Mr. Elk’s Chocolate Factory

Mr. Elk was an incredibly nice elk. He was extremely helpful to  all the animals of the forest and would bake several things such as delightful chocolate chip cookies and the sweetest muffins. One day, as Mr. Elk was sipping his coffee, he had a very clever idea. He had seen that most of the animals in the forest had a sweet tooth . So, he decided to set up a confectionery factory which he would name ‘Mr. Elk’s Confectionery Factory’. He went to his locker and found that he had one thousand five hundred dollars and sixty six cents. He would need at least ten thousand dollars to set up a factory let alone bringing the required materials. So, he set out wearing his rusty brown boots and green scarf into the sunny spring wood for house of his dear friend, Mr. Redtail the stag. After greeting him with a pleasant ‘Good Morning’ and seating himself on a comfortable blue sofa chair in the midst of a warm wooden room, he began to discuss with Mr. Redtail that he needed some funds to start his business. Being a professional investor, Mr. Redtail often funded startup businesses in the forest and used a part of the money which he gained as profit to aid the weak and helpless animals.  Mr. Redtail readily agreed saying, “That is quite a thoughtful idea. I think you will go far with this business.” Finding great encouragement and hope in Mr. Redtail’s words, Mr. Elk asked, “So will you fund my business?” “Of course!”, said Mr. Redtail, “I offer you five thousand dollars to start off the construction. Other animals in the forest who are interested in such a business will also fund it and soon you will have much more than ten thousand dollars to set up and run your factory!” “That would be great!”, said Mr. Elk, overjoyed by the news. He set out to find a nice builder for the construction. And in any forest there is no better builder than the beaver. So he went to Mr. Woodtail, the very same beaver who had planned the construction of Beaver Complex and asked Mr. Woodtail to build his factory. Mr. Woodtail was so happy with the idea that he decided to reduce the construction costs so that the project would succeed. Mr. Elk and Mr. Woodtail set out to find a site for the construction and eventually decided to build the factory half a kilometre away from Mr. Elk’s house, on Robin Hill. Two days later, Mr. Woodtail began the construction, transporting huge logs from the river to the hill. He signed a contract with the badgers who provided him with rocks as construction materials. And as he worked hard, Mr. Elk set out on another mission—finding the right kind of animals to work in his factory. Surely, he would need some help to produce confectioneries at such a large scale. So, he asked for help from the squirrels, the hedgehogs, the rabbits and the groundhogs.  They all readily agreed. The sparrows voluntarily  brought cute velvet ribbons and gift wraps to decorate the finish bakery items. The news about Mr. Elk’s new venture spread through the forest like wildfire. Many animals agreed to fund him, providing him with the required money to start off with the baking and the selling, but there were a few who did nothing but joke about it, saying it was impossible and bound to fail. But Mr. Elk’s self-confidence was unshaken and through this untiring  efforts, he finally set up his bakery. Then came the day of the Grand Opening. It was a normal sunny day with soft white clouds floating in the sky and the sun smiling down upon the forest. Mr. Elk emerged from his abode and walked rather nervously to his factory where a large crowd had already gathered. They are all cheering for him and chanting his name as he walked boldly upto his factory and  opened its door with people clicking photographs of the vast variety of confectioneries, cakes and pastries that were kept inside. The first day’s sales were outstanding, with people buying pastry after pastry and cake after cake until the entire stock was finished. Mr. Elk had to work tirelessly along with his helpers to keep up with demand. 

And Mr. Elk’s Chocolate Factory continued to prosper, not a single day without sales. He kept the factory open seven days of the week and thirteen hours of the day. And those who mocked Mr. Elk and had discouraged him accepted and applauded his success and Mr. Elk became a respectable and loveable personality of the forest. 

And thus through his hard work and determination, Mr. Elk not only built a factory but also brought a smile to the face of every animal of the forest, young and old.