Far from the bright city lights, the honking of horns and screeching brakes of passing cars, the ringing of streetcars and electric trains racing along the rails, far from the eternally hurrying, running, flying, walking, crawling inhabitants of this enormous forest expanse, there was something completely different — completely opposite to it.
Namely: a small, remote settlement with its kind, calm, trusting residents. These forest dwellers rarely ventured beyond their place of residence; they were quite satisfied with everything they had: a forest school, a market at the edge of the woods, 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 a recipe for cabbage casserole with her friend Goat, Beaver was telling Otter about new trends in housing construction in aquatic conditions, Elephant was dozing on a bench, warmed by the rays of the warm and gentle sunshine…
Suddenly, this entire idyll was disrupted by the loud cry of Crow. She was the megaphone broadcasting all the news happening beyond the boundaries of this small forest.
Well, what? You sit, you chat, you're bored! You haven't seen anything beyond your nose and this forest, you don't know anything better than this shop and you haven't been anywhere else?! But I didn't sit idle, I flew to the neighboring enormous forest and saw there a marvel of marvels: indescribable beauty, tremendous size, unprecedented capacity — a supermarket. The goods in it are in countless quantities for any taste, size, and smell. There are many visitors and shoppers there too, and there's entertainment there… Not a place, but a fairy tale!
The animals and birds stared at Crow spellbound and listened to her every word. And each of them in their fantasies was mentally in this mysterious fairy-tale store.
Having listened to Crow's speech to the end, the forest inhabitants, inspired by the dream, decided they must visit the wondrous shopping and entertainment center. And, so as not to postpone the plan for long, it was decided to realize this dream in the coming 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, Rabbit, Bear, Hedgehog, Owl, Woodpecker and many other inhabitants of the small forest expanse.
The road ahead was long, but the goal was set — there were no obstacles, the animals set out on their way. Whether long or short, and there, in the distance, the desired object already appeared. The crowd quickened its pace and after some time everyone together crossed the threshold of the store about which Crow had spoken so much and in such detail.
Oh, wonder! The shelves were bursting with delicacies and treats, various aromas tickled the nose, and colorful labels beckoned, as if saying: "buy me, buy me."
For about half an hour all the forest residents wandered between the rows and admired the abundance and variety of the product assortment.
Ye-e-es, this is not 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 invited everyone to visit their department. The crowd rushed to this call, and even a whole line formed, but no one knew what would be sold there.
And Echidna continued to broadcast:
Only today, only now, only with us, you can purchase goods possessing magical qualities. Only with them will you feel upon yourself the power of magic happening to you after their use.
The line kept growing, there was even a hint of a small fight, 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 line, deciding that she was already sufficiently young and beautiful.
And here's a product for strengthening teeth! They become strong, firm, they 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 pure products to support health, particularly, the strength of teeth, and they too left the line, not succumbing to persuasion.
Only Bear continued to stand and listen to the sweetly flowing voice of Echidna, 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 its use, you will 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 had dreamed of, what he strived for. But, being by nature lazy, he decided that in a short time he would achieve the desired result, without applying any effort on his part.
The product was not 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 goods.
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 the wise Bee, who at that time was gathering healing nectar from fragrant flowers in the meadow.
Perching 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 work further. And Bear, so huge, clumsy and trusting, remained standing in place, thoughtfully following Bee with his gaze.
