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Learn to Listen
As every night, Mr. Panda was lying above the cold grass mixed with the humid ground. The branches cracked with the wind and the silence kept a quiet night.
Mrs. Panda started whimpering. Baby P kept kicking her inside her belly.
Mr. Panda cried out “Shut up! If you stay quiet, baby P will stop moving”. She remained in silence looking at the stars with melancholy. Tears started running through her cheeks.
The nights went by and all she could do was remain in silence. She wouldn't share her feelings with Mr. Panda, because he wouldn't listen to her, or to anybody.
One night Mrs. Panda wakes up again by the kicks of Baby P. She opened her eyes and all she could see were the leaves moving along with the wind. The night was cold but this time it wasn't silent, something wrong was about to happen. She tried to warn Mr. Panda about this, and again, he told her just to fall asleep.
Suddenly a quiet tiger made the perfect moves just to get as near as he could, and with the strength of a scratch, he attacked him. They began to fight and unfortunately Mr. Panda went blind.
His whole world came down. A rage grew inside of him. He cursed the night he wouldn’t be able to hear the sound. Mrs. Panda tried to calm him down but he just wanted to be apart.
The day was about to come and Baby P was about to be born. A joy filled Mr. and Mrs. Panda’s hearts. When Mr. Panda heard the tender cries of his little child he couldn’t help it but smile. Some tears fell down his cheeks feeling miserable for all the times he had been mean to Mrs. Panda. He thought to himself “Nothing would ever happen to my most special thing”.
The days went by and Mr. Panda tried to live being blind. He reproached that night he wasn’t able to win the fight.
Another windy night came by, the stars were looking bright in the sky and before going to sleep he gave a big kiss to Mrs. Panda y hugged his little Baby P. They fell asleep.
This time, the snow covered the wet grass and the dark ground. The wind kept blowing strongly and the nights became colder.
Baby P woke up for several minutes and while he started yawning he noticed a little owl on top of the tree. He woke up curiously to look closer and so he started walking towards it.
His little feet sank in the thick snow making a squeaky sound and Mr. Panda woke up. His heart was pounding as fast as it could being terrified as his mind took him back to the night he went blind.
Without thinking it twice, his arms stretched out and with a strong scratch he pulled down Baby P.
Mrs. Panda cried out “What have you done?! You’ve killed Baby P!”
The moral of this fable is “learn to listen”. Hearing is not the same as listening to somebody. It might be too late for you to understand things when they have been clearly said to you.
Written by:
Rocío Thomas & Stephanie Cavazos
