A trilogy of fables

The Squirrel and the Bear

There once lived a little red Squirrel in tall, green tree. He was a very lazy Squirrel  and liked to leave tasks until the last minute. Everyday the Squirrel would watch a huge, brown Bear trudge through the forrest scavenging for food. One breezy afternoon the bear noticed the Squirrel  relaxing high up in the tree. 

"Oh little Squirrel, Why aren't you out

looking for food? The cold season is almost among us" said the Bear 

"Don't worry big Bear I have plenty of time to gather food there is a while until we must go into hibernation" replied the red Squirrel slouching back on a branch. 

"If you say so little Squirrel but don't leave it too long you won't have any food his winter" warned the big Bear. A month went by and everyday the Bear saw the little, red Squirrel relaxing in the large oak tree and everyday the little Squirrel promised he would start gathering food the next day. On the final day before the start of winter the bear spoke to the Squirrel 

"Oh little Squirrel , what have you done? Winter begins tomorrow and you have no food to eat" exclaimed the Bear.

"Tomorrow is still a long time away, I have plenty of time to look for food. In fact I think I will begin today" said the Squirrel 

"I fear you have left it too late little Squirrel but I must be heading back to my cave before the cold begins" with that last word the bear trudged off home. 

As he left the little Squirrel clambered down from his tall tree and started to wander around the forest. He looked in tall branches for acorns, he searched reddening bushes for juicy fruit. Yet he could not find anything to eat. He realised the Bear had been right all along.   

Don't leave tasks of importance to the last minute. 

The Moth and the Butterfly  

  

In a flowery meadow there lived a very arrogant but beautiful butterfly who spent her most of her days admiring herself. Within the meadow there also lived a very plain, peaceful moth. Both the Moth and Butterfly where friends with a Caterpillar. One afternoon the three of them found themselves discussing the upcoming transformation of the Caterpillar. 

"Well I think you should become a moth, plain, boring and ugly. Even if you where to become a butterfly you would never be as pretty as me. So why even try? " sneered the Butterfly fluttering her patterned wings. 

Looking dejected the Caterpillar muttered and almost silent "oh". 

The moth gave a very different piece of advice. 

"Why dear caterpillar you must strive to look your best, it does not matter whether your wings are bursting with colour or if they are simple and blend in with the meadow. All that matters is that you are happy and make the best  decision for yourself." The Caterpillar smiled and began to wind itself up into a cocoon. Many days later the  Caterpillar erupted from the cocoon with bright blue wings that easily outshone the wings of his Butterly friend. 

As he burst through his cage the Moth greeted him with a few words. 

"Oh what beautiful wings you have, it must have taken a very long time to create a such stunning pattern" 

As these words left his mouth the arrogant Butterfly flew away from the meadow. 

A true friend doesn't encourage failure but instead supports success. 

The very Busy Bee  

In a luscious green field full of wonderful, bright flowers there lived a very busy Bee. The Bee would collect pollen from all the flowers everyday but still did not think she was very important. After every outing she would return to the hive and judge herself for taking longer than yesterday to collect the pollen or hating herself for missing a few flowers that day. Everyday this routine continued until one day the rest of the Bees had enough. 

"Busy Bee you collect the most pollen out of all of us everyday, why must you criticise yourself so harshly" asked a friendly Bee.

"Such kind yet untrue words my friend. I don't work nearly as hard as I should, in fact I think I'm quite lazy actually" said Busy Bee. With that she sped of to collect her daily amount of pollen on returning she found herself feeling quite ill and requested that she would be allowed the next day off in order to recover. Already loathing herself for being stupid enough to get ill she fell asleep and didn't wake up until the next evening. 

"Busy Bee! Busy Bee!" Shouted the friendly Bee 

"Oh what is it?" Busy Bee questioned. 

"You are needed at work straight away Busy Bee, it seems that without your huge donation of pollen all of our honey supplies have fallen. We aren't producing enough without you, you always bring in the most pollen and without you the whole hive is falling to pieces" exclaimed the friendly Bee

In this moment Busy Bee smiled to herself realising how important she truly was. 

You are your harshest critic.