The Field Mouse Who Shared the Harvest

When autumn arrived, a field mouse worked hard every day, gathering grain from the harvested fields and stuffing it into its burrow until it was packed full, ready for the coming winter.

One day, while checking its burrow, the field mouse heard soft crying. Peeking outside, it saw another mouse family whose field had been ruined by flooding — they had no grain left at all.

The field mouse looked back at the mountain of grain filling its burrow and thought hard. "If I share with them, I might not have enough for myself this winter." It sat hesitating at the burrow entrance for a long while.

Seeing the tiny mouse pups of that family crying from hunger, the field mouse made up its mind at once. It began carrying half of its own grain to share with the neighboring family, even knowing it would have less for itself.

All winter long, the two families carefully shared what grain they had and worked together to forage a little extra. In the end, everyone made it through the winter warm and safe. The field mouse learned that sharing meant it was never alone again.

Sharing doesn't make us have less — it makes everyone around us have more.