After chasing mice and then finishing a bowl of milk, a cat laid back and thought about

 its life.  It wasn’t so bad, but the cat thought- only if it could be a dog, everything would

 be even better.  The cat was so tired of being bullied by the neighborhood dogs.  They

 were bigger and had larger teeth.  They were definitely scarier to the cat.  They also got

 to go hunting with the people, bringing back larger things than just rodents.  The cat

 wanted to be a dog, thinking that would be a grander life. 

 The next day, the cat’s wish had been granted.  It was now a dog.  It chased the other

 cats, showed its canines, ate steaks.  Life was good, until one day when the dog saw a

 horse.  The horse was much taller than the dog and trotted faster than the dog’s legs could

 carry it.  The horse got to pull buggies and go to on important trips with the people.  The

 dog wanted to be a horse now. 

 Lo and behold, the dog got what it wanted.  It became a horse.  It now had an impressive

 mane and tail.  The people would brush this and it felt nice than being petted.  It even got

 to wear metal shoes.  Who ever heard of a dog getting to wear them?  The horse took

 people to far away places and saw many things.  One day it went to a circus and saw a

 creature called an elephant.  The elephant was enormous.  One stomp by the elephant’s

 foot and the horse would be flat.  The elephant got to eat peanuts, instead of just carrots

 and apples all day.  The elephant was adored and got to have things that were larger and

 more ornate than saddles.  It could carry more things on its back.  The horse changed its

 mind.  It wanted to be an elephant and travel around and see and be in shows.

 No more life as a horse.  The horse was now an elephant.  It got to go even more places

 and be part of the entertainment.  It was a much beloved pachyderm.  It got to splash

 around in ponds and be part of parades.  This too became old when the elephant entered a

 grand castle.  The castle was big and strong.  It could almost touch the clouds; it was so

 high.  The elephant thought how nice it would be to stand proud like that and be

 surrounded by a moat. 

Next, before you know it, the elephant transformed into a castle.  Its stone walls were

 sturdy and nothing could knock it down.  The castle had water around it and the blue sky

 above it.  What could be more terrific?  Nothing really.  The elephant had been tired of

 the traveling life.  Presently, as a castle, there were so many things going on in it, as

 much excitement and commotion as at the circus.  In the kitchen, there were people

 making bread, in the great rooms, people were practicing sword play.  The castle was

 very content, until one day it felt something nibbling away at it.  The mighty castle

 was being chewed by mice.  The bit at the walls and created passage ways and holes in

 everything.  The mice ran all around the castle and nothing could be done about them. 

The castle thought about how nice it would be to be small again and maneuver wherever

 it wanted, taking as much food as it wanted without being caught, to be smaller and

 swifter than all and go places no one could reach. 

 The castle turned into a mouse and everything was great!  It was tiny and furry and cute. 

 The ladies of the house would scream and the children adored it.  It had fun frightening

 the women.  There was nothing to bother it.  It had free run of everything and could

 collect shiny pieces of fabric from the people to build a warm nest inside the walls.  It

 see and hear about everything going on.  It was fun to be that size and to be able to be

 sneaky.  This all ended one day when the mouse was being chased by a somewhat larger

 furry creature that meowed.  Oh no!  The castle keepers had gotten a cat.  Oh, to be able

 to drink milk, take naps all day and get petted!   

As told by Thi Nguyen