foxes and flattery

 Feb 13 2009

Foxes And Flattery dear diary …... Once upon a time…NOT! Yesterday I was walking through the barnyard heading for the chicken coop. I had been told to collect some eggs from our old speckled hen, Felicity. When I noticed a peacock strutting across a nearby field. I stopped, because I figured that since I had a school project on peacocks, I might as well try to find out what he was doing. Its not like the eggs will walk away I thought. So I followed him and this is what I saw....

He was perched on a big gray rock with a piece of cheese in his beak, when suddenly a stench so foul reached my nose that it made my hair stand on end. Its the cheese I realized, its so old its gone bad and smelly! Just then a fox appeared seemingly out of nowhere so silent and stealthy I don't think even a dog could have heard him.

The fox stood there for a minute or two gazing longingly at the cheese, his mouth watering with anticipation and then he spoke. “My dear dear friend,” he slyly said. “Your tail feathers are gorgeous shades of blue, gold, and red. Your intelligent black eyes, how enchanting.” The bird puffed itself up quite pleased of himself and happy because of the praise, as the fox drawled cleverly on while creeping closer and closer to the rock until he stopped right in front of it. I was shocked an animal talking? I pinched myself “ouch!” Nope definitely not dreaming. it still hurts! the fox spoke again, this time looking right up at the bird. “I'm sure,” said the fox cunningly “that if you look this good why, your voice must seem as if an angel were singing instead of a bird. Do sing me a note, please do,” said the fox imploringly. The poor bird woke up suddenly from his day dreaming and came back to the real wold. “Wait a second!” He cried. “I know this trick! Your trying to get me to open my... oops!” But it was to late, the piece of cheese tumbled from the open mouth of the bird and right past the snapping jaws of the waiting fox! “You stupid bird!” crowed the fox, “you thought you would never fall for a foxes trick didn't you!

Well, my dad is considered the wisest animal in the forest!” It was then that I realized he was only a cub. He paused to gobble up the cheese. “Yuck!' He said, “this cheese is as bad as... um.. as bad as.. uh.... as bad as if the only meat there was is a turtle that you cant reach through those ridiculous shells of theirs!” And with that, he turned around and just as quietly as before disappeared. As I started down the road toward home, I had a lot to think about and I still do, but I think that the most important lesson from this is, don't fall for flattery, and stay away from foxes. Oh yeah when I got back I spent practically the whole after noon chasing down runaway eggs it turns out that not only can animals talk but eggs can also run and fast!