Once upon a time there was an old cat named Willow.
Willow only wanted peace and to be left alone. But one day, two kittens arrived and all was chaos.
Oz, the orange kitten, was a brash, impetuous sort, always getting into trouble. Xander was shy and thoughtful, but still loved a good adventure.
Willow was very put out at the arrival of the kittens and so she retreated to her great tower, climbing to the top and hissing and swatting whenever the kittens came near.
We'll get our own towers, thought the kittens. And so they set about figuring out how it could be done.
Being kittens they had no experience with building towers and so
they sought the advice of another wise and slightly less grumpy cat named Idge.
"How can we have beautiful tall towers like Willow?" they asked.
"It takes many years learn to build a tower. The work is hard and unforgiving."
"But we want it now!" said the kittens.
Idge gave the kittens a measured look and then said:
If you want to build a tower quickly but cannot do it yourself, you have three choices:
First, you can go and visit the Yoracle. If you make the right queries and follow the instructions exactly, you may, after much trial, have your tower. It will take a long time and while you work, you won't have time to nap all day and chase your tail. And you may only have the skill to make a small tower that you can grow over time.
Second, you can go see Cedar, the great tower maker. For three barrels of catnip, they will make you a beautiful tower to rival any in the house- even Willow's.
"THREE BARRELS OF CATNIP!?" cried the kittens. "There's no way we could get our paws on that much. What is the 3rd way?"
Idge sighed. You could travel to the Great Forest. The wood elves who live in the forest work tirelessly and there are beautiful, tall
towers fully made."
"Great!" cried the kittens. "We will go to the Great Forest!"
"Wait!" cried Idge. "You must be careful in the Great Forest. The towers are beautiful, but many are rotting and dead on the inside."
"But how will we know the good towers from the bad?" asked Xander.
"There is no way for you to know. I would have to give you all the hard-earned wisdom of my years in the space of days and it cannot be done. If you risk a tower from the Great Forest, it may be fine, or it may turn to disaster. Choose wisely."
The kittens were tired by now so they decided to nap on it. When they woke up, Oz declared, "I must have a tower that is taller than Willow's. I don't want to wait and give up my naptime. I'm going to the Great Forest." And off he went.
Xander, being more cautious, decided to consult the Yoracle.
In a few days, Oz returned with a beautiful stately tower. It had three different kinds of scratching material and was a whole two shelves higher than Willow's tower. He set it up where it would well...tower over the older cat (but far enough away that she couldn't swat him from it). He ran up and down it at great speed and watched the birds outside the window.
Meanwhile, Xander spent most of his time with the Yoracle. He ordered some sturdy building materials and worked hard on his tower every day,
giving up lots of naptime in the process. In a few months, he completed enough of his tower, that he set it out between the other two. His tower was half the height of his brother's but it was solid under his claws when he scratched and it didn't wobble when he leapt onto it. He was content.
All was well for a few months, until one day Oz leapt onto his tower, like he usually did–and it gave way and crashed underneath him, throwing him to the ground. Willow and Xander watched from the safety of their sturdy towers.
Oz landed badly and cracked his tooth. Not only was his
beautiful tower in ruins, but he also had to have surgery to have his cracked tooth removed. After that, the other cats started calling him the One-Tooth-Wonder.
With his tower shattered, Oz was relegated to eating soft food and laying on the floor with no window view. He was a sad kitten indeed.
Don't be like Oz. Avoid the Great Forest.
Cheers,
Kronda
P.S. If you want to learn how to be like Xander, stay tuned for an announcement this week.
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