A li’l short fable today. Thanks for the prompt, Pete!
The Owl, the Mouse, and the Goat
by Marian Allen
An owl, a mouse, and a goat shared a shed. The mouse was the last of her family, the rest having succumbed to drain cleaner mixed with bird seed which the gods had placed just inside one of the entrances to their tunnels. Miss Mouse, having observed the demise of her more pious relatives, who ate the poison just because the gods had given it, had turned atheist.
She and the goat debated the question one moonlit night, and they nibbled at the pile of hay the gods provided every evening.
“The gods are good,” the goat insisted. “They give me food every day. They bring me beautiful nannies to love, and take them away when I grow tired of them.”
The mouse said, “They take them away, whether you’re tired of them or not.”
The goat shed a tear, for there had been one nanny who had charmed him utterly, but she, too, had been taken from him. “The will of the gods is hard, sometimes,” he said.
The mouse spit out a bit of chaff she had taken in with a grain of alfalfa.
The owl, heavy from an evening of successful hunting, opened his eyes.
“You’re both fools,” he said. “The gods don’t matter to me, one way or the other. I find my own food. So could both of you, if you chose to do it. Bowing your head or shaking your fist in defiance give them an importance they don’t deserve.”
“And yet,” said the goat, “I seem to see an owl in the rafters, even though the world is full of perfectly good trees.”
The owl turned his back and went to sleep, and the goat and the mouse finished their common repast in peace.
~*~
I’m posting today at Fatal Foodies on the topic of how I ate three eggplants in one sitting.
MY PROMPTS TODAY: A goat, an owl, a moonlit night, a pile of hay (thank you, Pete Laberge), drain cleaner
If you liked this story, you might like my other stories and my novels. Support an author: buy a book and leave an Amazon review. I thank you, and my cat thanks you.
MA
Dan Antion
May 30, 2017 at 9:32amI’m pretty sure the critters in our yard aren’t worshiping my wife. They come up on the porch more with a look of “hey lady, are you going to feed us today?” than holy praise 🙂
Marian Allen
May 30, 2017 at 10:29amThat’s the attitude a great many people have toward the Deity, isn’t it?
Roy A. Ackerman, PhD, EA
May 30, 2017 at 2:40pmToo bad the goat wasn’t UDDERLY charmed!
Marian Allen
May 30, 2017 at 4:25pmHe was a Billy goat. Not an udder in sight. Baaaah!
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
May 30, 2017 at 4:07pmWhere’s the rest?
You can’t start a fable and then quit. Did Mouse and Goat learn anything?
Marian Allen
May 30, 2017 at 4:24pmThat’s all of it. And the moral is: If the price of your intellectual honesty is a roof over your head, don’t try to lord it over others because they command a higher price. Other morals welcome.
joey
May 30, 2017 at 8:06pmLove this tale 🙂 The owl is wise, but he’d do well to recognize his blessings.
Marian Allen
May 31, 2017 at 8:01amHe would, indeed!