An Uncompleted Completed Chore

A Bear had a letter to mail. It wasn’t an important letter but it had to be mailed all the same and until the letter was mailed it was a chore. The Bear hated chores.

So the Bear decided today he was going to take the letter to the local postman and send it off so he would have one less chore on his plate. The Bear got his letter and put on his shoes and headed off.

The Bear decided since he was off to complete the chore now, it was pretty much as good as done. So on the way to the postman he stopped and got himself an iced coffee and a chocolate croissant, the Bear’s favorite treat to reward himself with anytime he completed a chore.

The Bear sat outside the coffee shop catching up on the news of the day and enjoying his treat. He wasn’t sure what time the post office closed but it didn’t matter because the chore was as good as done.

After the Bear finished his treat he continued on to the post office to complete in reality the chore which had already been completed in his head. When he reached the post office he found the postman, a Koala, climbing up a tree with a bag of today’s outgoing mail.

“Hi, Mr. Postman!” The Bear called up to the Koala, “I have a letter I need to mail! It’s not urgent, but it’s still important. May I hand it to you?”

The Koala looked down at the Bear who was holding a letter up.

“Well, no, I’m afraid not. You’ll have to come back tomorrow. Mail is done for today.” The Koala replied.

This hit the Bear like a ton of bricks —

“What do you mean? Can’t I just hand you this letter? You seem to be in the process of taking the mail anyway. Can’t I just add this to the pile?” The Bear pleaded.

“Nope, sorry can’t do,” the Koala replied. “I’m already past this line,“ The Koala gestured to a line just below his feet on the tree he was climbing. “I’m forbidden to take any more mail today, sorry.”

This chore was as good as completed only moments ago. Its completion had already even been celebrated! But now, it seems the Bear counted his chickens just a little too soon.

“Can’t you make an exception?” The Bear asked again.

“An exception?” The Koala wondered, “Hmm I don’t think I’ve ever made an exception. But, let me check...”

The Koala looked around for nothing in particular. He then leaned his head back and closed his eyes as if in deep thought. He stayed like this for a very long time

“No, sorry.” He finally said. “Come back tomorrow.”

The Bear was dejected. He thought he had finally completed a chore that he needed to complete only to be denied the ability to complete it at the very last moment by a mean Koala.

Well, maybe the Koala wasn’t mean, he’s just doing his job, you can’t blame him for that. But he certainly wasn’t accommodating, or cool, or someone who the Bear would ever want to hang out with casually after this exchange.

“This sucks.” The Bear turned around and started walking back home with the letter still in his hand. “I guess I’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

The Bear walked home. He passed the coffee shop where he had wasted some clearly precious time prematurely celebrating his as-of-yet unfinished chore. The Bear walked into the coffee shop and ordered an iced coffee and a chocolate croissant. This was his go-to snack whenever a chore he needed to finish in a day hadn’t gotten done. He sat outside and thought about what he could do differently tomorrow, as he enjoyed his coffee and croissant.