The Clean Rabbit and the Messy Bear
The Clean Rabbit absolutely loves cleanliness. Every day, he deep cleans his house eight times. The floors are polished to a shine, the walls are spotless, the dishes are so clean they seem to sing, and not a single speck of dust can be found in any nook or cranny—not even a stray rabbit hair…
Moreover, the Clean Rabbit has a particular hobby: throwing things away.
Clothes or toys he doesn’t like—toss them!
Books he’s already read—toss them!
Food he doesn’t want to eat—toss it!
The old but sturdy sofa—toss it!
…
That’s just how the Clean Rabbit is. He can’t stand even a hint of dirt or mess in his home. So, every day his routine is to wipe, wipe, wipe, and toss, toss, toss, until there’s nothing left in his house to throw away.
The Messy Bear, who is the Clean Rabbit’s neighbor, is the complete opposite.
The Messy Bear is very sloppy; he often goes days without bathing or brushing his teeth. He mops the floor maybe once every six months, folds his blanket whenever he remembers, leaves dirty clothes everywhere, and his home is a total mess…
Also, the Messy Bear has a particular hobby: collecting things.
Abandoned bottles and jars—collect them!
Worn-out cardboard boxes—collect them!
A table missing a leg—collect it!
A broken-down TV—collect it!
…
That’s just how the Messy Bear is. He picks up anything others throw away, whether it’s useful or not. So, every day his routine is to pile, pile, pile, and collect, collect, collect, until his house is so full that things start spilling out.
One day, the Clean Rabbit and the Messy Bear ran into each other on the street.
“Hey! Messy Bear, can’t you clean up your house and stop collecting all that useless junk?”
“Hey! Clean Rabbit, can’t you stop cleaning all the time and throwing away perfectly good stuff?”
“I like it this way; it’s none of your business!”
“I like it this way too; it’s none of your business!”
And so, neither could convince the other, and they started arguing back and forth. After a long time, when they had finally argued enough and most of their anger had dissipated, the Clean Rabbit said, “I really think the way you live isn’t good. A home should be clean and tidy, or else it’s uncomfortable to live in!”
The Messy Bear responded, “There’s nothing wrong with being clean, but you’re just taking it too far!”
“What you say makes sense, but I just can’t change.”
“What you say makes sense too, but I just can’t change either.”
After that, both of them fell silent. The Messy Bear hung his head, and the Clean Rabbit propped his chin up with his hand, both lost in thought.
Suddenly, the Clean Rabbit had an idea and said, “How about we swap homes?”
“You mean my home becomes yours, and your home becomes mine?” The Messy Bear’s eyes widened.
“Exactly! That’s the only way we can completely get rid of our bad habits.”
“But… but your house has nothing in it…”
“And your house is a total mess! So, what’s it going to be, do we swap or not?”
“Well… well, alright then.”
And so, the next day, the Clean Rabbit and the Messy Bear moved into each other’s homes. They constantly reminded themselves: to be frugal and not throw everything away; to stay tidy and not collect everything.
But before long, the Clean Rabbit couldn’t stand it anymore—“How can anyone live in such a dirty, messy house?” he said, rolling up his sleeves and started tossing things out.
The Messy Bear tried to hold back at first, ignoring the urge to pick up things he wanted. But when the Clean Rabbit started throwing away his beloved items, he couldn’t stand it anymore and began collecting things back in.
And what happened next? You can probably guess. The Messy Bear’s house was soon emptied, and the Clean Rabbit’s house was quickly filled up!
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
