On the edges of the Western Ghats lived a lonely, grumpy little porcupine. No one in the forest had ever seen him smile, and everyone kept their distance, for two reasons: one, his ever-sour mood; and two, his sharp, intimidating spikes.
One day, the little porcupine felt completely lost and hopeless. Tears burst from his eyes as he cried,
“Why am I so lonely here?
“Where is my family?”
“I don’t have any friends… and… and I hate my spikes.”
Hearing the little porcupine cry, a frog leapt out of the pond and gently asked, “Buddy, why are you crying?”
Little porcupine hesitantly said, “I don’t have any family or friends. No one really cares if I exist or not. No one really likes me… all because of my spikes”
Even before the frog could muster a word, porcupine said “The other day, I was trying to be friendly with a deer. He came close to me and my spikes poked him and he left in pain.
I am not good for anyone. Maybe I should leave this jungle… and go find my own kind.”
Frog smiled and said, “don’t you worry buddy, I will be your friend”
A few days went by and they were slowly bonding with each other. Every evening, they met by the pond to talk about their day — sharing stories, laughter, and little moments of joy.
One day, while they were playing, the little porcupine unknowingly crossed paths with the frog — and the frog accidentally leapt onto his spikes. Ouch!!! That hurts!”, exclaimed the frog.
“Maybe we shouldn’t play any more… and just meet once in a while”, said the frog in great pain
Little porcupine whispered “sorry” and ran away. He was really sad and angry at his own spikes.
He wanted to get rid of his spikes.
In frustration, he pressed himself against a rock and tried to rub them off.
But to his surprise… the rock moved.
He saw a small head peek out… and then quickly retreat back inside.
The little porcupine was frightened… but also curious to know whom he had bumped into.
He waits for a while, hoping the head would peek out again.
And finally, the head peeped out — once the tortoise was sure there was no danger.
“Why did you bump into me, little one?” asked the tortoise.
The little porcupine lowered his head in shame and said,
“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to cause you any pain.
I thought you were a rock and accidentally bumped into you.”
The puzzled tortoise asked again,
“But why did you really bump into a rock?”
“Oh, it is a long story.”, exclaimed the porcupine!!
He continued, “I am a lonely porcupine, with no family and friends.
Everyone who comes near me gets hurt because of my spikes. I just wanted to get rid of them, so I could finally be with someone.”
"Do you know about my shell?", asked tortoise
“It is hard and I have to carry wherever I go. It is heavy and it slows me down”
The curious little porcupine looked at the shell with wide eyes.
“But it protects me”, continued the tortoise. “I can hide inside my shell whenever I feel threatened. It makes me feel safe”
“I am sure, your spikes help you too,” said the tortoise with a warm smile.
“But what is the point? No one can be friends with me. I always end up hurting everyone,” exclaimed the little porcupine.
“Hurting someone by accident doesn’t make you a bad friend. Real friends won’t just run away when things get uncomfortable — they will understand you, just like I do now.
Your spikes may keep others at a distance, but they also make you strong.
Maybe the right friends aren’t the ones who avoid your spikes… but the ones who learn to walk beside them.”
The little porcupine lowered his voice and said, “But… everyone needs a hug.”
“You can hug me, my friend,” said the tortoise with a wide smile.
“I too like little tickle once in a while.”
“Will I hurt you?” asked the curious little porcupine.
“No way! Your spikes will just tickle my shell and I am sure I’ll love it,” said the tortoise with glee.
Comments
Post a Comment