"Not Me!" - By Subhayan Samanta

Once there was a cock, a dog, a goat and a cat. They lived in a farm house. The dog, goat, and the cat were very lazy and didn’t do any work. The three lazy friends always slept.

 

One day the cock found some wheat seeds on the ground. So he decided to plant the seeds. He asked his friends to help. He said “Who will help me to plant these seeds?” The three friends replied back to the cock saying “Not me” before going back to sleep. The cock had to plant the seeds on his own. After a week the seeds turn into a sapling.  It was time to water the plants more than he had done before. He again went to his friends for help, “Who will help me to water the plants?” The dog, cat, and goat replied angrily that they would not help him.  The cock was sad to hear that they would not help him water the plants. After 3 months, the crops were ready to be harvested. He again asked his friends to help him, this time with great hope as he thought that his friends would recognize what he was going to make with the crops. When he again asked “Who will help me to harvest the crops?”, The three friends replied, “Not me!”

 

After harvesting the crop, he thought his friends would help him this time too, but then he thought again and came to understand that if his friends do not help him, that would make him sad and plus a lot of time would be wasted. So he decided not to ask his friends for help.

 

After the food was ready, the cock sat down to eat the bread made with the wheat seeds. The smell of the bread makes his lazy friends hungry. When they entered the dining room, they saw that the cock was getting ready to eat. They yelled and said, “Who will share his bread with his three lazy friends?” The cock replied saying “Not me!” and started to eat the bread.