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Fable – Sometimes it's too late to say sorry
It was early one morning of the year 4079 – so early it was still dark out – when the turtle, Freddie, escaped from his home. He had been traveling for two hours and had only managed to get a couple hundred yards away, to his disappointment. The whole time, as he watched the foggy twilight transform into a sunny morning, he though about why he left. His parents wanted him to become a worker turtle, when he preferred to read and learn things at Turtle School (which his father deemed as a “complete waste of time”).
After it seemed like he had been traveling for what felt like days, he stopped to get some rest. He was looking around for twigs and leaves for food, but he found that the land was barren, without a patch of green in sight. In the distance, he saw a bulk coming towards him. At first, he was scared. He was terrified when he saw that it was a lion that was making its way to where he was – currently unable to move. He let out a faint whimper.
“Are you lost?” asked the Lion, towering over the little turtle.
“I am,” Freddie mustered through quivering teeth.
Afterwards, the lion introduced himself as Shield, and proceeded to ask Freddie why he was wandering out there alone. After Freddie explained his situation to Shield, an ear-splitting thunder paired with blinding lightning emanated from the now-cloudy sky; the sun seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden, leaving the two animals in darkness.
“Disobedience and impulsiveness will get you nowhere; they will always lead you do darkness,” Shield said wisely.
Freddie thought of how devastated his parents must have been when they woke up to find their only son has ran away. He felt a pang of regret.
Freddie struggled to keep up with the wide stride of his companion (who was roughly ten times his size), and was out of breath after the first minute.
“There are easier, much more reasonable ways to deal with not being able to do what your heart desires. If you run from your problems, they will come running right after you,” called out Shield, who had somehow managed to start a fire amidst the pouring rain.
It became clear to Freddie that he had to face his problems head-on, and try to light his own fire in the chaos of his life. He decided he was going back. Shield agreed to guide Freddie back home the following morning after the storm cleared.
In the morning, the sky was white and the land seemed even more vast and empty than it had the previous day. As Freddie and Shield began their journey back, a single shooting star flashed across the sky, leaving only darkness in its wake, enveloping them until it managed to consume them.
