A Fox's misadventure!

Catherine Cissé
March 11, 2011

"A fox is around! A fox is around!" shouts the boy who looked after his dad's shepherd that day.

"A fox is around!"... beware, beware, for the sake of our sheep!

Dad! shouts the boy; dad! come help me, please!, doing his best to take his animals away from the threat as to protect them from their own provoked danger, risking to fall over the cliff, as well as from the mortal vice from the fox.

The sun shines, the meadow is pleasantly green, the tops of the near-by trees gently rock in the soft wind, the birds chirp and the butterflies graciously spin.

The boy had been playing in the nearby brook, in the shadow, yet all at his animals wellbeing.

All had been calm and quiet; not a sign came up of something unusual, until it was too late.

The birds stopped chirping, the butterflies hided and the male sheep moved his fellows nowhere.

The boy kept still, looked and searched for what happened, but couldn't see.

He walked to the animals, then, wanting to know.

It is only when he reached being in the middle of the sheep that his heart jumped, and full lungs shouted: "A fox is around! A fox is around!.

With the vivid echo, his dad heard him from the first sound of the calling, like himself already knew something was wrong, but didn't move as his boy seems comptempted with his chore.

But, Dad now runs, fast, faster than his legs allows him may-be.

He knows so well the danger to loosing animals once they panic and miss staying in safe place.

Without questioning, he went directly to where his son was pointing out, his gun ready for whatever.

What he saw was not a surprise to him, he knows how cunning a fox can be.

He soon adjusted, and fired, and again, forcing the fox to run as fast as it never did before, up to the trees and down to its den. This, the farmer and his son will look for it another time.

For now, they needed to calm the sheep down, and stay with them until they are reassured and resume their taking sun and tasteful green grass.

Father and son sat side by side, then, to talk. The boy was crying, believing to have done something wrong and to have betrayed his dad's trust to him.

His dad listened, heard his son, and smiled. He said: even I wouldn't have seen it coming.

Did you see how canned he was? Did you see that? Did you see how it disguised as a mutton, managed bleated out like a mutton, feigning to be their own?

Ah, ah, ah! Did you see that?

But it sure didn't fool them after all. Did you see how a coward it became, and ran the tail between its legs?

Don't cry, son, you do well. When we have time, we'll go look for his den, to destroy it, so it'll go away from here.

Dry your eyes now, son. You see, when you trust me, and believe, all goes fine. Nothing can come transgress.

I love you, son.