the_tortoise's_hurry tt one morning, the tortoise woke up and was horrified to discover that he was in a hurry. "just a minute!" he called. but before he could stop himself, he was on his way. he shuffled on at high speed and by early afternoon he'd already gone a long way. he moaned and sobbed and occasionally dressed himself down most severely, but it didn't help. he was in a hurry. at the end of his tether, he wrote a letter to the snail: "dear snail, i'm very sorry to say i'm in a hurry. what should i do? quickly! the tortoise" in the early evening, a slow, neatly written letter floated down in front of the tortoise's nose. it read: "dearest tortoise, that is a tragedy for you. it's so cruel when you're in a hurry. fight your way out of it and defeat it. fold it up into an insignificant ball, then bury it in the ground. above all, keep your cool. if you and i lose our cool, what then? the snail" so, as calmly as he could, the tortoise started to crumple up the hurry he was in. by late evening he had finished. he put the insignificant, yet still rather restless crumpled ball in the ground. "indeed," he thought. "i'm not in a hurry anymore." that night he stayed where he was. he closed his eyes and didn't even sigh once. "thank goodness," was the only thing he could think. the next day, he shuffled very calmly back to the oak tree where he lived. "i suppose," he thought, "i should thank the snail. but not too quickly. only after a while." and calmly and collectedly, he forgot that he had ever been in a hurry. 130207 ... gabbie these 'letters' are briLliant and fun, i have to say...like children's books with very applicable adult themes. (nice work) 130207 ... PeeT thank you. glad you are enjoying them. i wish i could take credit for them but tt= toon tellegen, the netherlands' treasured storyteller. stay tuned. i am just scratching the surface. 130207 ... ... :) 130207 what's it to you? who go blather from