The Nick Klaus's Fables (7 page)

Authors: Frederic Colier

Tags: #fable, #frederic colier, #nick klaus, #children literature

BOOK: The Nick Klaus's Fables

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“Why don’t you run to the market and get us
some fresh food,” said a mother wolf, taking a deep breath at the
sad expression of her three starving cubs. They sat around the
table, whining, hitting the table with their fists, one of them
laying his head in his empty plate, while father wolf, feet up on
the coffee table read the newspaper. Knowing the tone of his wife’s
voice too well, he put his newspaper aside and looked over to his
hungry cubs.

“Can’t they eat a bowl of cereals?” he
asked. The mother wolf shook her head vigorously. “These are wolf
children not birds!”

Mother wolf quelled her husband look with a
silent glare. Seeing that he had no choice, father wolf rose from
his armchair and slipped on his country shoes. “I’m a good daddy,
and I’m going to the market and get us some fresh meat to feed all
these little hungry mouths,” he said jubilant to hide his guilt for
reading the newspaper instead of being out in the country
hunting.

Soon, riding his bicycle, he crossed fields
and hills. He looked at the blue sky, the sun hitting hard on the
road. The town was still nowhere in sight. He grew thirsty and took
a detour to stop by a river to drink some fresh cool water.

A young man with a thin moustache was
leaning against the door of his truck, half asleep. The truck had a
flat tired and was packed full with dogs in cages. The dogs grew
mad upon seeing the wolf and barked their lungs out. The wolf was
intimidated, but he approached the young man. “Why aren’t you
taking these dogs away? They are loud and seem agitated.”

“I must have driven on a piece of broken
glass,” said the young man dusting his clothes. “I’m not strong
enough to unscrew the bolts of this punctured wheel. Poor me, now
my bosses will beat me up for being late.”

The wolf looked at his watch and said, “I’m
a good dad and would hate to see my child in this plight.” So he
helped the young man change the tire. The wolf’s strength was
beyond belief, and he unscrewed the bolts in no time. “Sorry, I
can’t give you a ride,” shouted the young man from his truck
window. “These dogs are hungry and thirsty and must be fed.” The
barking of the dogs could be heard in the next town as the truck
drove away.

The wolf waved from a distance and got back
on his bicycle, eager to cross the country to get to the market in
town. In his rush, he forgot the broken glass on the path, and
within yards, his bicycle had a flat. Unlike the young man and his
truck, the wolf had no spare tire. The wheel lay flat on the ditch,
and he still had a long way to go. Across the field, he caught
sight of a wooden hut and decided to go and ask for help.

The hut was full of hunters on a coffee
break, gathered around the fireplace, looking sullen and quiet. The
wolf at first hesitated because he needed help with his bike, but
he felt bad for the hunters. “I surely would not like my children
to grow up and be so sad,” he thought. “Why grown men like you are
looking so unhappy?” he asked them gathering his courage.

The hunters raised and shook their head at
the same time and explained that their dogs had not arrived and
without them they could not hunt, and if they could not hunt, they
could feed their family. The wolf scratched his head to see how he
could help them.

“I have seen a truck full of dogs,” he
stated. “But the driver drove the other way. Maybe I could catch up
with him and tell him where he is waited.”

The hunters cheered and clapped in their
hands. But the wolf grew worried at his generosity. “I have to rush
to the market, and I may not be able to get there on time,” he
confessed. One of the hunters put his arm around the wolf’s
shoulders.

“Find our dogs, and we will give you a ride
to the market, in the truck.”

The wolf’s eyes brighten as the prospect to
be helped for helping others. The hunters loaded their riffles
waiting for him to come back. The wolf rushed through the up and
down the country in search of the truck with the dogs. The night
was drawing near. He thoughts about his starving kids and about the
hunters waiting to give him a ride.

In the distance, he heard the dogs’ bark
getting closer and closer. They seem to be coming from everywhere
around. Without hesitating he rushed towards them and found the
dogs with the hunters holding their leash.

“There he is! There he is!” they screamed
upon seeing the wolf. The wolf tried to escape, hiding inside a
hollow tree he thought was a shelter. But the hollow tree was a
trap, nothing but an empty dog cage disguised. The wolf got locked
in. Jubilant, the hunters loaded the cage on the truck and took him
to the market to be sold. As promised to his wife and cubs, the
wolf got there before it closed.

The
Morals

#1) The things we are most afraid of are
often the very thing we need to face to be a better person.

#2) Don’t forget you have a life as well.
Watching others grow won’t make you grow.

#3) If you live disconnected from your
nature, you’ll be a like a tree without roots.

#4) You’ll be amazed the treasures you’ll
find, if you only open your eyes.

#5) Relationships with the past are better
than none in the present.

#6) Vanity is a poor allied in time of
danger.

#7) Love for one’s family may come with
heartache. But this love never dies.

#8) Never assume that the grass is greener
on the other side of the fence.

#9) Fear is the biggest fear monger that
exists.

#10) A voice of dissent is a good thing to
have in a group of docile ones.

#11) Don’t invite people in grey suits who
wear sneakers for a cup of tea. If they can’t see their beauty,
they will not be able to see yours.

#12) It’s better to have one friend that
hears you than twenty that do not.

#13) Divided we fall. United we stand.

#14) Don’t brag to people who have less than
you have.

#15) Never think that you are smarter than
nature.

#16) If you spend all your time working, you
will not know when to play

#17) Regardless the fruits you eat today,
the memories of the past rarely match the ones of the present.

#18) Don’t defy curiosity
in the face of knowledge, especially on Halloween night.

#19) Never allow other’s people to mislead
you with their dreams. Only yours are real.

#20) When in need, don’t argue. It may be
too late.

#21) When facing ignorance, don’t be afraid
to educate.

#22) A sign of strength is to be able to
recognize your mistakes.

#23) The fewer the people the easier it is
to find the right solution.

#24) The heart-breaking aspect of wisdom is
that it cannot be taught

#25) Misplaced kindness can lead to
disaster.

Download
these other titles by Frederic Colier

The Rain Crow (novel)

A Memoir of Absence (Short story
collection)

Nick Klaus et le Paysage Désuet (YA
novel)

Nick Klaus’s Fables (YA stories)

A Glimpse into the Firing Squad (screenplay
collection, vol 1))

Another Glimpse into the Firing Squad
(screenplay collection, vol 2)

Last Glimpse into the Firing Squad
(screenplay collection, vol 3)

Playground for Talking Heads (theater play
collection)

Bruce Conner: In the Estheticization of
Violence (Literary Criticism)

Témoignages Crépusculaires (short story in
French)

Watch these films by Frederic Colier

My Last Play (feature doc, 92’) 2012 (Coming
soon online)

Dinosaur Park (feature film, 78’) 2010.
(Coming soon online)

The Hindenburg Omen
(feature film, 110’) 2008

Bounce (short, 5’) 2005

Desert Weeds
(short, 16’)
2004

Of Wanderlust
(short,
17’) 2003

About
Frederic
Colier

Frederic
Colier
was first a musician, before
branching out into the theater, and then
into the audio-visual world in 2000. This is when he founded
Altered Ego Entertainment. Over the years, he has worked
extensively in film and documentary as a writer, director and
producer. He is currently the executive producer and host of Book
Case TV, a weekly literary program about authors and their books,
broadcasting in the NY region. But his most enduring passion, since
a teenager has been writing. He is the author of several novels,
short story collections and plays, both in French and English. He
holds an MA in International Literature.

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