Red
flashes. A pointed nose. Bright eyes and ears. Cassidy the fox was running. He
lived in a forest thicket. Today, he was planning a large party. All the
animals in the forest were welcome. Cassidy gave invitations in advance,
running to different homes. The table had been set and decorated with matching
chairs. There was a cornucopia filled with nuts, fruits, vegetables, and seeds.
Balloons and streamers dotted the hallway leading to his dining room. When Cassidy
the fox sat down to eat, he noticed something very strange. None of the animals
which had been invited were in the dining room. Cassidy quickly decided to go
outside to talk with his friend, Judith the crow. Judith was carefully preening
her feathers on a moss-covered river bank when Cassidy approached. “Judith,”
Cassidy said bewildered, “What happened to all of the animals that I invited to
my home?”

         Judith
cocked her head and asked slowly, “Did you invite all of the animals to your
party?” Cassidy said, “Yes, all of the animals, except for Herbert the eagle, I
don’t like him very much.” Judith was about to say something when a little girl
with chocolate skin and dark braids walked behind Cassidy.

“Hello, Cassidy,” the dark-haired
little girl said in a friendly voice, “Why aren’t you downtown, at the river’s
end?” Cassidy smiled at the little girl who had raised him as a fox kit and asked,
“Why would I go downtown?”

“Because,
Herbert the eagle has been elected mayor, and the other animals thought it
would be very disloyal not to congratulate him.”

Cassidy’s
mouth gaped as he said, “But, Herbert truly has the most pathetic singing voice
that I have ever heard.” Judith and the little girl exchanged a look, before
the little girl said quietly, “I don’t see what singing has to do with being a
good mayor.” Cassidy sighed as he felt that the entire world was against him
today, but then he started to remember all of Herbert’s many positive qualities.
Herbert had encouraged young squirrels to read more books, helped the grey rabbit
family in a housing dispute, and maintained order in lively town council
meetings.

            In spite of himself, Cassidy began
to feel very guilty for the way that he had brushed Herbert aside as too
different to be a good friend. When Cassidy first visited Herbert, he saw that
the eagle had a large music room, Cassidy had been the first to hear Herbert
sing and felt cheated afterwards. Also, Herbert kept a large library filled
with books on history, when Herbert had started quoting from a book on the American
Revolution, Cassidy didn’t know what to think. “Alright,” Cassidy said, with a
sense of duty, “Let’s go downtown to congratulate Herbert, besides, I need to
give him an apology for the way that I’ve treated him lately.”

“Hooray!”
shouted the little girl while the Judith flapped off in the direction of the
downtown, “I’d forgotten to tell you that Herbert appointed you as a vice mayor.”

Hi
everyone! I hope that you enjoyed this story. This story is partly inspired by Matthew
20:16, “So the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. For many are
called but few will be chosen.” Also, I didn’t mention this in the story, but
the characters live in Canada.