Once upon a time there was a little boy who lived on the edge of big woods. He had a dog that he loved dearly.
His dog got pregnant and had a litter of cute little puppies.
But, it was a very difficult birth and the mother dog died.
The little boy missed his dog very much but he wanted these puppies to grow up and be as good and loyal as their mother had been because he loved them like he loved their mother.
The little boy fed them whenever they were hungry and cuddled with them when they missed their mother. And he did his best to prepare them for the real world. Also, they would sleep on his bed with him every night.
Each day before he went off to school he told them, “Now be careful out there in the big woods. There are wolves and bears. You have to take care of each other.”
So the puppies ventured out into the big woods each day. But they weren’t very good at watching out for each other. In fact, they tried to beat each other at everything they did. They fought each other and tackled each other so they could get ahead. They stole food that the others found and they didn’t wait for each other when they snuck under fences.
One day when the little boy got home he saw his little dogs with bite marks all over each other, and scrapes from barbed wire fences.
He pleaded with them, “C’mon, guys. Please take care of each other. It’s dangerous out there. You can’t be fighting each other or you won’t survive.”
So the next day when something unexpected happened, they found out which ones really listened to the master. It was a cloudy day. They were rummaging through the forest, fighting and growling at each other when one of them saw a wolf looking at them from the edge of the forest. That puppy started running towards home without telling the others. He just needed to get away. Then another one of the puppies saw the wolf and started running home too. Eventually they all saw the wolves except for two of the puppies.
The two puppies noticed the wolf just before he leapt for them. They yelped and dodged the leaping wolf. The puppies started running with everything they had.
They came to a thickly overgrown barbed wire fence and they tried to scoot through.
the first puppy made it through, but the other one didn’t and got stuck in the barbed wire. He yelped his heart out.
The puppy that did make it through at first thought, “Good, he will distract the wolf, and I will be able to get home safely.” Then he remembered what his master had said. “You have to take care of each other.”
The puppy ran back and crawled through the fence just in time to get in between the wolf and his stuck little brother. He barked with all of his might at the wolf, knowing that he might not make it out alive. But, he thought, if I can protect my brother, my master will be pleased with me no matter what happens.”
The wolf was caught off guard by this courageous little puppy and stopped in its tracks. He could have killed the puppy but he was amazed and he decided that these puppies deserved to escape because they were so courageous.
Just then the little puppy that had been stuck, broke free and started running for the house. He called back to the courageous puppy and they ran for home together.
That night they both came up to the boy and the boy noticed something different about them. He said, “Hey you guys aren’t trying to fight each other to get to me like usual. You guys are acting like you like each other. I really like that. There’s enough love to go around. I’m proud of you guys.”
The little puppies looked at each other and smiled. That night when they fell asleep in the boy’s bed they not only laid their heads on the little boy, like they usually did, but they also were snuggled up against each other, because now they realized the happiness they felt by not only being loved by the master, but also being loved by each other.
Raw Spoon
