The Ant and the Dove

 The Ant and the Dove

    An ant named Charlie and a dove named Doreen happened to be in the same area of the forest one afternoon. Charlie was scurrying to the edge of a fast-flowing river to get a drink of water. Bending down toward the rushing flow of water, he stretched out his neck to take a drink. In the next instant, he lost his balance and tumbled into the river.

    "Help, help!" Charlie cried as he was swept downstream by the current, but his voice was as small as his body, and the flowing water was noisy. No one heard Charlie's frantic cries.

    Doreen was perched on a tree branch that hung over the river and happened to look down just as Charlie was passing below. She saw him struggling to stay afloat, so she quickly plucked a leaf from the tree branch and dropped it into the water. Charlie was able to grab the leaf, climb aboard it with his last ounce of strength, and ride it until it was washed onto the bank of the river.

    "Thanks for your kindness," Charlie said to Doreen. "To think that a simple drink of water almost led to my destruction," He added. Then the ant and the dove parted ways.

    A few days later, Doreen was sitting on the branch of another tree. Charlie happened to be nearby and spotted his feathered friend. He was about to greet her when he noticed a fox creeping toward her. Charlie crawled as fast as he could up onto the fox's leg, where he applied a fierce bite.

    Startled by the fox's sudden yelp, Doreen quickly flew away, unaware that her friend Charlie had saved her life, just as she had saved his a few days earlier. Charlie was glad he had helped.