One day a hungry beaver set off from his home hoping to catch some fish for dinner. Upon arriving at the riverbank he dove into the water and soon found a sizable school of trout. He singled off the plumpest fish of the group and began to chase it. The frightened trout raced to the muddy river bed with the beaver in tow. Just as the beaver had the fish within paw’s reach the fish darted away in another direction, vanishing into the dark. The beaver, discouraged, looked up at the glimmering surface of the water only to find that it was much farther than he had anticipated. 

His lungs had already begun to ache, and panic sat in. He glanced down at the thick mud that grabbed at his claws and found a skull right next to his feet. Resisting the urge to gasp, he kicked off from the bottom of the riverbed without a second glance at the skull before breaking the surface, lightheaded and panicked. 

A group of ducks who watched the chase unfold paddled over to him, laughing as they approached. “Did you see that?”, one remarked to another. “He should have stuck to nibbling on trees!”, said another. The ducks circled around the beaver, taunting him with the many fish they had caught earlier in the day. They followed him as he swam to shore while boasting about their catches which only made the beaver angrier. He slapped the ground with his tail in annoyance. The 

ducks ignored the gesture and 

swam away while talking 

amongst themselves and 

snickering. 

Cold, tired, and even hungrier than before, the beaver began the trip back home while thinking about what the ducks said. “How am I supposed to compete with their webbed feet and wide mouths?” He asked himself. He thought it over again and again until he slowly began to lose hope. “Maybe I am better off nibbling wood”, he muttered to himself. 

As the day drew to a close he continued to walk along the river and tripped, almost crashing into the cold water before catching himself against a log. He gazed over the log at something small that shone brightly in the distance, the beaver decided to head towards the object. As he approached the object it began to shimmer brighter and brighter until he stood mere feet away from it, blinded by the light. Suddenly, 

a thundering voice echoed 

around him. “You seek 

something which you do not 

have, tell me what it is, and you 

will have it”.

Still dumbfounded, the beaver stumbled over his words before replying with his request which he had managed to solidify. “As you wish”, said the voice. In an instant, the light vanished, leaving the beaver in near-total darkness. He noticed nothing different about himself, although in the waning evening light it was hard to tell if anything had changed. Exhausted, he found his way home and slept until dawn broke over the forest. Per his usual routine, he wandered to the part of the river closest to his home for a drink, and as he bent down to lap up the cool water he felt as if something was off. He looked down at the water and saw his reflection, a sight that startled him to his core.