In a green, thin forest was a small little fox, who’s name happens to be Fox. He skipped happily through the forest searching around at every bush he passed. “Alright,” He said to himself, “Gotta remember. Acorns, leaves, berries. Acorns, leaves, berries. Best list for my best friends”. He smiled after saying this and stopped at a bush that looked lively with green. 

“I’m not a fan of leaves myself, but these must look delish to Turtle. I should grab a couple,” He started to pluck some leaves with his mouth and tossed them to the ground behind him to make a little pile. In the bush though, something was watching him. Getting a close look at his face and details, before pouncing out right at him. 

“Agh!” He shouted as he jumped back, knocking down the pile of leaves behind him. A paw smacked down into the dirt in front of him as he saw a small orange cat. 

“You’re it!” She shouted before prancing away into the forest. Fox was curious about this animal and didn’t fully understand what it was, but he also loved games. 

“Not for long!” He chased after her catching up fast. Before she knew it, Fox jumped atop the cat and they both rolled on the ground. They laughed together and both had dirt all over their fur. The cat’s ear perked up though when someone shouted into the woods. 

“Mittens!” Someone called and the cat jumped to her feet. 

“Gotta run, but thanks for the fun. We should meet up again sometimes,” Before Fox could say a single word, she dashed to the voice and disappeared. Fox jumped up and shook off the remaining dirt stuck in his fur. 

“I gotta tell Squirrel and Turtle,” He quickly rushed through the trees until he reached a large gray rock. Next to it was a chunky, little squirrel and a small, green turtle. The squirrel was holding his stomach in pain as it loudly grumbled. 

“Oh finally Fox you came back. I feel like if I don’t eat anything right now my stomach will start to eat itself. I think it already started,” Squirrel gulp, but Fox had no food on him. Turtle noticed this and looked confused. 

“Fox, where is the food? Could you not find any?” Fox looked too excited to even answer her question fully. He had to explain the occurrence he just had. 

“No, but what I did find was a friend. She was an animal I hadn’t even seen before. Orange like me, but smaller with a thin tail and short face,” When he described this, Squirrel’s ears started to twitch. 

“Fox,” Squirrel said, trying to be calm, “Did you just describe… a cat?” Fox tilted his head not understanding. He doesn’t even think he’s heard this word before. 

“I’m not sure. I don’t even know what that would look like,” He was still moving around excitedly as he spoke. He had so much fun in that short time and he wants more. Turtle just sighed and shook her head. 

“It has to be a cat. Can’t think of another animal with that description that would be around here,” Fox stopped moving and put his ears down a bit when hearing her tone. 

“What’s wrong with a cat?” Fox sat down waiting to hear. 

“Well cats… they’re just…” before she could even finish Squirrel cut her off. “Evil, cats are in fact evil,”. Fox was even more confused now. 

“How can something so fun be evil? Did she do something wrong? Did I do something wrong?” His eyes started to shine a bit like he messed up. Turtle shook her head and walked closer to Fox. 

“You did nothing of the sort. Just try and stay away from any cats from now on. They can be… a little hostile towards others,” Her tone was nice, but her words still hurt Fox’s feelings. He nodded before heading back to grab the food he had left. He returned minutes later and the three all ate their food. Leaves for Turtle, Acorns for Squirrel, and berries for Fox. They got their fill and slept until the next day. Fox went out again to gather more, having to search farther this time for more food. 

“Acorns, leaves, berries. Acorns, leaves, berries,” As he walked, something jumped from the bushes on him and he leaped nearly four feet in the air. He landed and saw the cat standing there with a large grin on her face. 

“You’re it!” She shouted before turning and running. Fox smiled and was about to chase her, but stopped himself. He then took a couple steps back and sat down. The cat looked behind her to see if he was chasing her, but saw he wasn't and she skidded to a stop. She then went back to him and sat in front of Fox looking up at his eyes. 

“Why didn’t you chase me?” She tilted her head with confusion wondering what he was thinking. Fox stood strong and took a deep breath. 

“I shouldn’t be around you. Cats are evil,” He didn’t like what he was saying, but he had to say it. His friends wanted what was best for him and he knew that, but his words made this little cat sit. Her eyes shined as they grew bigger. 

“Evil? What did I do?” Her question made Fox wonder. He didn’t know what cats even did that were evil. Only knew that they were. 

“I’m… I’m not sure,” he said before standing up straight. He looked down at the little cat just looking at him before he smiled. He put his paw up to her chest and tapped it. 

“Tag,” He then rushed off in the other direction. 

“Hey! No fair!” She yelled as she raced after him. The two ran around the woods all day until the voice called for the cat again. 

“Bye!” She called as she ran to the voice. Fox once again was very happy with his day. He did a little tappy dance as he went back home, but it stopped as soon as he got there. 

“F-fox… f-food,” Squirrel was laying face first in the ground reaching out to Fox. Turtle looked very upset. 

“Where were you, Fox? We were worried sick,” She gave him a stern look as he put his own tail between his legs.

“More importantly… where is the food?” Squirrel’s stomach growled louder than his words. 

“I-I… I um,” Fox stuttered, “I didn’t get any”. Squirrel’s stomach once again screamed out into the forest. Turtle looked at him, seeing the dirt on his fur. 

