If you need a reminder about what’s happened in the story or if you just lost your place, no worries!
The dangerous place
Fox forgot her training.
She forgot the race, the trophy, and the finest den in the forest.
She even forgot her parents.
For a while.
But Fox remembered herself.
She snuffled one way for a time
She skipped another way for another time.
She hopped about. She nipped at mayflies. She lolled in the grass.
She ambled, cavorted, sashayed.
In other words, Fox meandered.
Before she knew it, it was dusk.
Fox realized where she was.
On Bear Mountain.
Surrounded by bears.
No fox had ever returned from Bear Mountain.
But Fox would try.
She gave a shake and remembered her training. “Focus! Discipline!”
She ran. Straight, straight, straight.
The bears gained. Closer, closer, closer.
Fox could hear the bears huffing, could feel their snorty puffs of air on her tail fur.
Closer. Closer. Closer.
Fox forgot her training!
She zigged.
The bears weren’t expecting that.
They tried to left-turn as lickety-split as Fox but they failed and fell flailing across the meadow.
But there was no time to rest because another bear pair gave chase.
Closer. Closer. Closer.
Fox zagged.
The bears weren’t expecting that either!
They went tumbling and somersaulting into a blackberry thicket muttering “Snicker snocks! You mischievous Fox.”
Well, after that, Fox zigged and zagged all they way home.
She followed her own path
When she finally arrived, her parents were so glad to see her that they forgot to be upset about her meandering off and losing the trophy and the best den in the forest.
They realized that they loved her just the way she was.
Over a supper of hot carrot stew and they listened with amazement, to the story of how Fox had danced away from the scary old bears with her meander power.
After that, Fox taught all the forest foxes how to meander.
How to wobble and waver and be roundabout.
How to follow whatever small thing caught their attention.
How to not worry so much about being late for supper.
It took a bit of practice, but foxes are smart. They caught on soon enough.
Some say Fox lost the Great Forest Race that day.
But those who truly understand know she did something much more important.
She followed her own path.
The moral of our story?
You can, too.
