The Fox Who Collected Clouds

While other foxes are practicing their pouncing, Oliver is busy staring at the sky. He thinks the white clouds look soft and kind, but he can never reach them.

To feel less lonely, Oliver decides to build a "Cloud Friend" on the ground. He spends his days scavenging:

✨Birch Bark for the body.

✨White Pebbles for the eyes.

✨Dandelion Fluff for the tail.

✨One Lost Egret Feather for the crown

The Missing Piece

Oliver’s creation is almost finished, but it’s missing "the glow." It looks like a pile of things, not a friend. One evening, he wanders down to the Silver Pond and stops dead in his tracks.

There, gliding across the water, is the Swan. To Oliver, she looks like a cloud that finally decided to come down to earth. She is the Masterpiece

The Great Gift

Oliver realizes his "Cloud Friend" needs a real wing to look like her. He watches the Swan shake her tail, and—plop—a single, perfect white feather falls into the reeds.

He retrieves it, but as he turns to leave, he looks back at the Swan. She looks beautiful, but she’s all alone in the middle of that big, dark pond. He realizes that even a Masterpiece might be lonely.

The Change of Heart

Instead of taking the feather home to his "statue," Oliver does something brave. He uses his collection to build a path of white stones and birch bark leading from the water's edge to a cozy spot under a willow tree. At the end of the path, he leaves a pile of the sweetest red berries he found.

The Real Masterpiece

The next morning, Oliver isn't playing with his birch-bark doll. He’s sitting by the pond. The Swan has followed his path and is resting on the bank. She isn't a "Cloud Friend" he built; she’s a Real Friend he met.

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