Try Again Tomorrow

The Rabbit had long dreamed of performing at the storytelling open mic held at his local coffee shop once a month. There was always such an eclectic mix of stories being told, some were funny, some were sad, some were uplifting, and some were bad.

The Rabbit longed to tell a story but worried that he didn’t have one good enough to delight and titillate the hip, artistic audience that made up the clientele and audience.

The Rabbit, named Theodore, thought for weeks about his best story, the one that touches everyone’s hearts, makes them think, makes them cry, makes them laugh, and more. But he couldn’t think of anything. Because he couldn’t think of anything he fixated on what it would feel like to tell a story that no one found interesting, or, even worse, a story everyone found actively boring.

Because Theodore fixated on the potential for the worst outcome it made his quest for the perfect story even harder. Every time he thought he had the perfect story he would eventually second guess himself, start poking holes, lose confidence, think the story isn’t perfect, decide that the story sucks, and then try to think of another one.

Month after month Theodore would watch the storytellers tell wonderful story after wonderful story and wonder how they did it. What was their secret? Theodore secretly wished that everyone who performed at the monthly open mic were secretly geniuses, that way he wouldn’t feel so bad about not having a story to tell. How could he compete against a bunch of dang geniuses?

Then one day, out of nowhere, the perfect story occurred to Theodore. He knew he had IT. There was no second guessing, no poking holes, none of that. The perfect story to tell at open mic night. It was guaranteed to bring the house down and make Theodore the newest coolest kid at the coffee shop.

The big day was finally here. Theodore was anxious all day. Time moves so slowly when you’re excited. He thought about the story he was going to tell, rehearsed it, polished it, and made sure he was perfect.

When the time finally came Theodore walked to the coffee shop and noticed a sign.

“Open Mic Cancelled This Month, Sorry For Any Inconvenience, See You Next Month”

Theodore was sad and disappointed. But this development was out of his control. He can only hope his story will still be worth telling next month.