Story 173: Reza Shadey and the Non-Persistent Self-Doubter
Okay, snuggle down tight, little ones. Let me tell you a tale about a very cheeky and magnificently fluffy Persian cat who believed every problem in the world could be solved if only he was put in charge of it.
One bright Saturday morning, Mrs Higgins picked up Reza's travelling basket.
"Come along, you silly sausage", she smiled. "We're off to the petting zoo."
Reza looked up from his velvet cushion and stretched from nose to tail, making sure every inch of his handsome brown-and-black fur caught the sunlight.
"A worthwhile excursion", he murmured. "New environments often require outstanding leadership."
Mrs Higgins smiled.
"I'm sure you'll manage to find some."
Before long they arrived at the nearby petting zoo.
Children giggled as friendly goats nibbled hay. Ducks waddled importantly along little paths. Lambs bounced through the grass, rabbits twitched their noses, and somewhere a donkey gave an enormous, cheerful bray.
Penelope, Ginger Tom and Tiger had come too.
Tiger raced from one enclosure to the next.
"Ooooh! Alpacas! They've got fluffy necks!"
Ginger Tom sniffed the air.
"I wonder if they've got a snack kiosk."
Penelope laughed softly.
"They probably do, Tom."
Meanwhile, Reza hopped onto a fence rail to conduct what he called an "Operational Inspection".
"Hmm", he muttered. "The ducks appear well organised. The goats are enthusiastic, if slightly untidy. Overall... acceptable."
Then he noticed someone sitting all alone.
Hidden behind an old wooden feeding trough was the smallest piglet Reza had ever seen.
While the other piglets chased one another around the yard, this little fellow sat quietly with his head lowered.
Reza jumped into the enclosure.
"My good fellow", he announced. "Why are you conducting your meeting behind a feeding trough?"
The piglet looked up.
"Oh... hello."
"What is your name?"
"I'm Wilbur."
"And why are you hiding, Wilbur?"
The tiny piglet shuffled his little trotters.
"I'm the smallest."
"So?"
"The others are bigger than me."
"They're also pigs", said Reza.
Wilbur gave a tiny nod.
"I know... but I don't think I'm as good at being one."
Reza blinked.
"What extraordinary nonsense."
Wilbur sighed.
"They run faster. They squeal louder. They always seem so confident."
He looked down at the straw.
"Sometimes I feel like I don't belong."
Reza became very still.
His whiskers twitched.
His emerald eyes suddenly sparkled.
"I know exactly what this is."
"You do?" asked Wilbur hopefully.
"Without question."
Reza puffed out his magnificent chest.
"You are suffering from..."
He paused dramatically.
"...Non-Persistent Self-Doubt."
Wilbur frowned.
"Is that bad?"
"It simply means you've temporarily forgotten how splendid you are."
"Oh."
Reza nodded wisely.
"Fortunately, you have met precisely the right cat."
Just then Penelope wandered over.
"Oh dear", she murmured.
Reza ignored her.
"I hereby launch Project Confidence."
Tiger came bouncing into the pen.
"Project Confidence? That sounds brilliant!"
"It is", said Reza proudly. "By teatime, Wilbur shall possess confidence almost equal to my own."
Ginger Tom wandered over at last.
"Wot's all this then?"
"I'm helping the little chap", said Reza.
Tom looked at Wilbur.
"He looks alright to me."
"Not yet", declared Reza. "But he soon will."
Reza cleared his throat.
"Lesson One."
Wilbur stood up quickly.
"Stand tall."
Wilbur stretched as high as he could.
"Higher."
"I can't."
"Hmm."
Reza nodded thoughtfully.
"We have identified your current height limit."
Tiger stretched too.
"I'm taller!"
"Excellent effort", said Reza.
Penelope smiled gently at Wilbur.
"I think you're exactly the right height already."
Wilbur smiled a little.
Reza coughed politely.
"If everyone could avoid introducing extra encouragement during my presentation, that would be most helpful."
Penelope only smiled.
"Lesson Two", announced Reza.
"A confident pig walks confidently."
Wilbur took three careful steps.
"Less nervous."
Wilbur tried again.
"Less careful."
Wilbur tried once more.
Tiger decided confident walking meant bouncing.
He bounced into a hay bale.
The hay bale rolled gently downhill.
Three goats immediately chased after it.
Two chickens joined in.
Nobody knew why.
Tiger laughed so hard he rolled onto his back.
