A Ride with the Enemy

 Sitting on a rough, ragged rock, a tortoise pondered his current living situation. He truthfully wanted to move to a new home. He did not care for the place in which he currently lodged. While he was thinking, a fox ambled by. The tortoise, named Tom, innocently asked the fox if he might give him a free ride down to the river where he planned to construct his new home.

       The fox replied, “I will transport you down to the river, but you must reward me with a comfortable place for the night.”

 This did not seem exceedingly difficult for Tom, so he promised the fox he could sleep in his new home for the night. Carefully, the fox picked up Tom by his shell. Tom and the fox made their way toward the river and while they walked, they bumped into a hulking wolf. Every animal knew this wolf because he was the pack’s leader.

      “That looks like a juicy, fat, and tasty tortoise you have there!” exclaimed the wolf hungrily.

      “But the shell is too hard. We could never eat him with the shell,” answered the fox.

       “Oh, well, my teeth and claws are incredibly strong and my pack is fierce.  Certainly, we could take off that shell,” the wolf remarked. Presently, the fox presented Tom to the wolf and in a split second, Tom had no shell.

      Give me my clothes back right now!” yelled Tom.

      “No, you won’t need them anymore,” snickered the wolf. Promptly, the wolf and fox devoured Tom with proper satisfaction.  Without question, Tom did not learn that one should never ride in the enemy’s mouth.