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WHILE YOU ARE NAPPING
By
Rick Brown
Andrew Turtle was about the slowest creature in the entire
factory. Each day he would plod to work and shuffle up to his mustard seed
crushing machine and begin his day of toil.
His boss was a nervous rabbit who just couldn't
seem to stand still, even for a moment. He was always trying to do three
things at once.
"Can't you work any faster? Can't you move at a
quicker pace, Andrew?" Wilkins Rabbit asked. "Honestly, you've got three
speeds: slow, slower and not moving at all. Pick up the pace, Andrew. Quick,
quick, quick, my man."
"Yes sir, Mr. Wilkins Rabbit," Andrew said.
"Everyone else here at the mustard factory is moving
much quicker than you. We’ve got mustard to make, Andrew, mountains and mountains
of soupy, yellow mustard and there’s no time to waste.
“Yes sir, Mr. Wilkins Rabbit,” Andrew Turtle said.
But the turtle worked at the same pace day in and
day out, week in and week out, year in and year out. Finally Mr. Wilkins
Rabbit was beside himself. He had to come up with a plan to get Andrew Turtle
to put a little hustle in his bustle.
“See here, Andrew,” Mr. Wilkins Rabbit said one
day. “I’ve got an idea. Let’s have a race.”
“A race?” Andrew Turtle asked. “Why in the world
should we have a race. You’re a rabbit and I’m a turtle.”
“Well, forget about all that and just concentrate
on going as fast as you can.”
“Why?” the turtle asked.
“Because!” Mr. Wilkins Rabbit said. “Just because.
I’m your boss and I want you to move faster man! Move faster, faster, faster.
We’ll run a race and that will get you in the habit of moving as fast as
you can. The faster you move, the more money I make and we’ll all be happier.”
“But that’s no a good enough reason,” Andrew Turtle
said. “Fast is nice but I’m a slow, dependable turtle who isn’t designed
for speed.”
“You’re telling me! But now I’m telling you: as
my employee, YOU WILL RUN THIS RACE AND YOU WILL TRY YOUR HARDEST! Is that
clear?! If not, you’ll be looking for a new job. You’ll be fired!”
“I see,” Andrew Turtle said. “And if I win?”
“Well, if you win,” Mr. Wilkins Rabbit said with
a chuckle, “if you win, I’ll give you the whole company. How’s that? Now,
get busy. We’ll run our race after work today. Chop, chop! Back to work.
Hustle, hustle. I’ve got a meeting in five minutes, a report due in ten minutes
and seven phone calls to answer. Where’s my pencil? Hurry, hurry, hurry.
I’ve got to run now. When is our race? Oh, right, after work. Don’t be late.
I’ve got to run.”
With that, the nervous rabbit was gone and Andrew
Turtle could settle down and get back to work. He didn’t want to lose his
job because he enjoyed working at the mustard factory. The smell was wonderful.
Andrew Turtle knew that he had no chance in a race
with Mr. Wilkins Rabbit and he also knew that the rabbit knew that he didn’t
have a chance. So what was the point of racing?
Andrew Turtle sighed and continued working at this
slow, steady pace.
After work, the turtle slowly walked outside to
wait for his boss to show up. After a few minutes in the warm sunshine, Andrew
Turtle closed his eyes and dozed off. It felt so wonderful to have a little
afternoon nap after working for so long in the mustard factory.
“Ha! How do you expect to win when you’re sleeping?”
Mr. Wilkins Rabbit asked. “Quick, let’s get this race over with, my man.
I still have a lot of work to do before the day is done. I hope you worked
a little faster this afternoon so you’re limber and ready for our race. Race,
race, race, Andrew Turtle. Get your engines running, brother. I’m revved
up and ready.”
“I’m ready to race, too” Andrew Turtle said. “And
I’m plenty excited about this whole thing. In fact, I was so excited I fell
asleep for a few minutes.”
“Sleeping?! How can you have time to sleep? How,
how, how? There aren’t enough hours in the day for sleeping, Andrew Turtle!
Anyway, I’m not going to waste my breath. We’ve got a race to run. Remember,
if you win,” and here Mr. Wilkins Rabbit began to chuckle again, “if you
win, you get to have the mustard factory. Get it? Ain’t that hilarious? Ready
to start? On your mark, get set, GO!”
With that, Andrew Turtle lifted one leg, set it
down, then lifted another leg and set that one down, too. He repeated that
for each leg until he had moved forward.
“Oh, brother!” Mr. Wilkins Rabbit cried. “This
is going to take forever. You go ahead and get started. I have some work
to do back at the office. I’ll come back in a few minutes and meet you at
the finish line, ok?”
With that, the nervous rabbit was gone. Andrew
Turtle finally had time to think. He thought and he thought and he thought
as he plodded along, one foot in front of the other. Slowly, ever so slowly,
the turtle moved towards the finish line.
Just as the finish line came into view, Mr. Wilkins
Rabbit came bounding behind the turtle. Andrew Turtle closed his eyes so
the dust and the gravel wouldn’t bother him.
“What? Sleeping again?” the rabbit asked. “How
are you ever going to win when all you do is nap in the sunshine, Andrew
Turtle?” asked his boss. “I’ve signed three papers, made six phone calls,
went for a drive, walked to the store and came back in the time it has taken
you to get this far! What a waste of time. If you hurried, if you picked
up your pace and moved your tail just a little fast, Andrew Turtle, then
this world would be a better place for all of us.”
Andrew Turtle picked up on foot and moved it forward.
Mr. Wilkins Rabbit continued: “I’m the kind of
fellow who leaves no stone unturned, who likes to get things done, who has
a do-to list a mile long.”
Andrew Turtle moved another foot.
“See what I’m saying, my man? Move, move, move.
That’s the key to the game. If you aren’t moving faster than the next guy
. . . “
Andrew Turtle moved another foot forward.
“. . . if you’re aren’t moving faster than the
next poor slob, how are you ever going to make it, Andrew Turtle? You’ll
always be last place, crossing that finish line after everybody else has
gone home for the day and . . . “
With that, Andrew Turtle moved his last foot and
crossed the finish line as the rabbit stood beside him still lecturing.
“Excuse me,” Mr. Andrew Turtle said.
“What? WHAT? WHAT?”
“I’ve won the race,” Mr. Andrew Turtle said. “Now
I own the mustard factory. Now you work for me.”
“Wait a minute,” the nervous rabbit said. “That’s
not fair. I was standing right next to you and I could have won the race
at any moment. I was talking to you. I was trying to make you a better turtle.
I was trying to help you so that wasn’t really fair. Not at all.”
“Well, I crossed the finish line first,” the turtle
said with a smile. “Now I own the factory. Remember? First thing I’m going
to do? Get everybody to slow down a little and take a breath. Know what I
mean? And include a daily rest hour each afternoon so we can take naps if
we need to. Because who knows what kind of good things can happen while you
are napping.”
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