Keep Your Promises

It was Saturday, his birthday, and his uncle gave him a bow and an abundance of arrows. "Wow,” the boy said in awe. "All of these for me?”

“Yes, my nephew. Take good care of them. Promise?”

“Yes uncle, I promise,” the boy said.

“And please don’t use up your arrows. Do you understand me?”

“But-"

“I said do you understand me?”

“Yes uncle.” said the boy.

Later that day, the boy decided to go hunting, so he set off into the woods. He caught 6 rabbits, 8 squirrels, and 1 turkey. Just one more turkey and we’ll have a feast! He thought. Oh, but uncle said not to use up my arrows. Ah, never mind, I have many more in my bag. But when he reached in for more, all of his arrows were gone.

“Oh, no! What if a bear attacks me before I can get out of the woods? And if I did make it back to the village, how will I ever face my uncle?” He never noticed the huge black bear until it roared. Slowly he turned around and screamed. The last thing he saw before the bear hit the ground was his uncle.

Back at the village his uncle told him to attend to his teepee.  “I think you have learned a most valuable lesson my nephew,” he said.

“Yes, uncle,” he said, “the travails of killing that bear were extreme.”

“Yes, it was. And now I expect you to keep your promises.”

And from that day forth, he did.

The end