The Rabbit and the Porcupines is a fable about friendship. Specifically, the struggles that come from a friendship with someone who is very different from you. Are some friendships worth the extra effort? If one person hurts you, does that mean someone of the same personality type will hurt you too? Are some personality type pairings doomed to fail? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below after reading the story.
As part of my One Word focus for 2020, I am writing some fables and short stories throughout the year. This is my first one. I hope you enjoy!
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A rabbit befriended a porcupine. They had fun laughing and playing together, but the porcupine kept accidentally poking the rabbit with his quills. The porcupine was apologetic at first, but over time he became less and less careful with his quills. He was frustrated that the rabbit kept getting hurt by him. His turtle and armadillo friends never complained. He decided to end their friendship, believing that a rabbit and porcupine just aren’t meant to be friends.
The rabbit hopped away droopy-eared (and still aching from the quill wounds) until another porcupine approached her. She hesitated at first but believed there had to be a way for a rabbit and porcupine to be friends. So she decided to give it a try. It went well at first. They tried to learn how to best play to avoid quills stabbing the rabbit.
One day a coyote attacked, but the porcupine spiked up his quills and shielded the rabbit. The coyote yelped and ran off with a pokey nose. The rabbit thanked and praised the porcupine for his help.
However, over time the porcupine grew tired of having to protect the rabbit from coyotes. He had enough of his own problems to deal with.
One day the rabbit ran to the porcupine in a desperate attempt to escape the jaws of another coyote, but the porcupine puffed up its quills at the rabbit and abandoned her to fend for herself. She barely escaped with her life.
Days later, while hopping along, the rabbit heard rustling in a bush. She curiously investigated but jumped back when she heard a voice from inside say to stay away. She asked why. A porcupine emerged and told her he was afraid of hurting anyone with his quills. The rabbit couldn’t argue that. She admitted she was nervous too because of her past experiences with porcupines.
A loud gurgling grumble came from the rabbit’s stomach. The porcupine offered to give her some of his food as long as she kept a safe distance from him. She cautiously accepted, intrigued by this friendly and mindful creature.
Little by little their trust in each other grew and their fears dissipated. Their kindness and consideration for the other gently guided them in learning how to safely play together. They realized a porcupine and rabbit can make amazing friends if both are willing to humbly learn and put in the effort.
I hope you enjoyed my first fable of the year! I made this month’s theme about friendship because of Palentine’s Day on February 13th. If you, like the rabbit, have been abandoned by a friend, then check out this post: A Letter of Encouragement When a Friend Abandons You.
This is a really interesting fable, not like anything I’ve read before. Cute characters are always the best way to tell a story I think! 🙂
Sammy | Self-Care Sloth
Thank you so much! 😊
What an amazing fable you have done here!!!!!! Has so many ideas about friendship. How often our past bad experiences in an attempt to keep us and others, safe can keep us from forming friendships. But it doesn’t have to be that way, they can be used instead to build stronger and deeper friendships. There is a lot to consider and think about in what you wrote here!!!
Wow, thank you so much for this encouragement, Mike! Your kind words mean a lot to me!
Yes, exactly! We can’t let bad past experiences keep us from making new friends. Not everyone will be like the person who hurt us.
What an adorable story! I especially like how there’s a lesson to learn from this. Can’t wait to read your next one!
Awww thank you so much! That means a lot to me! 😊
Aww! This is such a sweet story and I absolutely love the characters, so cute! This is a lovely way to get across an important message about friendship in such an adorable way. Thank you for sharing and keep up the great work! <3 xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
Very nice:)