0:00 The largest blackberry ever recorded weighed twenty-five and a half grams.0:06 Unlike Pip the Hedgehog, who last week learned the value of knowing exactly how many quills he had, Finley the Fox believed in knowing things no one else did.0:19 And he knew, with absolute certainty, that the largest blackberry in the entire wood was hanging right now from a branch just out of reach.0:31 It was a perfect sphere of midnight purple, glistening with sugar.0:37 It grew on the highest cane of Old Man Badger’s prize-winning bramble patch.0:43 The patch itself was a fortress.0:46 Thorny.0:47 Vicious.0:48 And Old Man Badger, who was currently snoring loudly from his armchair by the window, did not like to share.0:57 Finley could have asked.0:59 He could have offered a trade — a string of plump field mice, perhaps.1:05 But where was the art in that?1:07 Where was the elegance?1:09 No.1:10 A prize this great demanded a scheme.1:13 He’d been watching for three days.1:16 He knew the exact angle of the sun when it hit the berry.1:21 He knew the precise moment Old Man Badger took his afternoon nap.1:26 He had measured the distance from the old oak tree to the bush with his own tail.1:33 Forty-seven tail-lengths, if you were asking.1:37 The plan was a thing of beauty.1:40 It was intricate.1:41 It was subtle.1:42 It was, in Finley’s humble opinion, a work of GENIUS.1:47 The centerpiece was a young, springy sapling he’d bent nearly to the ground.1:53 A long, tough vine was tied to its tip.1:57 The other end of the vine was tied to a smooth, heavy river stone.2:02 This was the counterweight.2:05 A second, much finer vine was looped delicately around the prize blackberry itself.2:12 This second vine ran through a notch in a branch, like a pulley, and was tied to the river stone.2:20 The physics were impeccable.2:22 Finley would creep to the far side of the clearing.2:27 He had a third vine, the trigger, tied to the peg holding the sapling down.2:33 One sharp tug.2:34 The peg would release.2:36 The sapling would fly up.2:39 This would yank the first vine, launching the heavy river stone into the air.2:45 The stone, now airborne, would pull the second, finer vine taut.2:51 The loop would tighten, plucking the blackberry from its stem without so much as a bruise.2:58 The berry would arc through the air in a perfect parabola… and land directly in Finley’s waiting mouth.3:07 Simple.3:08 Flawless.3:09 He took his position.3:10 The woods were quiet, save for the badger’s rumbling snores.3:15 Finley’s heart hammered with anticipation.3:19 This wasn't just about a blackberry.3:22 This was about proving that cleverness was the sharpest tool in the woods.3:28 He took a deep breath.3:30 He gave the trigger-vine a sharp, decisive PULL.3:34 What happened next was not simple.3:37 And it was certainly not flawless.3:40 The peg flew out.3:42 The sapling didn't just spring up… it WHIPPED up, with a sound like a thunderclap.3:49 The heavy river stone did not launch gracefully.3:53 It was catapulted, a grey blur of fury, not UP… but SIDEWAYS.3:58 The stone did not pull the fine vine taut.4:02 It missed the notch entirely and instead snagged on a thick, woody branch of the bramble patch itself.4:10 The entire bush shook violently.4:13 Blackberries, not just the one but DOZENS, rained down… onto the muddy ground, where they burst into sad, purple stains.4:24 And the prize blackberry?4:26 Oh, it was plucked, all right.4:28 It flew through the air in a beautiful, perfect arc… and hit Old Man Badger’s freshly cleaned window with a wet, resounding SPLAT.4:39 It slid down the glass, leaving a messy, deep purple smear right at eye level.4:46 The snoring stopped.4:48 An eye opened.4:49 Then another.4:50 Old Man Badger blinked slowly, focusing on the purple stain.4:55 He turned his head and looked out the window.4:59 He saw the shaking bramble bush.5:02 He saw the ruined berries in the mud.5:05 And he saw Finley the Fox, frozen in place, a vine still clutched in his paw, his face a perfect mask of horror.5:15 Badger was not a fast creature.5:17 But his anger was quick.5:19 He pushed his door open with a groan of old wood.5:24 He stood on his porch, paws on his hips, and just… stared.5:28 He didn’t shout.5:30 He didn’t need to.5:31 The silence was MUCH worse.5:34 Finley wanted the earth to swallow him whole.5:38 He dropped the vine.5:39 “Hello, Badger,” he said, his voice a tiny squeak.5:44 Badger just pointed a thick claw at the splattered window, then at the ruined berries, then back at Finley.5:53 “I… uh… I can explain,” Finley stammered.5:56 “You could have asked,” Badger said, his voice a low rumble.6:01 “I was going to make a pie.” The words hit Finley harder than the river stone would have.6:09 A pie.6:10 He hadn't just tried to steal a berry.6:13 He had tried to steal a piece of a pie he might have been invited to share.6:19 The cleverness drained out of him, leaving only a hollow, foolish feeling.6:26 “I’m sorry,” Finley said.6:28 And he truly was.6:29 “It was a stupid idea.” Badger just sighed.6:33 A long, weary sound.6:35 “Get a bucket,” he said.6:37 “And a cloth.6:38 You can start with the window.” Finley spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning.6:45 He washed the window until it sparkled.6:48 He carefully picked up every last ruined berry from the mud.6:53 It was slow, sticky work.6:55 His paws were stained purple.6:58 His back ached.6:59 But with every berry he picked up, some of the shame seemed to lift.7:05 When he was finally done, the sun was low in the sky.7:09 Badger came out onto the porch.7:12 He was holding two plates.7:14 On each plate was a huge slice of blackberry pie.7:18 He handed one to Finley.7:21 Finley took a bite.7:22 The crust was flaky.7:24 The filling was warm, and sweet, and just a little bit tart.7:29 It was, without question, the most delicious thing he had ever tasted.7:35 It tasted of forgiveness.7:37 And Finley the Fox, for the very first time, understood that the sweetest things are never the ones you take.
