Ted The Lion

There once was a lion named Ted. His actual name was Theodore, but being called Ted seemed to fit him better. Now Ted, was like any lion. He enjoyed running around, resting, wrestling other male lions, resting, flirting with the lady lions, resting and of course eating.

One day in the midst of his running, he felt a sharp pain in his back right paw. Falling to the ground, he looked at what could be causing such pain. In his paw, he saw a large thorn deeply wedged into it. Getting up, he tried to put weight on it, but the pain was too much. He reached back attempting to pull the thorn out, but it was too deep ... he figured he couldn't do it on his own. Embarrassed by the whole situation he walked back to his home only using three legs. He could only imagine how it looked to others, but there was no pain.

Days went by, where Ted just stayed home not wanting to deal with all the questions he would get about why he looked so funny when he walked. He would get frustrated and try to pull out the thorn on his own, but couldn't do it. Other lions came by asking why he hadn't been out and about. Ted was getting very good at coming up with clever answers.

After months had gone by, Ted was tired of hiding the thorn. He realized that there might be other lions out there with thorns as well that might be embarrassed. So, he made the announcement that he did have a thorn and was struggling with dealing with it. He got numerous responses of how proud the lions were of him sharing about his thorn. Ted felt good hoping he would be able to get his thorn out soon.

One afternoon, a friend of Ted's dropped by to see how he was doing. Ted showed him the thorn and how deep it was and how bad it hurt. The friend gave him a hug and told Ted that if he ever needed anything, to let him know and left.

Another day, a friend dropped by to see how Ted was doing. Ted showed him the thorn and how deep it was and how bad it hurt. The friend told him how much he cared about him, but didn't know anything about thorns. Ted never saw that friend again.

Ted had a close friend that would constantly come by checking up on him. That friend didn't have the best memory and would begin to wrestle with Ted hurting his paw. Ted liked his friend, but was growing tired of hearing his friend explain, "I don't know why I do that ... sorry." Ted liked the friendship so still hung out with his friend, but had to remind him every time about the thorn.

One friend would come by often and just spend time with Ted. They would fight the thorn together hoping to make some head way. After the attempts, the friend would stay with Ted and just hang out being a good friend recognizing how hard it was on Ted.

One morning, Ted looked at the thorn and saw all the progress he and his friend had made with getting it out. He was truly thankful for his friends strength. Ted looked at the thorn giving it one huge pull. Surprised, the thorn came out. He knew that he had to keep trying on his own, but he made no mistake of it realizing he couldn't have done it without the help of his friend.