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"It'd grow on its own?" the farmer asked, mouth dropping in disbelief. "It doesn't work that way. The land's just the beginning. You have to put in work to see a harvest."
the mouth of the den. He wanted that fish so badly, but was afraid of the risk. He gathered his courage and decided to dash for it. The pup charged out of the den, ran across the beach, and pounced. It was too late. With a flip of its tail, the fish finally launched itself back into the river. The pup skidded to a stop on top of the boulder and stared forlornly into the water. That was when he noticed the shadow again. It did not move when he did not move. He took a few steps, and it followed him. It was his own shadow, and it was harmless. Too late, he realized he had let his fear of the world create obstacles where there were none.
Now all those great ancient trees are in the younger tree's shadow, and it has more sun than it could ever need.
The lion screeched, jerked back his paw, and struck. Again the rat flew far and landed hard. Yet again, he came back to the lion. The lion dropped a paw and pinned the rat to the ground. Still the rat struggled, thrashing and trying to escape. By now, the audience had stopped laughing and jeering. Everyone watched silently to see what would happen next. The rat tried to bite the lion again, but its small teeth did no damage. The lion did not release his pinned opponent. He could easily eat the little creature now, but he hesitated. "Why will you not give up?" the lion asked as the rat continued to struggle. "Don't you understand? You can never win." "You don't think I know that? Of course I can't win." The lion twitched a furry ear. "Then why fight? Why make it harder on yourself?" "To show everyone I am more than they think. When people see rats, they see vermin that sneak around and hide in the shadows. They think we carry disease. They go out of their way to put us down, to destroy us. But when they see you, it's a different story. They respect your power. They think you're noble. They call you the king of the jungle, for crying out loud!" That speech weakened the rat, and its struggles slowed down. Blood seeped into the ground, draining from the rat's body, and the lion realized his opponent's wounds were mortal. "Some of us are born to better lots in life," the lion said apologetically. "I'm sorry but that's simply how it is." "It's worth fighting to change your lot," the rat whispered. "To change the way people think about you."
The lion lifted his paw. It seemed a shame to eat this rat. It had put up such a good fight, and he'd even call it noble, though its beliefs were surely misguided. "Look, I'm not going to eat you, but you didn't accomplish anything." The lion gazed up at all the people watching from above. "They'll forget you by tomorrow. You'll never change anybody's mind about rats." The rat wheezed and drew in its last breath. "I changed yours, didn't I?"
"Well," Peter said. "You might want to start clipping those branches soon. You're about one winter away from being able to hang ornaments and put presents under this thing." "I don't have any experience. It's hard to teach yourself from a book." Yukio touched a branch gently. "I don't want to ruin it." "I'm no Einstein, but I'm pretty sure you actually have to do something to get in experience. Why don't you clip a branch? What's the worst that could happen?" "I could kill it," Yukio said glumly. Peter raised his eye brows. "How likely is that?" "Not very. I guess the worst that would happen is it wouldn't come out anything like what's in my head. I have this really pretty picture in my mind... but I don't think I can do that." "So, what? It'd grow back, right? And you could try again." "Yeah, in a couple years." "There you go." Peter shrugged and left the room. Yukio stood in silence and gazed at the tree for a while. He looked at the shelf and all the books he had read, and he looked back to the tree. Yes, perhaps it was time to do something. He found a pair of cutters and took the first snip.
A couple weeks passed before the next craft came by, a little dingy with a single oarsman. "Do you need a way to get to fame and fortune?" the oarsman asked. "Thanks, but I think I'll wait for a bigger boat. These waters are rough, you know." Other vessels drifted past, and many of the owners asked if the man wanted a ride. By this time, the man had created a simple but decent shelter on the island, and he had saved some fish and berries. It was a hard life, but the idea of risking the storm again scared him. He decided to wait until a large armored vessel that could not possibly be damaged by the river's obstacles sailed past. Then he would ask for passage. Of course, such a craft never came. However, many of those who had passed survived the perils of the river and made it to fame and fortune. The man grew old and died on the meager island.
