Mercedes, better known as Cedie, loved the dog park. She
loved being able to prance around without being held back by a leash. She loved
meeting new dog-friends. She loved playing in the plastic pool full of muddy
water. But what she loved most was the seemingly limitless tennis balls.
The dog park. (Source)
Cedie always brought her own tennis ball to the park. When
she was a puppy, she loved to share her ball with the other dogs at the park.
She would sometimes even give it to the humans so they could have fun with the
ball, too. However, as she got older, she became stingier with her ball, until
one day she wouldn’t let any other dogs or humans play with her ball.
As the years progressed, Cedie became even more selfish. She
began stealing the other dog’s balls and collecting them in the corner for
herself. Soon, Cedie had over 10 tennis balls collected.
This outraged the other dogs. At first, the dogs stopped
bringing their balls to the park. Then, fewer and fewer dogs came to the park,
until they all stopped coming at all. This initially pleased Cedie, until she
took a look around the park.
Cedie began to reflect on her predicament. “I have all these
tennis balls, but no one to play with! I don't even know which one of these tennis balls is mine anymore.”
So, Cedie devised a plan to bring all her friends back. “I’ll give away all these balls for free, so we can all play in the park together once again!”
Cedie and her friend holding paws after a great day at the dog park.
(Personal photo, 2016)
So, Cedie took it upon herself to spread the news around the
town about the ball giveaway. Soon, dogs and humans from all over came to visit
Cedie and the seemingly limitless tennis balls in the dog park. Cedie learned
to love her single tennis ball again. She swore to never take her tennis ball
or her friends for granted again.
Cedie and her tennis ball.
(Personal photo, 2016)
(Edited with BeFunky)
Author's Note:
This short story was inspired by Aesop's Fable "The Dog and the Shadow". I interpreted this fable as a lesson on being selfish, or else you will lose what you truly valued in the first place.
IT happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace. Now on his way home he had to cross a plank lying across a running brook. As he crossed, he looked down and saw his own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking it was another dog with another piece of meat, he made up his mind to have that also. So he made a snap at the shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the piece of meat fell out, dropped into the water and was never seen more.
“BEWARE LEST YOU LOSE THE SUBSTANCE BY GRASPING AT THE SHADOW.”
Bibliography. "The Dog & The Shadow", a fable from Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs. Web Source.
Oh, the dog park: such a great setting for a story, and such a fun picture too, Emily! And we have a stingy cat who does not share toys with others, so I can believe Cedie becoming stingy over time. The contrast between the picture with the park full of dogs having fun and the crisis of the empty dog park works perfectly... with such a happy solution, and the dogs holding paws picture is also adorable! I really like the idea of taking the fable that teaches by a negative example (don't be greedy or you'll lose it hall), and then building on that story to create a lesson in the positive flipside: be generous, and be happy! Aesop's fables are often more about the negative than the positive... but that just gives you an opportunity as the storyteller to put your own positive twist on it. Well done!!!
ReplyDeleteThe whole time I was like, no Cedie chill!!! I'm glad she realized the error of her ways and got all of her friends back though. Like Laura, I also have a stingy cat (Piper), who always takes toys away from her brother (Church - who is blind!!!) I feel so bad for Church; Piper will snatch the toy away and he won't even know it and will be pawing around looking for it. Stingy little thang.
ReplyDeleteI love dogs so much so reading this story was very entertaining. My dog was so similar to when Cedie got selfish with the ball. My dog would always just keep the ball in his mouth and run around. He would never want me to throw it for him. I think this story shows the importance of being selfless with what we have very well. I enjoy the happy ending though, never been a fan of sad endings, so I love the personal twist to this story and how Cedie ended learning about true value.
ReplyDeleteI have four dogs at home, so I can definitely relate to the whole "my toy" phase each one goes through. In fact, my Corgi didn't like letting the other dogs play with us until well into his older years. He's mellowed out somewhat, perhaps because he realized he needed his friends more than toys!
ReplyDelete