Gifts of Friendship

Walking the jungle path along the river, Elise the panda felt a particular craving. She grew tired of the same bamboo meal every day and wanted something else, something that was different.

She wondered to herself, "Maybe something sweet would make me happy." but there were no fruit or berries to be found.

"Or maybe something spicy," but no peppers grew here.

Or something savory?

Ahead of her, she saw something flopping helplessly on the ground.

As she approached the creature, it appeared to be a small fish struggling for air. Now was her opportunity, as if her thoughts were answered.

"A free meal," she thought, approaching the poor creature.

As she approached the fish, a timid voice uttered, "Please.. place me back in the water."

For a moment, she thought that placing the small fish back in the water would benefit her. She could wait for him to grow larger and larger each day, leaving her to have a much larger meal in the future.

"Of course!" Elise said, gently picking up the small fish and placing it back into the water.

As Elise walked away, the fish popped its little head out of the water and thanked her. If it were not for her, a meaner creature would have come by and eaten him.

* * *

Elise returned down the same path the following day to see if the fish had grown. At the exact spot where she found her, there appeared to be a small, smoothed pebble glistening in the sunlight.

This strange stone caught her eye. "How pretty!" she thought.

Though infatuated by the small stone, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the fish Emerging from the water, looking enthusiastic to see her.

"Hello," he said. "I brought that for you for saving me. I searched the river all day until I came across the most beautiful pebble I could find."

Elise was shocked. "A gift?" she thought. No one has ever given me anything so lovely.

Despite her gratitude, she still thought to satiate her hunger. The fish grew a little bigger today and perhaps even more so tomorrow.

* * *

As Elise returned each day, without hesitation, the fish retrieved a small glistening pebble to give her as a gift. Elise would bring these pebbles back to her abode to display them. These served as a reminder of the kindness that she had endured.

However, as Elise expected, the fish grew bigger each day. During their encounters, they spoke about themselves. They shared their lives and secrets. Though they appeared to be an odd pair, predator and prey, they seemed to like one another. Naturally, they shared laughs, and in both their lives never had anyone to share such things with.

The day came when Elise planned to eat the fish. He grew substantially! Elise planned to return to the river bank to claim her long-awaited meal, but a certain feeling overcame her.

"Maybe I shouldn't do this," she thought, looking at the pile of pebbles in her abode. Each pebble was uniquely picked each day with love and compassion. Each was a token of gratitude. These were not chosen at random or carelessly selected. These stones were small but very special within themselves.

Then Elise has an idea. She took each pebble and carefully strung them together with bamboo fibers. After a while, Elise constructed a beautiful stone necklace that glistened in the morning sun. She rushed to the river bed to find her friend. In the same spot they had met for the past several weeks, he was poking his little head out of the water to greet her again.

"Hello! he said happily.

"Hello, my friend," she greeted him.

Looking up at Elise, the fish saw the necklace and knew that she had made that out of the pebbles he had collected.

"Amazing," he said

"These are the pebbles you gave me. Each one I strung into this necklace".

There was a moment of silence as they looked at each other. A strange sense of relief swept over them.

"I knew this day would come." the fish said happily.

"It is ok im glad to have made a friend like you," Elise replied.

Elise placed the pebbles around the fish's neck and smiled.

"I know these were from you, but I felt I needed to return the gratitude back to you."

They both smiled. They stared off into the sunset as they sat at the river's edge, where it flowed into the mighty lake. It was beautiful, and they were happy to have met one another in such a strange way. Elise was able to overcome her desires and have something much more long-lasting. They both would not have it any other way.