Week 1 (Storytelling): The Little Vixen

There was a family of foxes. In this family, there is a father, a mother, 3 pups. The oldest of the pups is a male, he was the biggest of the 3, strong and fast. The middle pup is also a male, he is the smart one, he always knew the best way to catch prey by doing the least amount of work. The youngest of the pups is a female, she was small, quiet, and quite peculiar. The third pup was not as strong as her oldest brother and certainly not has smart as her other. She liked to spend her days exploring around their den and make up stories. Many foxes found her strange so she did not have any friends.

 

 (photo: three fox pups taken by Hank Vander Velde. Source:PBase)

 One day whilst the father and mother were out hunting for their children. The youngest fox was playing by an enormous oak tree where she typically at. All of the sudden, her brothers leaped out from behind the bushes to scare her. She jumped, a bit frazzled from the scare. Her brothers laughed. 

The older brother said, "Hahaha, Girls are always scared. If they were strong like me, they would have nothing to be afraid of."

The younger brother said, "You are right. At least other girls aren't as weird as our sister!"

Hurt by those comments, the youngest fox said, "Why are you guys here?! Buzz off!"

That only made the brothers laugh even more. Then the younger fox looked up and said a delicious bundle of grapes right above them. Unfortunately, it was much too high for them to just grab. Then he got an idea.

"We came to challenge you. The fox who grabs that bundle of grapes will be the master of the other two for the next month."

The oldest brother jumped for joy, "I like it. Prepare yourself. I will definitely be the one to grab those grapes and you two will be my slaves."

The oldest brother went first. He decided to use all of his brute force so the oldest brother backed up and charged for the base of the tree. Nothing changed. He tried again, nothing. He tried again and again until his body began to ache and he had no strength left.

Next the younger brother went. He saw a squirrel walk by the branch with the grapes. He yelled at that squirrel, "You! With the fluffy tail! Cut down those grapes for me and we can split the profits evenly!" The squirrel looked at the fox and then recognized him. This was the same fox that had stolen all of the squirrel's winter food bank from his secret hiding spot yesterday! Now the squirrel had to work twice as hard to save up food for the upcoming winter. Angered by this, instead of doing as asked, the squirrel threw down seeds at the fox's head and then scurried off.

It was the vixen's turn now. She looked at the grapes, they were much too high for her to just jump. She looked at the base of the tree and thought of an idea. She backed up a few steps and then ran. Instead of running straight into the trunk, she began to climb it. She felt herself getting tired, but she could not lose momentum. She could see herself getting closer and closer to the branch with the grapes. Finally, she made it. Tired, she too a rest on the branch. The tree branch was thin and quite unstable. She felt it shake when she rested on it. However she was determined to succeed. She took slow and steady steps towards the grapes. Her brothers watched from below, amazed that she actually got that close to the grapes. Then when she was just one step away, the branch snapped. The youngest fox was falling and fast. She could see the ground rushing towards her, but there was nothing to stop her from falling. Then, thud.

"Ouch, you are so heavy," said the oldest brother.
"You really should think about cutting back on your diet." said the youngest brother.

The youngest fox opened her eyes and say her brothers under her. They had saved her life. She looked next to her and the beautiful grapes were smashed.

The youngest brother said, "Hey, it's alright. I'm just glad you didn't break any bones."
"Me too," said the oldest.
"Me three," said the vixen, "Let's go home."

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Author's Note: The original storyline is from Aesop's fable of The Fox and the Grape.

A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox's mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.

The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way. So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more. Again and again he tried, but in vain.

Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.

"What a fool I am," he said. "Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for."

And off he walked very, very scornfully.

There are many who pretend to despise and belittle that which is beyond their reach.

I really enjoyed this story and I basically changed it to be my own.

"The Fox and the Grapes" by Aesop, from Aesop for Children (2006). Web Source:  The Project Gutenberg EBook