Fable

    You may remember the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", the story of a pushy little girl who barges into the Bears' house and makes herself at home.  Any sensible person would know that this just isn't done, especially when you don't know when the occupants of the house will return.  You may also remember from the story that Goldilocks awoke in Baby's bed to find the three Bears staring at her.  It may surprise you to know that Goldilocks was not eaten or killed by the bears.

    Our story picks up after Goldilocks catches her breath from running out of the Bears's house and back into the forest.  The reader must keep in mind that while Goldilocks was truly frightened by her experience at the hands of the Bears, she was still as self-centered and empty-headed as before.  As she wandered through the forest, Goldilocks decided that she would like to have a pet to take home with her.  After chasing a rabbit through the woods and almost running into a briar patch, she determined that she needed a pet that couldn't get away from her so quickly.  Unsuccessful attempts at catching (and lifting) a deer added the criteria of finding a pet that was "small enough to carry".  Goldilocks, wandering by the edge of a pond, thought she had found the perfect pet in a frog.  Just as she had one in her hands, they would slip out of her hands and back into the pond.

    Most people, after all of these failed attempts at trying to catch an animal for a pet, would give up on the idea and go home, but not Goldilocks.  She was determined to have a pet of her very own.  As she wandered deeper into the forest, she happened upon a porcupine.  Goldilocks had never seen anything quite like it.  It sat perfectly still, even as she crept closer to it.  It was small enough to carry, and it didn't appear to be slippery at all.  Even though she had never seen the animal before, and even though every other attempt at catching a wild animal had led to mishap, she decided to take the porcupine home with her.  Just as Goldilocks reached down to pick him up, the porcupine shot out all its stickers at her.  The pain was like a thousand knives piercing her skin, cutting places all over her hands and causing her to run home in tears.

Moral: Appearances can be deceiving.