There was a thick forest. In the outskirts there was a hut. There lived an old lady in it with a faithful dog, Mothi.

One day, Mothi was sitting and crying under a tree. A fox came by that way. It was a cunning fox. It  asked, "Why are you crying, my friend?" Mothi said, " I live in a hut. There is an old lady. She is my owner. She loves me so much."

Fox  asked, "What is the problem then? You have a loving owner." Mothi said, "That's the great problem to me. She is very good and gives me milk, bread, idli, dosa and so on. Everyday, she gives me so much that I can't eat. If I do not eat, she beats me. Oh! Today she is preparing chapatis. This morning she has already fed me with bread and milk. Oh! God! What shall I do now? I can't eat anymore."

Mothi started crying louder than before. He was afraid that the old lady would call him to eat. Fox was hungry. It felt jealous of the dog and started to think of a plan. It said to Mothi, "Don't worry my friend.  I will wear a mask and your dress and go to your house. You can go around in the forest.”

Wearing Mothi's dress, the fox came to the old lady's hut. The old lady gave chapatis and other food items. She was happy to see the dog eating well. She could not make out that it was a fox. The fox was very happy.

By evening Mothi was hungry. He tried to catch some animals and eat, but he could not. He went to the nearby houses for food. Nobody gave any food. Some people beat the dog. Some people threw stones at him. This continued for some days and the dog became very weak.

After some days, he returned to the old lady's hut. He saw the fox sleeping happily in the bed. The old lady was not at home. Mothi woke up the fox and said, "Get up my friend, already one week is over. Please return my dress and go. Now I have understood hunger, I will stay here."

Fox did not want to leave the house and miss the tasty food and affectionate care.
He said to Mothi, "Oh! Who are you? This is my place. Why should I go to the forest? You dirty dog, go ... go away from here."
Mothi was shocked. He became very angry and started to bark and scold the fox who pretended to sleep. The old lady returned home. She was surprised to hear her dog barking loudly.  Mothi looked at the old lady and shook his tail.

The old lady was shocked and surprised to see Mothi weak. Mothi pulled off the mask on the face of the fox. The old lady became very angry to see the cheating fox. She took a long stick and started hitting the fox. The fox was shocked and got up and ran away into the forest. The old lady took Mothi in her arms and gave him nice dosa to eat.

Shruthi Sharma and R. Kiran Kumar
9th, ‘A’,
Government Junior College
Vijayapura
Devanahalli taluk