Jake was very hungry one day and, instead of hunting rodents, he decided to visit Snake Joe’s Restaurant. Once inside, he found an empty table and crawled up to it.

“What would you like Jake?” asked Delilah Duck, a waitress at the eatery.

“Wow, you have a lot of great choices on the menu. It is very hard to choose. The French Flies sound interesting. I see you now have Roasted Argentinian Rat, but that one is a little expensive for me,” said Jake.

“I know,” said Delilah. “But they are imported from Argentina.”

“Hmmm. It’s a little chilly outside today so I think I will have a nice hot cup of mousetail soup. That’s always good, right down to the last tail,” said Jake.

“Very well. Mousetail soup it shall be,” said Delilah, and waddled off to tell the cook.

Jake kept looking at the rest of the menu while he waited. After a few moments, Donkey Don walked in at started looking for a table.

“Hey Don! Over here!” Jake called out. “Have a seat here.”

“Heehaw! Thank you Jake,” he replied. Sitting down, he began looking at the menu, and asked, “Haw. What are you – haw – having Jake?”

“I am going to have a nice hot cup of mousetail soup. It is very delicious, right down to the last tail.”

“Haw! Oooo, how can you eat that stuff?” asked Don.

“Easily. I’m a snake.”

Don replied, “Haw! Well, it is certainly not for me. I think I will – haw – have the Terrific Turf. Haw. The Terrific Turf of Ponderings Pond is the best that I have ever tasted.”

Delilah was soon back at the table and took Don’s order.

They chatted while they waited for their food.

“I heard you and Seymour the giraffe were busy the other day,” Jake said.

“Haw! Yes. Pedro Persistence lost a glove and we were able to find it for him,” said Don.

“Where did you find it?”

“Haw. It was stuck in a tree. Haw. There was a lot of wind in the neighborhood and it must have blown it up there. I, haw, saw it, but I, haw could not reach it, but Seymour was able to get it,” said Don.

“That was very nice that you were able to help Pedro find his lost glove. Hey, I see Delilah and I think she is coming this way,” said Jake.

And, indeed she was, bringing the food they had ordered.

“Here you are sirs,” said Delilah. “Mousetail soup for Jake, and a bowl of Terrific Turf for Don.”

They both thanked Delilah, and they both thanked God for their food.

As Don munched away, Jake was trying to eat his soup without slurping, although that is very tempting to do with mousetail soup.

Then, Jake’s nose began to itch and tickle. He felt the urge to sneeze, but when he tried covering his nose, his tail hit the cup of soup and knocked it over.

“I’m sorry,” Jake said, and immediately grabbed some napkins to clean up the spill. He did it so fast that Don did not even get chance to grab a napkin himself to help.

Jake cried as he finished cleaning up his mess. “I’m sorry, very sorry. I’m a klutz. I’m terrible. I’m stupid.”

“Heehaw! It’s OK Jake. It was an accident,” said Don.

However, Jake curled up into a very tight ball and cried. Delilah came over.

“I feel so embarrassed. I am ashamed of myself,” said Jake.

“Don’t feel bad Jake. It can happen to anyone,” said Delilah.

“Heehaw! Yes! One time when I was in – haw – here I had knocked a – haw – whole table over by accident,” said Don.

“Jake, you have no reason to be ashamed,” said Delilah. “You did your best to clean up the spill, and you did a good job of it. Even Joe says so.”

“He did?” asked Jake.

“Indeed he did,” said Delilah, and added, “If you wait a few moments, I will bring you another cup of soup.”

“Thank you,” said Jake, slowly unraveling.

When his soup came, he sensed he was already warm. Then he realized it was because that though he had made a mistake, he had done the right thing and corrected his mistake. He had done his best.