"Summer Thinking (or, Who Will Be Refreshed?)"

In the heat of summer, a fly was resting on
a leaf beside a lake.

A hot, dry fly who said to no one in particular,
"Gosh, if I go down three inches I will feel the
mist from the water and I will be refreshed."

There was a fish in the water thinking, "Gosh,
if that fly comes down three inches I can eat him."

There was a bear on the shore thinking, "Gosh,
if that fly goes down three inches...that fish will
jump for the fly and I will eat him."

It also happened that a hunter was further up the
bank of the lake preparing to eat a cheese
sandwich. "Gosh," he thought, "if that fly goes
down three inches, and that fish leaps for it, that
bear will expose himself and grab for the fish. I'll
shoot the bear and have a proper lunch."

You probably think this is enough activity for one
bank of a lake. But I can tell you there was more.

A wee mouse by the hunter's foot was thinking,
"Gosh, if that fly goes down three inches, and
that fish jumps for that fly, and that bear grabs
for that fish, this dumb hunter will shoot the bear
and drop his cheese sandwich, and I can have it for
lunch!"

A cat lurking in the bushes took in this scene and
thought, as was fashionable to do on the banks
of this particular lake around lunch time: "Gosh,
if that fly goes down three inches, and that fish
jumps for that fly, and that bear grabs for that
fish, and that hunter shoots the bear, and that mouse
makes off with the cheese sandwich, then I can have
a mouse for lunch!"