once upon a time, there was a little girl, just like you or me.

of course, none of us are exactly alike, and one of the things that was special about this particular little girl was that she had a long fuzzy tail. it looked rather like the tail of a cat.

the little girl loved her tail; she often used it to get people’s attention. her parents and family and friends loved her tail too, especially because they saw how happy it made her.

sometimes, the little girl would use her tail to play a trick on her mother. she would wait until her mother was watching her and then she would wrap her tail around her glass of milk as if she were going to use her tail to pick it up. her mother would rush over, ready to catch the glass. the little girl would smile, remove her tail, and say, “got you!” with a happy giggle.

when the little girl was only a few years old, her parents brought her to the doctor to see if her tail could be removed; they were worried about it affecting her balance. the little girl cried so hard that they told the doctor to never mind, that they didn’t need it removed after all, and they left the office immediately.

as they drove home, the little girl tickled their faces happily with her tail.

you know, it’s kind of funny that her parents worried about her tail affecting her balance because that little girl was the most agile, steady, and surefooted of all her friends. she could walk along the top of a fence with ease and climb trees like a squirrel. i wish i could do both myself.