Story

The Fox’s Family, A Free Bedtime Story For Kids

This is an original, free bedtime story for kids written and illustrated by Alex Inglewood,
with help from GPT-3 and Stable Diffusion

For ages 6+

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Red Tail the fox, from a free bedtime story
Red Tail

Our story begins…

A young fox named Red Tail lost his mother one day in the forest. As he searched for a place to call home, he met a group of rabbits. Though they were afraid of him at first, the rabbits took pity on the young fox and they invited him to live with them. Red Tail was reluctant at first because they did not look like him, but he decided to stay with the kindly rabbits. 

The fox's bunny friends, characters from a free bedtime story for kids
The rabbits

The rabbits were happy to have him as a new member of their group. At first he did not like the plants they ate, but eventually he learned to like it and he helped the rabbits find food, kept them safe during the night and played with them during the day. Together, they lived in peace and harmony, but while they all loved each other and the rabbits treated him well, Red Tail still felt like an outsider since he looked so different from the rabbits.

One day, Red Tail wandered away from the rabbits and met a beautiful fox named Silver Paw in the forest. He was amazed to meet another fox who looked like him! She claimed to be Red Tail’s sister and that their mother had sent her looking for him. She was so happy to have finally found him, and asked him to return home with him immediately. Red Tail was hesitant at first, but eventually he decided to leave the rabbits and go with Silver Tail because he wanted to know his real family. 

Silver Paw, Red Tail's sister. An image produced with help from an AI generator
Silver Paw

The two foxes set out together, but soon he discovered that he and Silver Paw were nothing alike. Silver Paw soon began criticizing him for acting like a rabbit. She disapproved of Red Tail hopping and frolicking in the grass, and was disgusted when he ate some of it. 

“Foxes don’t eat grass! We eat meat!” she declared.

“What is meat?”

“When we get home our mother should have some for us!” she said excitedly.

Red tail nodded, eager to learn what other foxes eat.

Red Tail and Silver Paw's mother, an image produced with help from Stable Diffusion
Red Tail and Silver Paw’s mother

After traveling for a long time, they reached the fox den. Their mother was overjoyed to see her son again. She asked Red Tail what happened to him and where he had been, and he told her and Silver Paw that he had been living with some rabbits. The two foxes looked at him coldly.

“Son,” his mother said sternly, “we foxes do not associate with rabbits. I forbid you to see them again.”

“But the rabbits are my friends,” he said in protest.

“That does not matter. We are foxes and we eat rabbits for food.”

“No, that can’t be true. Why would we eat them when they have been so kind to me?”

“Because that is who we are. If you wish to be a part of this family, then you must eat what we eat.”

With that, the mother fox turned and produced a dead rabbit that she had killed earlier to eat for dinner. Red Tail yelped in shock at the sight and ran away as fast as he could. He looked back but the two foxes did not follow him. 

Soon he returned to the rabbit burrow, and they were so happy and glad to see him again. Red Tail knew he had come home to his real family. He lived with the rabbits who had accepted him and cared for him and he protected them from the other foxes for the rest of his days.

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