A bedtime tale for kids of all ages; both big and small.

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Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there lived 2 foxes and their master. These 3 lived in a cottage, warm and cozy, away from many people; not because they had anything to hide, oh no, in fact these were a very gentle bunch, but because they simply enjoyed the quiet peace the woodlands had to offer. So happy they lived together.

“So happy they lived together.”

One early autumn morning, Mr. Fox had woken up very hungry. Mr. Fox, though his name not seeming, was the youngest one. The master named him Mr. Fox because he had always dreamed to be older and often pretended to be too. But he was very silly and clumsy, always smiling and running after chickens like a child his age would.

Mr. Fox, who was still hungry, wobbled around the house and into the kitchen looking for something brilliant to chew. As per usual, being the clumsy fox that he was, he knocked over some things along the way but luckily nothing had broken.

All this rummaging woke Silky The Fox up. Silky was named Silky The Fox by the master because of his beautiful, long, and silky red fur. Silky admired his fur very much and was very proud of his name. Silky was older than Mr. Fox, but he wasn’t too old either. He was the calmer and quieter fox, always laying down on his own yet often keeping a close watch on his clumsy younger brother. He wasn’t so different however from Mr. Fox when it came to the master. They both loved the master very much.

Silky, already fully awake and now hungry as well, decided to join Mr. Fox in his search for food.

“G’morning Silky! Have you come to join me on this daring quest for food?” Mr. Fox asked, wagging his tail left and right.

“It’s not a quest Mr. Fox,” he replied, jumping up to the kitchen cabinets. “but simply two gentlemen looking for something fitting for the daily breaking of the fast.”

“More like a thrilling adventure!” Mr. Fox replied. “Me and you, alone in this vast kitchen, will we ever find food?” Mr. Fox continued with excitement in his voice, childishly playing on his own.

“Whatever you say Mr. Fox. Now come help me.” Silky urged, still searching through the cabinets.

So the two foxes searched and searched all through the kitchen, the cabinets, the pantry, the cupboards, but found nothing they could open on their own.

“Oh Boy Silky, what are we going to do? I’m getting really hungry.” Mr. Fox asked worriedly.

Silky thought for a minute or so and then he thought some more.

“Well I have an idea but I have to say, it’s not my best.” Silky finally said. He hurriedly whispered something to Mr. Fox and though both hesitated at first, they decided to go ahead with the plan.

“They both loved the master very much.”

Chapter 2

The 2 foxes went outside the house and stood close to the master’s chicken coop but far enough for the chickens not to notice a thing. It was that time of morning in which the chickens would go out of the coop into the field to stretch their legs and wings.

A bit nervous, the two foxes made eye contact and Mr. Fox launching into the field started chasing the chickens as he normally would this time of day. However today he ran for a longer time and a lot faster. He ran and ran across the orange-leaved field, more orange leaves falling as he ran. If it wasn’t for the chase, Mr. Fox would have gotten distracted by the beautiful orange leaves and stopped to admire them. Though the chickens were used to Mr. Fox’s daily chasing, something felt awfully different today and they were very frightened as Mr. Fox seemed to run faster than they could keep up with. He had almost caught them every time. As Mr. Fox was busy chasing the chickens, Silky snuck into the chicken’s coop and stole their eggs one by one, hiding them inside the house. When Silky was done, he howled, signifying to Mr. Fox that he was done. When Mr. Fox heard the howl, he immediately stopped chasing and in good relief ran towards Silky who was already in the house. The foxes’ plan seemed to work but though the foxes were relieved that it was over, the chickens were very shaken and disturbed due to Mr. Fox’s violent chasing. What’s worse, they were also about to find out that their precious eggs were gone.

Back in the house, the foxes didn’t know how to feel. They thought that as long as no one was hurt, everything should be okay. The fact that the eggs didn’t have any chicks in them either but only slimy orange goo eased their minds even more. “The chickens can always make more, right?” Mr. Fox asked. Silky nodded hesitantly. “We just borrowed from the chickens.” Silky explained, truly believing this was true. Therefore, in silence, they proceeded to eat the stolen eggs. Little did they know that someone was indeed hurt. They had hurt the chickens who they had terribly frightened and stolen their hard work from and adding more to the trouble they caused, one of the chickens, in panic, ran and fell during the chase, injuring her wing.

