CRABBY'S STORY:

Surrounded by towering Sitka Spruce and the smell of smoked salmon, and deep in the water of an ice cold sound there lived a community of crabs. Actually one might describe them as a gang of crabs. In fact they were more like a group of brutes that had to fight for their next meal and the one with the largest and strongest claw was boss. My name is Morris the mouse and I lived on this sound and I am here to tell you a story of forgiveness.
One day on the sandy bottom of the sound, Mac and Lou, two of the meanest and toughest crabs around, were fighting over a small puffer fish that they had caught.
“Hey, that’s mine!”
“No, it’s mine, “declares Lou.
The two end up tearing the poor fish in half as Goliath shows up.
“Fellas, fellas, you don’t need to resort to this just to provide yourselves with food, there’s a better way”
“How is that supposed to work?” asks Mac.
“Just look over there,” Goliath points to a crap pot over by some rocks. “See, there’s our meal ticket boys, we just got to find some Bozo to go in there and get that fish.”
Lou exclaims, “We can get Crabby to go in there and get the fish. You know all he does is complaining about this and that.”
“Yes,” Mac agrees, “If he gets trapped in there, who will miss him?
We’re hungry so what other choice we got?”
Goliath then says, “You guys got the idea. I’ll go get him right now.”
“Yeah, go get him, He, He.” Mac and Lou chuckle to one another.
You see there was one thing about Crabby that I should mention. Crabby had a shell that was covered with several different colored squares, kind of like a mosaic pattern. You see, when all the other crabs were wearing the latest Amberconch and Fish, Crabby was stuck with a hand-me-down shell that looked rather outdated and this caused him to be made fun of. Crabby took this personal and his disposition suffered greatly because of it. With that said; let’s get back to the story…
A short while later, Goliath returned with Crabby and was able to convince him that their next meal depended on Crabby’s bravery of entering the cage and retrieving the fish head that was in there. Crabby forever wanting to be the hero, said he would do it, not knowing that he was to be the next meal.
Crabby crept slowly into the pot and as he grabbed the salmon with his claw, bamb! The door slammed shut on him. As he clawed at the gate, his so called friends one by one left crabby alone with his crabby self. Crabby sat and wondered what he was doing here. Those jerks had put him in there. Stupid crabs, thought Crabby. That is what he was always saying under his breath about the other crabs. No wonder nobody wanted to be around him. As Crabby sat in his underwater prison, he started to remember all the times he was so grumpy and remembering his loneliness he began to feel sad. In fact, Crabby felt lonely even in a crowd of crabs. Crabby thought how he might try to be less angry with others and maybe he wouldn’t be so lonely.


Meanwhile, above water…
Sadie stood on the edge of the floating barge that was the foundation of her master’s house. She stared at the float that marked where the crab pot was and thought she saw it move. Sadie was the kind of dog that was ready for adventure at any time. Ever since she was a little puppy and chasing her red ball, Sadie loved to play. Now it was this red bobber that had her curiosity. Sadie couldn’t hold back any longer and she dove into the chilly water and swam to the floating ball. She grabbed the rope that was connected to the crab cage with her teeth and dragged it to shore.
Usually Sadie’s owners would check the pot daily but since they were still sleeping, Sadie took it on herself to check this time. Sure enough, there was one lonely crab in the cage, and boy was he ever irritable. He was complaining about this and that and finally, when he was quiet, Sadie opened the gate and let him out. As crabby walked out onto the beach, he complained some more. Something about not being a terrestrial crab and his shell was too tight and several other things that made Sadie wonder if she should have just let this crab stay in the water.
Sadie then thought that this crab might just be hungry and that was what was making him so cranky. So she ran over to a small pond and caught the first perch she could and brought it back to Crabby, who took one bite and then spit it out, explaining that he only ate poached puffer fish. Just then, Sadie’s master called her to her house and she left.
As Crabby sat alone on the rocky shore, he realized that he should be grateful for Sadie having saved him and just how selfish and picky he was about the fish. Crabby could see that he was wrong. He knew that he needed to change if he was going to get any better.
He needed to start by forgiving the other crabs that put him in the cage. Of course it was Crabby himself that went in there because of his own desire to prove he was a hero.
Back underwater…
Since one less claw was at the dinner table, there was a period of feasting for Mac, Lou and Goliath. But soon their food supply was gone when a group of fisherman moved in and caught most of the fish. The crabs then realized that they were going to need to go on land in order to find new provisions. So later that year the other crabs show up on shore and Crabby recognized them.
Crabby had changed shells a few times since the last time the other crabs saw him so they did not recognize him anymore. The other crabs explained how fisherman had depleted their supply of food and they had come to ask for help. Crabby thought to let them go away hungry but since he was trying to change, he went and caught them some perch. So they left with their claws full.
A few weeks later the other crabs returned. Crabby decided that although he didn’t feel like sharing his and Sadie’s fishing hole, it would be better to teach the other crabs how to fish for their own food. As Crabby showed them how to catch perch in the little pond, Mac and Lou began to recognize him. They went and hid behind a spruce tree. Crabby went to them and assured them that although he was angry with them, he had forgiven them. He told them that he has been able to sleep soundly in his shell ever since.

THE END

Story Copyright 2010, Todd Peterson

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