A Rare Encounter

I wandered through my own feline empire this morning as usual, making sure everything was in order. I happened across Feaxede the Fox, who was certainly in a better frame of mind than he was when I saw him yesterday. When I asked him why he was so cheerful, he told me that he'd had a very interesting conversation with another fox whose acquaintance he'd recently made, and there unfolded an interesting and exciting story.

It appears that this fox - Ficol by name - had returned from a visit to the wild, craggy and wet northern land of Caledonia. His adventure started when he jumped on board a merchant's cart when no human was looking, and was highly delighted to find that the load on the cart was a consignment of geese. Since this was a good portent, he stayed on the cart, which was covered by a large rug to keep the cargo from the elements. The driver of the cart didn't at any time stop to inspect the load, either - some creatures have all the luck..

After several days of travel, Ficol alighted near a very large lake, and having watched the cart disappear into the distance, decided to investigate this new terrain. While he was looking around, he saw the head of an enormous creature emerge from the water, who saw him and from a distance of a few yards from the shore, and engaged him in conversation. Ficol asked him who he was, as he'd never seen the likes of such an animal before. The aquatic apparition explained that he was the legendary and secretive Loch Ness Monster, whose primary mission in life is to elude the gaze of human beings, thus creating an illusion of mystery. The fox and the monster thus formed a firm friendship and had many a long conversation.

Feaxede was clearly excited by this story - after all it's a unique experience to see the Loch Ness Monster - let alone to have meaningful conversations with it. I told Feaxede that I'd actually encountered something even more rare and wonderful this very morning: I actually encountered a human who'd cast a vote in the local election for the Chief of the local Costumed Thug Force...