It has come in this great day when all the animals in the forest woke up early because it was the day of the big race for shoes. Everyone gathered again at the tenth hour exactly by the sea. The tortoise also arrived, which was the most beautiful and oldest in the forest, but she was hated for becoming old for any animal in the garden. She began mocking the remaining animals and shouted with a loud voice: Ha… Ha… Ha, mocking the hedgehog who was short and very slow.
Then the tortoise laughed again: Joo… Joo… Joo, mocking the bear alone because he was extremely fat, and she also shouted: Hoo… Hoo… Hoo, mocking the elephant because he walked slowly for a long time.
After that, the time for the race began. The fox wore shoes painted in yellow and red colors. The donkey wore shoes in pink color with extremely large ears. The leopard wore shoes in sport green with orange decorations.
The hedgehog stood wearing shoes in white color resembling a rabbit’s. When the real race for walking began, the tortoise shouted crying severely, for she was extremely old and could not tie the shoes laces she was wearing.
The tortoise cried saying: Ah… Ah, I need help from anyone. All the animals began looking at the tortoise with pity. But the fox went to talk to her. When he reached near her, he said: You have mocked from all the animals because they are different from you. Yes, this is true… All of us differ from each other some. But all of us have good qualities, and we can all be friends and help each other.
The tortoise felt the great wrong that she had committed, so she stood apologizing to all the animals for what had come from her, then the ant went to her quickly, and they all proceeded to untie her shoes in order to tie them. Beautifully, all the animals stood at the starting line and became ready for the race to begin. Indeed, they continued until the race ended, and after its end, they were all happy and held a celebration because they had obtained a new friend who was the tortoise, who had learned the true meaning of friendship and also learned that in order to obtain many friends, she must accept them as they are.
The story is translated from the Spanish language titled: Carrera de zapatillas