Fox taming

‘Hi there!’ said the fox.

‘Oh, you scared me!’ said the fox girl and turned around. ‘Why were you sneaking up behind me?’

‘I didn’t mean to scare you.’ said the fox. ‘I’m sorry. What are you doing?’

‘I’m looking at the stars. They’re so beautiful!’ said the fox girl.

‘Oh, I haven’t looked at them in a long time.’ said the fox. ‘But they really are beautiful.’

‘What do you think the stars actually are?’ asked the fox girl with shining eyes. ‘I think they are lots and lots of little fireflies in a big, big black lake.’

‘Lots and lots of huge planets. Like the one we live on, but so far away that they only appear as tiny points,’ answered the fox.

‘How do you know?’ asked the fox girl suspiciously, because she was bothered that this random fox didn’t share her brand-new theory.

‘I had a friend who came from one of those planets.’ said the fox and got a little sad as he remembered the Little Prince.

‘Your friend?’ asked the fox girl in amazement. ‘You were tamed by an alien?’

‘Yes, but then he went back to his rose.’ said the fox. ‘But I’m still glad, because it’s much better to be a tamed fox. And at least I often think of him when he was still here with me. And I’m also glad that he’s with his rose, because at least he’s happy.’

‘And it doesn’t bother you that you’re not happy without him?’ asked the fox girl and sat a little closer to the fox.

‘No, because my friend’s happiness is more important to me.’ said the fox.

‘You know, because of that many people would consider you foolish.’ said the fox girl.

‘And do you think I’m foolish?’ asked the fox, and he was a little afraid of the answer because he didn’t want the fox girl to think he was foolish.

‘I think you’re adorable.’ said the fox girl and put her paw on the fox’s head for a moment.

‘Have you ever been tamed by someone?’ asked the fox curiously, because the fox girl was so friendly with him, just as friendly as only a tamed fox girl could be.

‘Indeed, I have.’ answered the fox girl with a sigh and started looking at the stars again. ‘Many times. Maybe more times than I should have.’

‘I was only tamed once.’ said the fox, looking wide-eyed. ‘I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be tamed many times.’

‘I can help you imagine it.’ answered the fox girl. ‘Did your heart hurt when your friend went back to his rose?’

‘Yes.’ said the fox, looking down. ‘I cried, too.’

‘Now imagine that after every taming, another farewell follows and another dose of pain is added to the previous one.’

The fox imagined it and really didn’t like the feeling.

‘Auuuuuuuu.’ howled the fox. ‘That’s terrible. If it’s so awful to be tamed many times, then why did you let it happen?’

‘You know, it’s the law of life,’ answered the fox girl and tried to comfort the fox with her paw, who was still trembling from the imagined situation. ‘And there’s nothing wrong with it. Everything that begins must eventually come to an end. And every farewell carries the seeds of a new beginning. If I’m tamed many times, it means that many people come as close to me as no one has before. And no one gets closer to me than the previous one who tamed me, just somewhere else. Because everyone is different, and unique. And no one is better or worse than the other, but just as I first met them.’

‘And did you always cry at every farewell?’ asked the fox and suddenly began to admire the strength of this fox girl who could endure so many farewells.

‘Always,’ answered the fox girl. ‘It never gets easier, but each time I become richer in values inside, because once someone enters my heart, they cannot leave without leaving a trace. And these tiny marks will always be inside me, for me to remember. And these memories make up for all the pain that came with the farewells. Because I know I will never be alone again.’

‘Tell me about every time you were tamed!’ asked the fox, because he suddenly became very curious about this fox girl, who had the imprints of so many tamings inside her that she would never feel alone again.

And the fox girl began to tell her stories, while the fox listened quietly. And he felt his world expanding through the stories she told. The many stories carried many memories and many strange feelings within them, and the fox thirsted for the fox girl’s words, and he too began to desire to be tamed many times, regardless of the pain of so many farewells, to have many friends and never be alone again.