Tillie the Tenacious Tortoise

Tillie wanted to visit her best friend, Rebecca the Respectful Rabbit, but Rebecca had moved to a warren on the other side of a large meadow at least a mile away.

“You’ll never make it,” said Oliver the Ornery Opossum. “You’re stupid to even try. Rebecca will be old and decrepit…or maybe even dead…before you get halfway across the field.”

“I can do it,” said Tillie. “But it would be quite nice to have a little help. Could you amble across the meadow and tell Rebecca I’m on my way? Perhaps she’ll hop this way and shorten my trip.”

“Hell, no,” said Oliver. “I’m too busy.”

Being a tenacious kind of tortoise, Tillie took off on her own. She’d traveled about ten feet when Jayne the Joyful Junco flew overhead, noticed Tillie plodding slowly into the meadow, one slow step at a time.

“Where you going, Tillie?”

“I’m going to visit Rebecca, but she moved very far away.”

“I see Rebecca every day,” said Jayne. “Would you like me to take a message across the meadow for you? It will only take a couple of minutes.”

“I hate to impose,” said Tillie. “If I keep on going, one step at a time, I’ll get to Rebecca’s warren before you know it.”

Well, of course you know what happened next, because as tenacious as Tillie was, she would have taken forever to cross that huge field. Jayne flew straight across in a jiffy, told Rebecca the news, and led her straight back to Tillie.

Determination can be an awesome trait for any creature, but having good friends totally trumps tenacity any time. Just be careful not to rely on ornery opossums.

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