Badger

I was in a contemplative mood. So I'm walking down the road the other day with my feet obscured by a dust cloud kicked up by passing reindeer. Through breaks in the cloud I could catch glimpses of an extraordinary shade of green grass in the ditch, punctuated by the shimmering brown of an occasional magic mushroom.

I was startled from my musings of nuclear physics by the sight of a badger lying in the ditch, munching on a mushroom. A badger, I thought, what a surprise! I bent down with the intention to ask the badger what variety of mushroom he was eating. But before I could speak, he held out a badger paw in my direction. In his paw he gripped a cookie. Chocolate chip, no less. He said, This cookie is for you, stay the hell away from my mushroom. I thanked the badger profusely, because it's not often that you meet a badger so generous. I asked him before I walked away if I could save the cookie for someone else, or if it is meant for me only. He obligingly told me that I could do whatever I damn well please with the cookie.

I walked away with a smile on my face. I had met a benevolent badger and came away with a treat for my dear friend, who has been looking for a cookie.