Tales from the Stuffed Fabulist
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Once the good citizens of Delphi decided they'd had enough of Aesop.
Once an ant and a grasshopper crossed paths after being out of touch for years.
Once a barnacle weighed the moral pros and cons of letting go.
Once a bloodhound suddenly lost its sense of smell.
Once a bubble took itself very seriously.
Once a bug threw itself at a car's windshield with brio.
Once a bull opened a china shop.
Once a chameleon found it could change the color of anything it touched.
Once a cicada emerged from seventeen years underground to find little had changed in its absence.
Once a civet cat worried about body odor.
Once a corpse in a wildly popular "Bodies" exhibition had some things to say about the crowd milling around it.
Once a crow sat on a branch and contemplated the condition of man.
Once dots complained about all the attempts made to connect them.
Once a free spirit stubbed its toe.
Once a garden stone wondered whether it should say something.
Once a mass hallucination sensed the good times were coming to an end.
Once a hawk had trouble maintaining eye contact.
Once Icarus went for a swim.
Once a radioactive isotope couldn't wait to complete its first half-life.
Once Jonathan Swift auditioned for a stand-up comedy gig.
Once a leaf had a premonition of fall.
Once a pride of lions gathered at a much-touted restaurant called "Top of the Food Chain."
Once a migratory bird stopped by a local travel agency.
Once a mudskipper got bogged down.
Once a newborn struggled with post-partum depression.
Once a pawn tried to size up the chessboard.
Once a poodle took up ballroom dancing.
Once it was widely believed prunes grew on trees.
Once it was proposed that the question mark be declared obsolete.
Once a robot created an artificial human being.
Once a sardine was feeling kind of lonesome.
Once a satyr set himself up as a lifestyle coach.
Once a selfie failed to recognize itself.
Once a shark suffered from bleeding gums.
Once a spider set to creating its last web of the year.
Once Spirit and Flesh were directed to undergo relationship counseling.
Once a slice of Swiss cheese had a thought.
Once a termite applied for a grant to carry on with its work.
Once a unicorn lost its horn trying to make a career change.
Once a vegetable slipped into a persistent human state.
Once a warbler just couldn't get an annoying song out of its head.
Once a whale beached itself in a furniture showroom recliner.
Once a woodpecker suffered from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
Once a work in progress said, "What's the big hurry?"
Copyright © 2004-2024 by Geoffrey Grosshans Artwork by J. Savage
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The "moral" or "lesson" of each tale is left to the reader to decide.
Scroll through the opening lines and select highlighted text to read a tale in full.
A PDF version can then be downloaded from a link on that page.
If necessary, Adobe Acrobat Reader is available free from www.adobe.com
Once the good citizens of Delphi decided they'd had enough of Aesop.
Once an ant and a grasshopper crossed paths after being out of touch for years.
Once a barnacle weighed the moral pros and cons of letting go.
Once a bloodhound suddenly lost its sense of smell.
Once a bubble took itself very seriously.
Once a bug threw itself at a car's windshield with brio.
Once a bull opened a china shop.
Once a chameleon found it could change the color of anything it touched.
Once a cicada emerged from seventeen years underground to find little had changed in its absence.
Once a civet cat worried about body odor.
Once a corpse in a wildly popular "Bodies" exhibition had some things to say about the crowd milling around it.
Once a crow sat on a branch and contemplated the condition of man.
Once dots complained about all the attempts made to connect them.
Once a free spirit stubbed its toe.
Once a garden stone wondered whether it should say something.
Once a mass hallucination sensed the good times were coming to an end.
Once a hawk had trouble maintaining eye contact.
Once Icarus went for a swim.
Once a radioactive isotope couldn't wait to complete its first half-life.
Once Jonathan Swift auditioned for a stand-up comedy gig.
Once a leaf had a premonition of fall.
Once a pride of lions gathered at a much-touted restaurant called "Top of the Food Chain."
Once a migratory bird stopped by a local travel agency.
Once a mudskipper got bogged down.
Once a newborn struggled with post-partum depression.
Once a pawn tried to size up the chessboard.
Once a poodle took up ballroom dancing.
Once it was widely believed prunes grew on trees.
Once it was proposed that the question mark be declared obsolete.
Once a robot created an artificial human being.
Once a sardine was feeling kind of lonesome.
Once a satyr set himself up as a lifestyle coach.
Once a selfie failed to recognize itself.
Once a shark suffered from bleeding gums.
Once a spider set to creating its last web of the year.
Once Spirit and Flesh were directed to undergo relationship counseling.
Once a slice of Swiss cheese had a thought.
Once a termite applied for a grant to carry on with its work.
Once a unicorn lost its horn trying to make a career change.
Once a vegetable slipped into a persistent human state.
Once a warbler just couldn't get an annoying song out of its head.
Once a whale beached itself in a furniture showroom recliner.
Once a woodpecker suffered from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
Once a work in progress said, "What's the big hurry?"
Copyright © 2004-2024 by Geoffrey Grosshans Artwork by J. Savage