Enjoy one of our new bedtime stories for kids. Embark on an adventure with Rudy, a young fox lost in a storm. Rescued by kind foxes, he discovers the strength of family and survival. 'The Lost Fox in the Forest’ is a heartwarming tale of resilience and the power of love. A perfect, cozy read for all ages.
In a large, ancient forest, or rather a wilderness, many foxes lived. Their red fur flickered among the green tufts of grass. They cast shadows on the moss and rustled among the trees. The foxes lived in dens, burrows dug deep into the earth, most often located under trees, as is customary in the forest. It was there they had their homes, their foxholes.
In one such foxhole, a female fox was waiting for her children to be born. She had already lined the den with leaves, twigs, and moss to keep the little ones warm and was constantly cleaning. Fox dens are very clean. During this time, the male fox took care of the female’s safety and brought food.
One day, seven little fox cubs were born. The mother fed and warmed them. Warmth for the little foxes, as for all children, is very important. The mother stayed with the children all the time. The male fox took care of the family, guarding the entrance to the fox den and bringing food. The little foxes grew, their fur thickening, and they played with each other.
After a few weeks, the mother took them on their first walk. She showed them the surroundings, the way to the river. The little ones listened to the singing of birds, the cracking of twigs underfoot, and, with ears pricked, they learned to live in the forest. Instinct and observation of their mother, who occasionally approached one of her children, nuzzled with her nose, licked their heads, and patted them with her paw, helped them. She showed affection to each of her seven children.
The little foxes grew, wandered away from their mother on their walks, but knew how to return to the den. Sometimes the male fox also accompanied the children on these journeys.
One day, a terrible storm approached the forest. First, the wind picked up, stripping leaves from trees, tearing out individual blades of grass, and bending trees in all directions. The little foxes had strayed that day. They went with their mother to a faraway clearing, beyond which a younger part of the forest grew. The father was not with them that day; he was guarding the den and the accumulated food supplies. He had smelled the scent of stormy wind in the morning and preferred to stay to protect the home. Many foxes in the forest lived this way, with one parent with the children and the other guarding the common home.
The mother fox, focused on tracking scents at the ground level, discovered too late that the storm was very close. She signaled the children to retreat, nudging them with her nose and showing that they needed to go back.
Six foxes ran after their mother, but one little fox – Rusty, because he had red fur – got tangled in the reeds growing on the edge of a brown swamp that bordered the clearing on the side. He couldn’t free himself. The mother and siblings hurried home, convinced he was with them. Poor little Rusty watched the sky torn apart by lightning with terror. The loud, frightening thunder made him curl his ears and lay them flat. The strong wind and the fear he felt made him tremble like an aspen in the wind.
At that time, an older pair of foxes spotted Rusty. They had gone out for a walk, living nearby, and knew they would return to their den before the storm.
The female fox was the first to see the little fox.
„Oh, little one, I’ll help you,” she approached and began to move the reeds away from the fox cub’s legs with her teeth. The male fox joined her. Together they freed the little one.
Shivering, the female fox tried to warm him with her warmth. He was still trembling – from cold, fear, and terror. The male fox growled menacingly, showing the female fox the first drops of heavy rain. The female quickly grabbed Rusty in her teeth and carried him to her home. It reminded her of how many times she had carried her children in her mouth. Now her children were grown foxes and didn’t need maternal care.
„But this little one is a gift from fate to me. I want to take care of him,” she thought.
And the fox? He raced after her, ready to defend his family. Yes, yes, family, he thought like the female fox.
„This little one clearly got lost. Probably from the old, centuries-old wilderness,” they said to each other. „There’s little chance that he’ll be able to return to his own. Anyway, we’ll think about it after the storm.”
The foxes lived in a hundred-year-old forest, on the other side of the clearing from where Rusty was born. They lived really close, so they hardly got wet. And the female fox, as the mother had done before, warmed the little fox with her fur, licked his muzzle. And the fox warmed him from the other side and fed him apples and previously hunted mice. They took care of the little fox, raised him as the mother and father had done before.
Foxes from the nearby area knew each other. During meetings by the river, sometimes someone wanted to tease little Rusty, but then the fox growled menacingly, and the female stood by his side. Rusty lived like all the foxes in the forest, even though he was born in the wilderness.
Rusty’s first parents believed that their son had survived. Animals have a highly developed instinct. Another thing is that animals are protective of their young. So, the mother fox hoped that someone else would take care of her child since she couldn’t. It happens that someone is born in one family and raised in another.
Rusty was very happy with his new parents. He felt loved. He also remembered his old family. Especially when he smelled the approaching storm wind (like his father once did), he went to the clearing and sniffed, listened, looked. Something like a shadow of the scent of his mother, father, and siblings hung in the air. He missed them.
When he was younger, the female fox – his new mother – observed this and did not disturb him in this moment of solitude. She waited in readiness to comfort him when he became too sad.
When he grew up, he promised himself that when he met a little fox who got lost, he would take him in, raise him, and be the best father under the sun for him.
His parents from the wilderness also remembered him. Sometimes they ventured to the clearing and looked for signs of their son. They avoided longer walks before a storm. They had suffered enough from that one trip.
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