A Crow's Folly

A crow was flying through the forest one afternoon when she came upon a mouse that seemed lost and was now crying quietly to himself in the middle of a clearing. The curious crow swooped down to the rodent and asked what the matter was.

“Alas, I have mistakenly wandered off and I cannot locate the rest of my family.”

Although crows normally don’t concern themselves with the matters of other creatures, she took pity on the little mouse and assured him that she would fly up above the tree tops and spot his family for him. With that, the mouse was overjoyed with thanks to the crow, as she took to the sky to begin her scouting.

Immediately upon getting high enough, the crow spotted the mouse’s family, not 40 yards away. Knowing how easy it was for her to help and seeing it would take no time at all to get him back she decided to take advantage of the position she was in and flew back down to the mouse.

“Weary mouse, I have seen your family and I am able to take you to them.”

“That is wonderful news, let us set out at once and thank you so much for your-“

The crow cuts him off with a piercing SQWUAK that startled the mouse.

“But first, I require your assistance.”

“For your assistance, I will help you with anything.”

The crow gently picked the mouse up with her talons and flew him over to a small hole at the bottom of a pile of rocks. The crow explained that he had lost some berries and that they had rolled into the tiny cave.

“And obviously I am far too big to venture inside; will you be so kind as to acquire my lost berries for me?”

Eager and willing the mouse hurried into the hole, after a moment the mouse screamed.

“What is it?”

“This is no hole; this is a bear’s den!”

The mouse tried to flee as best as he could be to no avail, one of the bear cub residences snatched up and gobbled him quick. The crow perched outside, hearing the whole thing, hung her head in disappointment and shame.