only friend in the world. The classy cat was the shabby cat's only friend. Whilst the shabby cat was rolling in a pack, collecting some food, it felt very much like the first day of school. Doing work, not knowing anyone, making friends. It was scary stuff.
The classy cat had plenty of friends to play with, but not a scrap in the world to eat. The shabby cat was the classy cat's only mistake. Whilst the classy cat was rolling in a pack, collecting some food, it felt very much like the television show Scrapheap Challenge. Doing work, not knowing the end result, making stuff out of scrap. It was hopeless stuff.
The classy cat did find a new friend which could supply food, however. This friend was a tiger. And this tiger was much like the classy cat. It was a classy popular tiger.
Each day, the classy tiger would provide better food than the shabby cat provided. Over a period of time, the classy tiger would provided salmon, trout, tuna, cod, robins and geese. The classy cat did not care how the classy tiger got the food, just as long as the food was delivered on time. Besides, the cat was too classy to care about where food came from, the classy cat did not like the sound of hunting and getting dirty.
When the classy cat asked the classy tiger where the glorious food came from, the classy tiger said that it came from trading. The classy cat did not bother to ask what got traded.
The classy cat and classy tiger came from a long line of successful ancestory. The classy cat was rich and the classy tiger's breed dominated the area of land that the animals lived in. Much like the shabby cat which didn't have much family, friends, wealth, power or status to fall back on. One thing the classy tiger did not want to do is play with the classy cat. The classy tiger greatly preferred to play with the big cats. And the big cats that the classy tigers liked to play with were tigers.
"Do you want to play tig?" the classy cat would say.
"Tomorrow. I've got a bellyache"
"Do you want to play hide and seek?"
"Yes. You count and I hide"
What the classy cat did not know was that the classy tiger was using the position of a friend to infiltrate the base that the cats used so things could be stolen from them.
"What's happened to my string?" asked the classy cat.
"I've borrowed it for a fox trap"
"Do you know where it is?"
"Yes lied the classy tiger". The classy tiger's friends had their claws on the string.
This kept on happening untill eventually, nearly all of the valuable stuff, which was all ths stuff, was out the house being borrowed.
"What's happened to my stuff?" asked the classy cat.
"It's being borrowed for more prey traps"
"Do you know where it is?"
"Yes" lied the classy tiger. The classy tiger's friends had their claws on the stuff. What they were doing with it, the classy tiger did not know.
When the classy cat got the rightful stuff back in the house, most of it was in fine working order. Some of it was broken. Some of it was dirty. Some of it was messy.
"I demand that you fix clean and organise my stuff this instant! snapped the classy cat.
"No"
"What do you mean no?"
"Your part of the deal is over. I am going to stop giving you food and you are going to stop having stuff for me to borrow"
"I'll pay you in stuff. How about we trade food for stuff?"
"I don't need your stuff any more thank you very much. I've finished and done with it. Why do you think I've returned it all in the first place?"
"Unresourceful I may be. But I've always been there for you. Now I'm going to use someone with importance to me."
The classy cat with no food and the shabby cat with no friends saw each other, chatted and decided to become friends. They had resolved their differences and the friendship and food was better than ever. And they lived happily ever after. And in case you're wondering, the shabby cat fixed, cleaned and organised the classy cat's stuff.
The morals of this story are: the grass is always greener on the other side, people should appreciate what they've got rather than focus on something that need not exist.
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