The Lion, The Hare and The Deer

The next day at the infamous jungle beauty parlor, there was a wonderful visit!  This visit was from the lion himself!  He was due for a little trimming of his mane.  After all the commotion and ruckus because of the story about him and the mouse that the bear had told the day before, there was a dull murmur of whispers throughout the parlor as he walked in.

The lion never made a subtle entrance, and this day was no different!  As he walked in, he obnoxiously swung the doors open and proclaimed, "Boy, do I have a story for you folks!"  All of the animals getting manicures and their hair trimmed were so excited, but tried to keep their excitement contained at the same time.  One of the leopards getting a facial said, "Do tell, lion; we would love to hear!"

So, the lion sat down in the chair where his mane was going to be trimmed and started the story:

"Well, I was in the jungle today, as usual, trying to find some prey to munch on because I was getting a little famished.  All of a sudden I saw this hare who looked absolutely delicious.  You know me; I love the weird little hares that sometimes wander around the jungle- such an easy target!  All they mainly do is sleep, so naturally I had a straight shot at her.  But, right as I was about to devour the unsuspecting creature, I saw a beautiful deer prancing by!  This deer was absolutely gorgeous.  She looked so satisfying and delicious that I couldn't even help myself.   So, I decided to leave the hare and pursue the much larger deer.  My appetite was pretty large, guys, so I figured this would be the better choice."

Right about this time, the nosy leopard chimed back in and said, "Lion, that probably wasn't a good idea.  The hare would have been such an easy target for you.  You were sure to be able to eat that hare right then and there!"

After the leopard said her little "two cents," the lion was a little annoyed and said, "Just let me finish my story, leopard."  So the lion picked up right where he left off:

"So, from my crouched position over the hare, I leaped up and started chasing the deer.  This was literally the fastest deer I had ever tried to catch.  I've caught hundreds of deer in this jungle before, so I shouldn't have had a problem... I mean, I'm pretty much a pro.  But anyways, I legitimately tried to catch this deer for about an hour.  She was just too fast for me.  It's hard to even admit to you all that I couldn't catch her.  I'm so ashamed.  Maybe I should start working out again to improve my speed.  Sorry, back to the story.  So, I finally decided to just give up on catching the deer.  Saddened, I decided to settle with going back to the puny little hare that I had left earlier in my greedy state of mind.  I got back to the same exact place where I had left the hare sleeping, and to my surprise he wasn't even there anymore!  I was so upset!  I guess that when I leaped up to chase the deer it awakened him and he ran off."

"Serves you right for being so greedy, lion!" said the zebra who was getting a manicure.

The lion didn't like the zebra's comment, so he chimed back in.  "Oh my gosh, you don't have to be so rude, zebra.  I realize that now!  I guess next time I'll just have to learn not to be greedy and settle for what I have right in front of me.  I guess I need to learn to be satisfied with smaller things in life, as well.  Gosh, that sucks!"

At the conclusion of the story, the lion walked out of the beauty parlor, satisfied with his trim.   After he was gone, the animals couldn't help themselves from talking about the greedy lion.  None of them felt bad for him at all!  Another successful day at the beauty parlor filled with gossip...