7. Coconut Frustration
After a storm washed her overboard, Samantha found herself stranded on a desert island (perhaps that deep-discount cruise vacation hadn't been the best investment). Since Samantha did not know how to fish, the only food was in the trees. Beautiful, ripe coconuts hung from the branches high above her. She stared longingly at them, but none littered the beaches. They all hung high out of reach. She attempted to climb the coconut tree trunks, but they had no branches to grab onto, and her arms were not strong enough to scale them unaided. Though she tried several times, she could not climb even close to the height of the coconuts. By the third day, she was weak with hunger. The large ripe coconuts merely taunted her from the treetops. She dropped to her knees and prayed. "Lord, I'm so hungry. Please drop a few coconuts. I'll be eternally grateful." That night a great storm blew in from the sea. Waves surged up the beaches, and rain pelted down from the black sky. Samantha could only huddle beneath the trees and wait for the storm to pass. When dawn and the sun returned, she ventured out. She expected a beach full of coconuts that had been blown down, but only driftwood met her gaze. If any coconuts had fallen, the waves had washed them into the ocean. She screamed and grabbed a chunk of driftwood. She hurled it at the nearest bunch of coconuts. The stick missed its target, thudded against the trunk, and fell to the ground.
From that futile act came an idea. Samantha gathered several pieces of driftwood, selecting those that had some heft, but were not too bulky to throw. She hurled the first into the air again, this time putting more effort into aiming. The projectile flew wide, but not by far. On the tenth try, a chunk of driftwood struck a coconut. It fell to the ground at her feet. Samantha squealed and jumped in the air. She pumped her fist in victory and grabbed her prize. She had no knife, but she soon found a jagged rock, which she used to bash open the coconut. The milk slid down her throat, the smoothest sweetest beverage she had ever drunk. The meat tasted better than anything she ever remembered eating. She used the driftwood to snag several more coconuts from the trees. When she was full, she lay down and gazed contentedly at the sky. "You sure make things hard, God," she observed, hardly expecting an answer. But a voice drifted to her on a breeze: "That which is given is cherished for a short while, but that which is earned is valued for a lifetime."
Manny was still at the start line. Not only that, but in recounting all his steps, he realized he had walked farther than Milfred.
"And the water?" the shop owner asked. "Is it clear and fresh?" "It's a little murky," the man said. "We're busy, and we don't have that much time for pond care." "I think I see your problem, sir. This kind of fish is just like a person. To reach its full potential, it must be in an environment that nurtures growth."
hard months as it should have. They needed every hunter out there catching food. They needed him. "Not like this," he muttered and glared at his useless stump. One day Hawk abandoned the menial work--others did it so much more efficiently than him anyway--and walked away from camp. He followed a canyon rim. Far below a tiny stream meandered through, but anyone who fell would be splattered on the rocks. For a moment he considered falling. What was his life if he could not hunt? But what a cowardly end. Surely the spirits would be disappointed. Hawk sighed and looked over his shoulder. Fields of tall yellow grass stretched before him. Then he noticed dark shapes in the distance. Buffalo. A small herd, more than enough to provide meat for his people through the winter. A hunting party was out, but they had gone the other direction. They might miss these buffalo altogether. Hawk looked from them to the cliff and back. An idea formed. He waited until the buffalo came as close to the canyon as they would, then tested the wind. Perfect. He set a fire in the tall grasses behind the buffalo. The flames soon grew and smoke filled the air. This terrified the buffalo, and they stampeded. Hooves struck the earth so hard it was like being in an earthquake. Hawk had set the fire in just the right spot, and many of the huge creatures ran blindly at the canyon cliff. Their instincts told them to run from fire, and they went right over the edge. After the fire had died down, Hawk returned to the tribe for help skinning and preparing all the meat on the canyon floor. Now his people would have enough food for the winter. The tribesmen and
women looked at him with awe. They had never looked at him like that before, even when he had been a good hunter with two strong arms. "How did bring down so many when you're a cripple?" one blunt boy asked. "I learned that you don't have to be stronger and faster than the buffalo, just smarter than it."