“You were playing, weren’t you? With that cat again,” she was very irritated by his lack of listening skills. 

“I just… I just don’t understand. How is she evil? What has she done that is evil? All she liked to do is play,” he stood up tall with his tail leaving the spot under his legs, “She is fun and has done nothing wrong. I will not stop hanging out with someone for no good reason.”

Squirrel and Turtle turned to each other before looking back at Fox. Squirrel pulled himself off the ground and brushed his belly off a bit, “See Fox, cat’s are just predators.”

“What?” He didn't understand at all what they were saying. 

“It’s an instinct for them. An instinct we were trying to keep deep inside you,” When Turtle said this it shocked Fox even more. 

“Inside me? Am… am I a predator?” He took a step back  trying to wrap his head around this news while Turtle continued. “Yes, but you don’t need to hunt or kill. You enjoy berries just fine because we were able to treat you to that. However, this cat doesn’t have us. No telling what it might do,” Turtle’s angered eyes turned to more concern. She didn’t want Fox to stay away from the cat out of hate, but out of worry. 

“I just don’t understand. I am bigger than the cat. She can’t hurt me,” He tried to use reason, but then Squirrel chimed in. “It's not that she can hurt you, but she can show you these instincts. We don’t want her to be an influence on you,”

“If this cat shows you her natural instincts,” Turtle said without looking at Fox anymore, “You might… You might hurt us as well.”

Foz was taken aback by this, “I would never do that to you two. You’re my best friends. More than that, you’re my family.”

“It’s not a chance we’re willing to take, Fox,” Squirrel said this while looking away now as well. 

Fox was a bit shocked by this, but sadly understood. He looked down at the dirt and nodded slowly, “I understand now. I’m going to grab some food and… and stay away from the cat.” he turned and walked away leaving a sad silence that was shortly interrupted by Squirrel’s stomach, but he quieted it with a quick smack. 

Fox dragged his feet through the woods looking for food. “Acorns… leaves… berries… acorns… leaves… berries,” He sighed to himself. He didn’t focus on where he was walking, so he accidentally bumped his head into a fence. He looked up at the tall planks of wood and wondered what was behind it. He then saw a small hole that went under it so he decided to peek in. He crawled through to the other side and looked around. He was a flat land with many different toys and small structures on it. A wooden play house that looked riddled with splinters, a plastic doll house that was in mint condition, and a metal swing set that swung slightly in the wind. He walked around slowly taking in the scenery, until he saw the cat in the middle of the yard playing by herself. His amazement turned to sadness once more being reminded of her, but then she turned and he could see her mouth. It had a small mouse in it that was limp. Fox’s sadness turned to fear as he jumped back hitting a small little toy car. Its sirens wailed and the cat looked up making contact with Fox. 

“Fox?” She muffled through the dead rodent in her mouth. 

“Y-you-'' Fox tried to find the words, but she dropped the mouse to the ground and it jumped to its feet. This made Fox even more confused. The white mouse shook fur off and looked at Fox. 

“Who’s this?” The little mouse asked. 

“That is my friend, Fox. We play in the woods a lot, but I am not sure why he is so scared,” Fox was quite confused at this. She was no predator at all, just a playful kitty. Fox smiled at the thought of all this. He stopped being scared and stepped closer smiling to the two. 

“Can I play too?” The mouse and cat smiled as they nodded. The three ran around chasing each other in the backyard. Watching in a branch above the backyard was Squirrel. He smiled at the playful fox, cat, and mouse, and realized something himself. 

“Maybe all cats aren’t so bad,” He smiled to himself. He crawled down to the tree out of the yard into the woods. 

“I should tell Turtle the news,” His stomach then roared up at him and he gave it a calming touch, “After a bite to eat.” He then scurried off to find something to eat and tell Turtle of what he saw. 

Fox was laughing to himself as he headed back, but as he walked up he realized what he had just done. He didn’t know what to do, but then he heard a voice. 

“We already know,” He spun around to see Turtle making a small bed of crusty leaves. This made Fox confused. 

“A place for your new friend,” She explained, which confused him even more. 

“B-but-” Fox tried to get out, but was cut off by Squirrel. 

“No need for buts, I already told Turtle about what I saw. You and the cat were playing, but the cat didn’t do what I thought it would be doing,” when Squirrel finished, Turtle walked up to Fox and looked in his eyes. 

“I would like to apologize, Fox. For my worrying. I was overthinking about a cat ruining your innocent mind, but my first mistake was assuming a cat couldn’t be innocent,” She apologized. Fox made a big smile and leaned in to rest his head on her shell. She rested her head on his shoulder as well. 

“Thank you,” Fox said as he closed his eyes. Squirrel then hopped right on Fox’s back joining in on the hug. Fox then stood up straight letting Squirrel jump off and settled next to Turtle. 

“I’m going to let Cat know about what you made her, Turtle. Not sure if she’d be sleeping with us, but it would be a great place to rest,” Fox then turned and happily skipped through the woods to tell Cat the news, while Squirrel and Turtle happily watched him go off. 

“I’m glad he’s happy,” Said Turtle with a calming grin. 

“Me too,” Squirrel agreed, “As long as he continues to bring the food.” Turtle gave him a look when he said that, but all he had was a shrug followed by a short chuckle. 

THE END