"Best lesson ever!"
Reza nodded calmly.
"Excellent audience participation."
Wilbur couldn't help laughing too.
For a little while, he forgot to feel worried.
"Lesson Three", declared Reza.
"When you feel unsure, say something important."
Wilbur thought very hard.
"I... like mud."
"A promising beginning", nodded Reza.
Tiger shouted, "Mud has amazing vibes!"
One goat bleated.
Another piglet squealed.
Soon every piglet was happily talking about mud.
"It keeps you cool."
"It's lovely after the rain."
"I found a really squishy puddle yesterday!"
Wilbur joined in.
"I found one so big I nearly disappeared!"
The other piglets laughed.
"So did I!"
"Me too!"
Before long they were all chatting together as if they'd always been friends.
Penelope quietly sat beside Wilbur.
"You know", she said softly, "everyone feels unsure sometimes."
"They do?"
"Oh yes."
"Even grown-up cats?"
Penelope smiled.
"Especially some grown-up cats."
She glanced across the pen.
Reza had climbed onto an upside-down bucket and was explaining leadership to three thoroughly confused ducks.
Wilbur giggled.
"I don't think anyone minds that you're the smallest", Penelope continued.
"I think they were just waiting for you to join in."
Just then one of the other piglets called out,
"Wilbur! Come and race us!"
Wilbur hesitated.
Penelope gave him a gentle nudge.
"Go on."
The race wasn't very long.
Wilbur didn't win.
He didn't come last either.
But he laughed all the way round.
Reza chose that exact moment to leap onto the bucket.
"Splendid!"
he announced.
"We now conclude Project Confidence with the Grand Confidence Parade!"
Tiger gasped.
"We've got a parade?"
"We do now."
Reza marched proudly across the yard.
"Wilbur shall lead us all."
Wilbur's tummy fluttered.
"I'm not sure..."
"You are entirely ready", declared Reza.
The piglets lined up.
The goats wandered over.
Even the ducks looked mildly interested.
Reza raised one paw.
"Forward!"
At that very moment, the farmer arrived carrying an enormous bucket of fresh pig feed.
Every pig's nose twitched.
Including Wilbur's.
There was one second of complete silence.
Then...
"SQUEEEAL!"
Every piglet, big and small, raced happily towards dinner.
Wilbur scampered alongside them, his little legs pumping as fast as they could.
He slipped neatly between two much bigger piglets.
Nobody pushed him aside.
Nobody laughed.
One piglet called,
"Hurry up, Wilbur! You'll miss the best bits!"
Wilbur laughed louder than anyone.
Later, with full tummies and muddy noses, the piglets lay together in the straw.
Wilbur wasn't hiding behind the feeding trough anymore.
He was right in the middle of his friends.
Reza watched with enormous satisfaction.
"As anticipated", he said, giving a slow, thoughtful nod. "Project Confidence has been an overwhelming success."
Penelope smiled.
"Rezzi, I think spending time with friends helped most."
Reza considered this for a moment.
"Precisely."
Penelope blinked.
"Precisely?"
"My project successfully arranged for Wilbur to spend time with friends."
Penelope looked at Ginger Tom.
Tom whispered, "He's rewritten the whole story again."
"I know", Penelope whispered back.
Tiger bounded over.
"Wilbur! You were brilliant!"
Wilbur smiled.
"I don't think I'm the best pig."
"You don't have to be", Penelope said kindly.
"You just have to be Wilbur."
For the first time in a long while, Wilbur believed it.
Mrs Higgins appeared beside the fence carrying Reza's basket.
"There you are, you cheeky sausage."
Reza stepped elegantly inside.
As they walked home he smiled to himself.
"Another highly successful consultancy assignment."
Mrs Higgins scratched gently behind his ears.
"You certainly made lots of new friends today."
Reza purred.
Clearly she appreciated excellent leadership.
Or perhaps she simply appreciated seeing a lonely little piglet discover that he belonged after all.
Sometimes even Mrs Higgins wasn't quite sure.
That evening Reza curled up on his favourite velvet cushion and closed his eyes.
He dreamed that petting zoos all over the country were asking for his expert advice.
They weren't, of course.
But there was no point telling Reza that.
A very important message from Mrs Higgins: "It's perfectly normal to feel unsure sometimes. Everyone does now and then. But being kind, making friends, and simply being yourself matter far more than being the biggest, the loudest, or the best."
Night night. Sleep tight.