Far from the bright city lights, the honking of horns and screeching of brakes from passing cars, the clanging of streetcars and commuter trains racing along the rails, far from the eternally hurrying, running, flying, walking, crawling residents of this enormous forest expanse, there was something completely different — completely opposite to it.
Namely: a small, remote settlement with its kind, calm, trusting inhabitants. These forest dwellers rarely ventured beyond the boundaries of their place of residence; they were quite content with everything they had: a forest school, a market at the edge, a lake instead of a bathhouse, a small shop in the clearing, where they often met and discussed local and non-local news.
One warm, clear summer day, many animals and birds made their way to the shop in the morning for provisions for their families and, according to old custom, after their purchases, sat on benches to rest and chat with one another.
The Hare was sharing her cabbage casserole recipe with her friend Goat, Beaver was telling Otter about new trends in building homes in aquatic conditions, Elephant was dozing on a bench, warmed by the rays of the warm and gentle sun…
Suddenly, this entire idyll was disrupted by the loud cry of Crow. She was the mouthpiece for all news happening beyond the boundaries of this small forest.
Well, what? You're sitting, chatting, getting bored! You haven't seen anything beyond your nose and this forest, you don't know anything better than this shop and you've never been anywhere else?! Well, I didn't sit around, I flew to the neighbouring enormous forest and saw there a marvel of marvels: indescribable beauty, tremendous size, unprecedented capacity — a supermarket. There's an uncountable amount of goods for any taste, size, and smell. There are lots of visitors and shoppers there too, and entertainment as well… Not a place, but a fairy tale!
The animals and birds stared at Crow spellbound and hung on her every word. And each of them in their fantasies was mentally in this mysterious magical store.
Having listened to Crow's speech to the end, the forest residents, inspired by the dream, decided they absolutely must visit the wondrous shopping and entertainment centre. And, so as not to postpone the plan for long, it was decided to realize this dream the following weekend.
And so, that day arrived. All who wished gathered at the edge of the forest to make the long journey together. There were: Wolf, Fox, Hare, Bear, Hedgehog, Owl, Woodpecker, and many other residents of the small forest expanse.
The road ahead was long, but the goal was set — there were no obstacles, and the animals set off. Whether it took long or short, and there, in the distance, the desired destination appeared. The crowd quickened their pace and after some time they all crossed the threshold of the shop that Crow had spoken about so much and in such detail.
Oh, wonder! The shelves were bursting with delicacies and treats, various aromas tickled the nose, and colourful labels beckoned, as if saying: "buy me, buy me."
For about half an hour all the forest residents wandered between the aisles and marvelled at the abundance and variety of the product assortment.
Ye-e-es, this isn't our little shop in the forest.
Said Owl — bulging her already enormous eyes in delight.
Suddenly, someone's enticing voice made everyone listen and look around. In the second row of counters, on the left side, stood the beauty Echidna in elegant attire with a microphone in hand, and in a smoothly flowing pleasant voice was inviting everyone to visit their department. The crowd rushed to this call, and even a whole queue formed, but no one knew what they would be selling there.
And Echidna continued to broadcast:
Only today, only now, only with us, you can acquire products possessing magical qualities. Only with them will you feel the power of magic happening to you after using them.
The queue kept growing, there was even a hint of a small scuffle, pressure from those wanting to get in was felt from all sides. They had to call the Mole security guards to calm the crowd and normalize the situation, to put everything in order.
And Echidna continued:
We have a beauty product! The young become even more beautiful, and adults — younger.
Fox listened to this and left the queue, deciding that she was already sufficiently young and beautiful.
And here's a product for strengthening teeth! They become strong, firm, don't deteriorate, but only get stronger.
Beaver and Otter wanted to buy this miracle, but then, after thinking it over, decided that in their forest there were enough healing and ecologically clean products to support health, particularly, tooth strength, and they too left the queue, not succumbing to persuasion.
Only Bear continued to stand and listen to Echidna's sweetly flowing voice, advertising a new product:
Dear public! To all who wish to lose weight and improve the condition of their fur and skin, I recommend this magical miraculous product. After using it, you'll feel lightness in your body, excess weight will disappear in a matter of days, your skin will become smooth and elastic, and your fur will acquire a beautiful shine.
Hearing these prophecies, Bear understood that this product was exactly for him. This was exactly what he'd dreamed of, what he'd strived for. But, being lazy by nature, he decided that in a short time he'd achieve the desired result, without applying any effort on his part.
The product wasn't cheap, but the desire to realize the dream was enormous. Bear laid out the necessary sum (and this was all his savings) and acquired the coveted product.
Coming home, he began to use it diligently. But days passed, weeks, a month, and no changes were visible. Disappointed and upset by the absence of the result promised by Echidna, Bear shared his trouble with wise Bee, who at that time was collecting healing nectar from fragrant flowers in the meadow.
Landing on another flower, Bee looked at him attentively and, shaking her head, said:
Mike, Mike, so big, yet you believe in fairy tales.
And, flapping her wings, she flew off to continue working. And Bear, so huge, clumsy and trusting, remained standing in place, thoughtfully watching Bee with his gaze.
