TheLastWish

    Once, not too long ago, in a faraway land, there was a village inhabited solely by hedgehogs. There was a hedgehog school, a hedgehog grocery store, and lots of miniature hedgehog houses. In one of those houses sat a little hedgehog named Billy and his two brothers, Willard and Waldo. Billy's fondest wish was to be able to sing and dance, so he could star in a Broadway musical. However, like all hedgehogs, he had very short legs, which made dancing nearly impossible. As for his inability to sing, that was due mainly to lack of talent, which his two brothers were trying to inform him of.

     "You're terrible!" yelled Waldo.

     "Awful!" added Willard.

     "They'll never let you on Broadway!" they chorused.

     "Why are you always so mean to me?" sobbed Billy, who ran off into the forest in tears. When he was deeper into the woods than he had ever been, he stopped and sat down on an old tree stump. To his great surprise, the stump shouted "Ouch!"

     "Sorry," Billy said, hastily getting up.

     "Don't worry about it," replied the stump. "Since you sat on me, I am required to grand you three wishes."

     "I know what I want!" shouted Billy. "I wish I could sing!" The tree stump granted his first wish, giving him a voice like a thousand doves. "Next, I wish I could dance!" As soon as he said it, he felt a tingling in his toes. He could dance! Billy paused. "I don't know what else I want," he said. "Can I save my last wish in case I need it?"

     "Of course," said the kind-hearted stump.

     With that, Billy ran home to share his wonderful news. When he told his amazing story to Willard and Waldo, they did not believe him and demanded a demonstration. Billy, bursting with pride, started tapping his feet and broke into song: "Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Mayer Weiner..."