Not long after the chase, the chickens who had returned to their coop cried out in panic because they couldn’t find their eggs. This cry awoke the master and so he went down to investigate. When he arrived at the coop and saw all the chickens panicking, he realised that their eggs had been stolen. He instantly understood what had happened. The master always knew everything. So he calmed the chickens down with his reassuring voice and turned to head back into the house.

As he was walking back, he noticed a lone chicken sitting all by herself in a corner. She looked very sad and hurt. The master knew this chicken by name and recognised her by her dark brown feathers. Her feathers were special because she was the only one in the world who had them.

The master walked up to the chicken and gently carried her in his arms. As he examined her, he noticed that her wing was injured. Again the master understood what had happened and helped the little chicken. He bandaged her wings, petted her and put her in the coop with the others. Now the master was ready to go into the house and confront the foxes.

“This cry awoke the master..”

Chapter 3

“Mr. Fox! Silky!” the master said with a raised voice as he entered the house. The foxes immediately understood what was wrong and slowly came before the master.

“Why have you two done this?” the master asked with disappointment and anger in his face. The two foxes stayed quiet for a moment, not knowing what to say. As Mr. Fox was about to say something, Silky interrupted him and said, “We were really hungry. We couldn’t open any of the canned food in the kitchen and didn’t know what else to do. We didn’t want to disturb you and…” Silky looked down, “We’re really sorry. I was the one who had the idea.” Mr. Fox frowned alongside his older brother.

“Was doing the wrong thing better than disturbing me?” the master asked firmly.

“But no one got hurt.” Mr. Fox said, trying to ease up the tension.

“No one got hurt?!?” the master said with his voice raised once more.

“You two hurt the chickens terribly. By frightening them, causing them to panic and then stealing from them, you hurt them deeply.”

Now it had finally hit the foxes that they had indeed done something terribly wrong.

The master continued, “Did you realise that one of the chickens fell during the chase and hurt their wing?” Now Mr. Fox looked down as well, his ears pointed down, and said in a sad and silent voice “I didn’t realise. We’re really sorry.”

The master sighed and rubbed his eyes. “What the two of you have done here was very wrong, I’m very disappointed in the both of you,” however in a more gentle tone he said, “but because you’ve apologised and told me the truth, I’ve forgiven you.” At this the master went back upstairs.

The foxes were relieved that the master had forgiven them, Mr. Fox’s tail even wagged a little, but the heaviness of what they had done continued to linger for many days. They felt bad, ashamed and unworthy to even be at the house. It was a terrible feeling. Silky especially became quieter and more closed off. He stayed in his spot more often, laying down with his eyes closed though he never was truly sleeping. Even when Mr. Fox invited him to play, he would put on a soft smile and ask to be alone. Mr. Fox felt as sad and ashamed as Silky but being as young as he was, he was unable to stay as quiet as him. But even Mr. Fox played less and tried to be more responsible. No matter how happy he seemed playing, his ears were always tucked down. The foxes were very grieved of their wrongdoings and so felt like they didn’t deserve anything and so they didn’t do very much. Mr. Fox sadly played alone and Silky rarely moved from his spot. The only time Silky would move was for their daily time with the master by the fireplace every night. The 3 did this everyday, the master would sit in his chair and brush their tails in turns while the other laid by the fireplace. However, after the incident, the master wouldn’t brush their tails anymore. So they all just sat by the fireplace, the master in his chair and the foxes by the fire. Strangely, it was never awkward but almost comforting. But the foxes still felt the heaviness of their wrongdoing. What was important however is that they all showed up, even the master.

“I’ve forgiven you.”

