Once upon a time there was family of birds that lived in the nook of an eave in an apartment building. One day, the three young birds, Brad, Gina, and Wilbur, were told by their parents to go out and find new twigs to build a new nest.

Brad, the strongest of them, said, “I’m going to go out and find the toughest material ever,” and he flew off.

Gina, the smartest of them, said, “I’m going to go out and find the most comfortable material ever,” and she flew off.

Wilbur, the most delicate of them, said nothing, and his parents looked at him waiting for his response.

Wilbur said, “I guess I’ll find something better than all of those,” and he flew off.

Brad searched near the garden and quickly pulled out a sturdy twig from the bushes. Wilbur thought, “I’ll show him and make our parents proud.”

Wilbur scoured around the building for materials, but couldn’t decide on what would be the best. Plus, everything he found was too heavy for him.

Gina searched near the garbage and found fluffy balls of cat hair, which she took. Wilbur saw this and sighed as he continued his search, still undecided about what he should bring back.

Soon, minutes turned into hours, and the sun started to go down. Wilbur was about to give up, when the wind blew something over to him. A nice thin strip of bark. “Yippee!” he shouted.

Wilbur picked up the bark and proudly flew back to his family. However, as Wilbur approached the nest, he saw a pack of raccoons walking away from the destroyed nest, scurrying down the side of the building. His family was dead. It was a massacre.

The moral of the story: Don’t dilly dally. Life is short. Oh, and watch out for raccoons.

THE END