F is for Fable

I couldn't think of anything else besides Fable for F, so I wrote this flash Fable for my son who has been having a little trouble playing with his friends and keeping his cool.


One day three friends were playing ball in a meadow. Puppy, Chicken and Skunk loved to play ball in the meadow every afternoon until they were called for dinner. They would kick the ball from one to the next in a circle then reverse directions over and over until they lost track of time.

On this particular day Skunk called to reverse the ball before Puppy could get a turn. Puppy showed self-control even though he was sad that he didn't get a turn that round. The ball will come around the other way in a minute and I'll have a turn thought Puppy.

Just as it was about to be his turn Skunk called for a reverse again and kicked it back to Chicken. “That's not fair, I didn't get a turn,” Puppy said feeling unhappy that he had been skipped again.

“It is fair. I called for a reverse first,” Skunk said.

“You can't call for that many reverses in a row. It's not fun of we all don't get a turn,” Chicken said.

“I am having fun,” said Skunk.

“It has to be fun for everyone and everyone needs a turn,” Chicken said.

“Puppy is just being a spoil sport and that makes me mad!” Skunk yelled.

“There's no need to get angry. We just need to work together to find a solution,” Puppy said to Skunk.

“I don't want to work together and you're not being a good friend!” Skunk yelled again and he raised himself up on his legs as tall as he could. His friends watched in horror as Skunk threw a temper tantrum and sprayed them. They ran off home, both upset.

Two days later Skunk came to the meadow to find Puppy and Chicken playing ball without him. “Why did you come to the meadow without me?” Skunk asked feeling hurt.

“We don't want to play if you're going to get mad every time you don't get what you want,” said Chicken.

“It's fun to play together, but not if you're going to throw a temper tantrum and hurt us,” said Puppy.

Skunk felt sad because he didn't want his friends to play without him. “Can we play together again if I promise to take turns and keep my cool?” He asked.

“Of course we can play together,” said Puppy and Chicken together. They were so happy to have their friend back and they played for a long while. They had a wonderful time passing the ball around and around. Then Chicken accidentally kicked the ball straight past Skunk and off into the far side of meadow. Skunk looked sad and a little bit upset, but he took a deep breath and said, “It's okay Chicken, I know it was an accident. I'll run and get the ball and we can start again."

They happily played together for the rest of the day.

The moral of the story: 
 Be self-controlled

Master your thoughts and control your emotions, speech and actions – especially in times of stress, anger, emotional upheaval or fear.

What Fables do you like the most? I love Aesop's Fables. The Dog and The Bone is my favorite. I found lots of different versions, but really like the BBC Radio versions.

Camp Nano Update

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Photos by Pixabay.