THE END

A teacher and student set out to hike and came upon a riverbank.

Across the river was an island, which from the hiker's vantage point appeared magical. The island was too far to see in clear detail, but from what they could tell there were beautiful trees with glorious foliage and fruits. Exotic animals seem to roam the island's beaches and heavenly birds flew over the lush canopy. The young men were mesmerized.

So the two decided they must cross the river to explore the isle. But how? The river current was strong and the distance too great.

At the tip of their path were two small boats. One was a well built motorboat while the other was a wooden dinghy that needed repair.

Understanding the laws of physics much more than his student, the teacher took the motorized boat and started his journey. The student, not knowing the difference, was happy to take the boat in disrepair.

By the time the student was a fourth of the way through, his boat began to sink. He called out for his teacher but the teacher seemed to have made it already to the other side.

The poor student had a choice to either go back or proceed. Perhaps foolishly certain of his abilities, however, and thinking to himself he had already gotten far, he decided to continue to the isle and thus began to swim.

But just as he was getting a steady rhythm in his strokes, his leg cramped and he could go no further. So he paused and floated for a while hoping it would pass. As he was doing so, a school of friendly river dolphins swam around and played with him. For a brief moment, he was able to bask in the sun and enjoy its warmth together with his new friends.

Now accompanied by the dolphins, he proceeded to swim little by little, resting a bit whenever his leg would cramp again. Along the way, the revelers were joined by a rather large river turtle that let the student ride its back whenever he would tire, and schools of colorful fish that just seemed to enjoy the company. At times, it almost seemed like all of the river's native inhabitants were swimming with him.

Difficult as it was, the trip felt short as he soon found himself near the beach of the beautiful isle at sunset. So he bade his swimming friends adieu and gazed upon his beautiful new surroundings. Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by some strange toxic air and quickly died, falling not far from the teacher whose cold body lay lifeless near the motorboat.

The moral of the story: go easy and fast, and you may find yourself missing the entire point of your story.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!