Chapter 4

One night, during their time by the fireplace, as Silky laid close to the fire with his eyes closed, Mr. Fox came close to the master’s chair. Sitting upright, his ears still tucked down, Mr. Fox asked “Master, would you brush my tail?” The master replied gently, “No Mr. Fox.” and so Mr. Fox laid close to his master’s chair without saying anything else. Silky, who had been laying down by the fire, also came to the master and asked “Master, would you brush my tail?” The master replied gently, “No Silky.” and so Silky laid down as well but in a spot a lot further from the master and Mr. Fox. Silky felt very unworthy to be close to the master so he silently laid down far away.

The next night, as they all gathered by the fireplace, Mr. Fox came to the master again and asked “Master, would you brush my tail?” The master replied gently. “No Mr. Fox” and so he laid down by the master’s chair. Silky however didn’t ask anything and far away from the both of them he laid again.

The next night, as they all gathered by the fireplace, Mr. Fox came to the master again and asked once more “Master, would you brush my tail?” The master replied gently. “No Mr. Fox.” and so Mr. Fox laid close by the master’s chair. Silky silently laid far away feeling unworthy.

The next night, as they gathered by the fireplace once more, Mr. Fox came to the master again and asked, “Master, would you brush my tail?” The master replied gently. “No Mr. Fox.” so he laid close to the master’s chair again. Silky still only laid far away, not saying a single word.

The next night, they all gathered at the fireplace again. This time Mr. Fox didn’t say anything but he laid close to the master’s chair, his ears tucked down. You see, Mr. Fox didn’t know better. He had to be close to his master. He didn’t know anything above his master. He knew he was unworthy to be there, very unworthy, but where else could he be? He knew that though the master wouldn’t brush his tail, he would never not want him there. In fact he was sure that him being close pleased the master. And somehow that made Mr. Fox feel loved despite his unworthyness. Since he was unworthy anyway, the only thing he had was the master. And though he knew that he did wrong, he knew with all his heart that the master loved him. All of this washed his guilt away. So he stayed close, laying down by the master’s chair every night, right by the fireplace.

“he laid close to the master’s chair..”

Chapter 5

And yet another night came by as they all gathered by the fireplace. Mr. Fox was close to the master’s chair as usual and Silky was laying further away.

Something however was different tonight.

Suddenly, in a grand surprise, the master took out his brush from his pocket and started brushing Mr. Fox’s tail! Mr. Fox was so happy that he couldn’t keep his tail still. The master laughed and said, “Keep still Mr.Fox!” Mr.Fox’s ears were back to being up and proud and his bright smile was there again.

Once the master was done with Mr.Fox, he gently walked towards Silky who had silently drifted to sleep in his spot. With great love, the master softly started brushing Silky’s tail. The soft strokes woke Silky up and as he looked at the master, tears filled his narrow eyes.

“The master is so close.” Silky thought.

“Are you offended in me Silky?” The master asked, his eyes never for a second leaving Silky’s. These words echoed in Silky’s heart and made time feel like it had stopped for a moment. Yet Silky didn’t know how to respond so he stayed silent, his teary gaze fixed on the master.

The master, as gentle as ever, smiled and said, “Child, you should have stayed close to me like your younger brother did. Happy is he who is not offended in me. Don’t pull away from me, don’t let anything take you far from me, not even yourself Silky. Let me be the one to carry your burdens and wash off your guilt because…” The master paused. “I promise you, I will.” With a so ever soothing voice the master continued. “I know every inch of you Silky. I know everything there is to know about you. I know every thought and action before you do them. Even the hairs of your fur, I know them by number. Before you would do wrong, I would already know. But even still I’ve chosen to be your master. There’s no far depth you could reach that I wouldn’t already be in. I’ve made my decision Silky, nothing you can do to change it, now it’s your turn to make yours. Will you stay close to me Silky, no matter what happens? Will you let me be your master?”

…

Silently, without a word, with great warmth, Silky snuggled into the master’s arms and the master held him tightly as Mr. Fox ran and ran around the fireplace as a child his age would on that cold special autumn night.

The End.

“Let me be the one to carry your burdens and wash off your guilt…because I promise you, I will.”

A story written by Christ Jesus through His child Eva O.