The Farm of Wisdom. Warren Cassell Jr.

      “I had no idea we could run this fast,” said Manlulu.

      “Yeah, me too,” agreed Pini. They kept running as if there was no tomorrow, until Farmer Oliver caught up.

      “I’m not going to let those pigs outsmart me,” the farmer said furiously.

      The brothers ran faster despite the obvious fatigue, at the cost of their stamina.

      Pini suddenly tripped, and hit face first. Manlulu, catching his breath, came to him and said, “I can’t do it anymore, I’m going back.”

      “No, we’ve gone this far, we can’t just stop just because I fell down.”

      “But if this happens every time, I’d rather stay at the farm than die of fatigue,” responded Manlulu. “I’m staying here until Farmer Oliver gets me, it doesn’t matter if I get chopped up. We all die eventually, right?”

      Pini couldn’t believe what he just heard. “Are you serious? We’ve come this far and you’re giving up?” he said while standing up. “I can’t believe it; okay then, your call.”

      “Thanks for understanding, good luck in all of your endeavors,” Manlulu replied. Pini then ran with tears in his eyes.

      Farmer Oliver eventually caught Manlulu, and he was sent to the slaughterhouse. His meat now sits in the local farmers market, ready to be devoured by humans. Meanwhile, Pini was found by a small family while he was running, and was adopted as their pet.

       The greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time one does.

      Tinkles Flanders

      Just beyond the brick walls that bordered Farmer Oliver’s land, near that big willow tree, thrived a prairie dog town. On how that town of furry, fluffy creatures came to be no one really knows for sure, but it was there alright.

      There was one particular prairie dog that was the furriest, and fluffiest than the rest, and he was known as Tinkles Flanders. Tinkles Flanders often burrowed his way right into Farmer Oliver’s farm. He made many friends among the animals in the farm. Tinkles often hung out with the squirrel, and together, they foraged the farm for nuts, roots, and seeds.

      One afternoon, while waiting for the squirrel to throw down some nuts, Tinkles Flanders heard a shrill cry that pierced the afternoon sky. Then a big, menacing shadow appeared, it was a hawk!

      “Oh no!” he rose on his tiny hindquarters and squeaked, “Squirrel! Squirrel! There’s a hawk flying about!”

      The squirrel, who was up in the tree that time, quickly rushed to the topmost branch, then scampered back down to the ground, and said, “Tinkles Flanders! You better run home! Get your furry behind home! The hawk is circling around, and may attack the prairie town!”

      And with that, Tinkles Flanders ran back to the tunnel and ran as fast as his tiny feet could carry him.

      Back in prairie dog town, the other prairie dogs were just mulling about, tumbling across the ground, then all of a sudden a high-pitched “yip-yip-yap” was heard. It was Tinkles Flanders, who finally emerged from a tunnel and was now standing high on a mound.

      “Yip! Yip! Yap!” he cried out. All the other prairie dogs stood at attention. “Get everyone underground, there’s a hawk flying about! It’s hungry and may snatch us all up and eat us!” said Tinkles Flanders.

      At that moment, all of the prairie dogs scampered down to their burrows while Tinkles Flanders stood watching, occasionally ducking and hiding as the hawk swooped down and tried to catch him. The hawk who was tired of flying all day decided to give up so he flew away.

      Another cry was heard in prairie dog town, this time it was a jubilant “Hurrah!” as Tinkles Flanders and his fellow prairie dogs were once again safe, and lived to see another day.

       Forewarned is forearmed

      Cumulus the Lost Sleep

      Cumulus loved her fleece more than anything in the world. It was soft, fluffy and white as snow. She would often brag that her fleece was better than the other sheep and took pride in knowing that her family’s genes produced wonderful fleece.

      “You know, all the members of my family have wonderful fleece. You should meet my parents. I got it from them.”

      Other sheep would often just keep quiet about her seemingly bragging attitude and just give her a polite smile.

      One afternoon while Cumulus and her friends were talking, they took notice of Farmer Oliver walking towards their herd with food in his hand and were quickly enticed to follow Farmer Oliver back to the pasture. It led them to a dark room where they feasted on the food Farmer Oliver tossed aside. As soon as they ate, they heard a sharp razor and Farmer Oliver began shearing their fleece.

      “No! Please. Stop! Don’t cut it off!”

      But Farmer Oliver’s shearing continued and he even had a sling to support the back of the sheep while he cut off their fleece.

      As soon as it was over, Cumulus went straight home crying and was uncertainly greeted by her family with aghast faces and dropped jaws. She suddenly felt she didn’t belong for the first time and decided to flee from home.

      She nakedly explored the vast pasture all by herself. A day almost passed and the silence of the night made her feel even more lonely. She couldn’t bear the thought of feeling this every single night, alone and no one even looking for her so she decided to go back home.

      As she reached home, she felt a familiar, but sudden comfort. She entered the barn and was shocked to discover that all of her family members weren’t adorned in fleece anymore! It was all shaved off!

      Her mom suddenly spoke, “We knew you’d come back just in time. We did this for you, so you’ll never have to feel you’re all alone.”

       Being lonely and being in a dark place is not a good place to be and where you belong is where people love and accept you for who you are, and that place is always at home.

      Emergency Berries

      “Hey Terry, look! It’s harvest season again. You know what this means?” Butch the chipmunk eagerly ran and hopped towards the next tree where his friend Terry lived.

      “I’m way ahead of you, pal. My berries are almost running out. Time to gather some more,” Terry said as he led the way to the grove of elderberry trees that Farmer Oliver tended.

      The chipmunks collected as much elderberries as they could to save, inside of their homes, into their stuffed mouths until it could hold absolutely no more before emptying and returning to the grove to collect some more.

      After several rounds of gathering, Terry went to Butch’s tree to invite him for another round.

      “Nah, I’m good. I think these are enough,” satisfactorily pointing to his stash.

      Terry noticed that Butch’s load of berries was thinner although they both gathered the same amount. “Where are the rest of your berries?”

      “Oh, I ate them on the way here. I got hungry,” Butch grinned.

      “Are you sure you don’t want to go with me to collect some more berries? I heard from Farmer Oliver that there might be a storm coming, we should be prepared.”

      “You’re such a hoarder, Terry!” Butch laughed. “Don’t worry about the storm, it will pass! We could always get more when the weather calms,” shrugged the chipmunk while popping another elderberry into his mouth.

      “Well, we don’t know how long the rain will last, do we? Alright, I’m going back to the grove. You’re free to come with me if you’d like.” Terry ventured off for the grove, but Butch didn’t follow him.

      Heavy rainfall and strong gusts of wind made it impossible