Page 14 - Whoos A. Fraid

This had been going on for awhile when I began to smell trouble. I mean really smell and it got stronger and stronger until finally, I saw it ... a fox.
At about the same time, Smartest also saw it. He shouted, “New lessons, Predator Recognition and Avoidance. Down on the ground by the hickory tree is a fox... that is recognition. Now, everybody fly to a higher branch... that is avoidance.”
While Smartest was telling them to fly to higher branches, Fraid was saying, “It is just an old dog. This is one of Smartest’s tricks to get us to do what he wants us to do. We don’t have to waste all that energy flying here and there. Just stay here with me.”
Now some of the young owls said that Smartest probably knew what he was taking about and they were going to fly to higher branches. “But what if you fall?” said Fraid. “You are safer if you stay here.”
Dear reader, have you ever heard the saying, “sly as a fox?” Well, let me tell you what happened next.
The fox went to the tree where Fraid was and said, “My but you are a smart and brave young owl. Of course I am just an old dog who has wandered away from the neighboring farm. That adult owl in that high tree is just being foolish or maybe trying to trick you into doing something you don’t want to do.”
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