Oliver and The Leopard [26 Jun 2009]

A man decided to go on a safari in Africa. He took Oliver, his faithful pet dog along for company.

One day, Oliver was chasing butterflies in the forest and discovered that he was lost!

Wandering about, he noticed a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the obvious intention of having lunch.

Oliver thought, "I'm in real trouble now!"

Then he noticed some bones on the ground close by and immediately settled down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat.

Just as the leopard was about to leap, Oliver exclaimed loudly...

"Boy, that was one delicious leopard. I wonder if there are any more around here?"

Hearing this, the leopard halted his attack mid-leap, and a look of sheer terror came over him.
He slinked away into the trees. "Whew," said the leopard.

"That was close. That beast nearly had me!"

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree decided that he could put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard.

So, off he went. However Oliver saw him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figured that something must be up.

The monkey soon caught up with the leopard, explained how the dog had fooled him and struck a protection pact for himself with the leopard.

The leopard is furious at being made a fool of and said, "Here monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine."

Now Oliver saw the leopard approaching with the monkey on his back and thought, "What am I going to do now?"

But instead of running, Oliver sat down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hadn't seen them yet...and just when they get close enough to hear, Oliver shouted...

"Where's that stupid monkey? I sent him off ages ago to bring me another leopard."

So remember:
Even in a crisis, if we can choose
to make the most of what we have
we will survive and we will thrive!

Think of creative possibilities, even when others give up!

- Story adapted from Nithya Shanti of The Happiest Day of Your Life