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The end of the world
"The end of the world"
by Deborah de la Jara and Raul Villalta
A fox was sleeping under a hazel-tree one day, dreaming about running and catching a mouse to eat. Just when he was about to eat the mouse in his dream, Snake came up to him. Every animal in Animal Town feared Snake, for even though he was very old, everything he said always came true.
‘What do you want, Snake? I was napping.’ said Fox.
"I have come to warn you," said Snake, ‘The world is ending tomorrow at noon’.
‘If that be so, I have to go and warn everyone.’ said Fox.
So Fox ran until he found Bear, the major of Animal Town. He told him about the end of the world coming at noon the next day, and how he was so thankful to Snake for warning him. Bear, knowing that what Snake said always came true, called for a town meeting, and every animal attended, When Bear announced the news, everyone was so scared, they went off to their homes to prepare for the end of the world.
And so everyone living in Animal Town slept with the thought that that night was going to be their last.
Noon came around, and Fox was hiding in his den, thinking that if he came out, he’d see horrible things happen to his town and friends. So he stayed and stayed and stayed, until nighttime came and he thought he had survived the end of the world. When he came out, Animal Town was as pretty and alive as it had been the day before, so he ran to the major to find out what had happened. When Fox got there, everyone was very mad.
‘We spent all night in fear preparing for the end of the world and nothing happened.. Why did you lie?’ said Lion, and everyone agreed.
‘But Snake did tell me the end of the world was coming! I did not lie.’ said Fox.
Just then, Snake’s voice was heard. Everyone became very quiet and turned to hear what he had to say.
‘You see, I am very old now, and I thought that the end of the world was coming today at noon. But now I know that it will come tomorrow at noon, I am sure of this. I have never lied to you before, so please prepare.’ said Snake.
Everyone believed him and went home to prepare. But the next day nothing happened, and they were even angrier. But Snake assured them that the end of the world was coming the next day, and everyone believed him again. But the same thing happened again, and again, and again, so when Snake swore by the 6th time that it would definitely come the next day, no one believed him, and nobody prepared.
That same night, Fox felt very angry with himself for having trusted Snake. He now looked like a fool, and no one in Animal Town liked him. So he went to sleep, hoping he’d have a better day tomorrow. The next day, he woke up later than he usually did, at noon, to be exact. But what he saw left him in horror. When he opened his eyes, he saw red, hot fire raining from the skies, and just then, he knew that Snake had been right all along.
