There once was a scorpion and tortoise that were as close as could be. As odd as this friendship looked, for some reason it worked. The scorpion was small but mighty and the tortoise was large yet gentle. The best friends did everything together. They went drinking together at the village watering hole, they gossiped about other animals together, they even took long day trips together to the next town to shake up their normal routine.

The day trips were the tortoise's favorite thing to do. He would place the scorpion on his back to make sure he never got tired with his small legs. On one of the trips, the tortoise and scorpion ran into an old hare they knew. The tortoise and the hare were notorious for not seeing eye to eye. They were always getting into arguments about conflicting views like whether things should be done as quickly as possible or as carefully as possible.

Finally, on that one day trip, the tortoise and the hare decided to settle their argument. The hare called for a race. The tortoise was scared he would be embarrassed but was too stubborn to back down from the challenge. All the animals in the nearest town heard about the race and quickly came over to line the course and see the tortoise crazy enough to race a hare.

Right before the race started the tortoise kindly asked his scorpion friend to hop down from his shell. The tortoise wanted to make sure he was as light as possible while racing his competitor. The scorpion complied and started heading to the finish line to greet his friend when he got there. The race started off like everybody, including the tortoise, thought it would. The hare was easily beating the tortoise. By the time the hare got halfway through the race, he decided to take a nap. He, of course, had plenty of time. The hare saw the scorpion casually heading to the finish line.

The hare shouted, "Ay you, wake me up if the tortoise starts to get close."

They both knew this wouldn't be any time soon.

The scorpion then asked, "Why would I help you? The tortoise is obviously my best friend."

To which the hare replied, "Ya, uh, I'll give you three gold pieces. Hows that sound?"

Sadly enough when the hare offered three gold pieces he was happy to help his friend lose.

As soon as the scorpion saw that his best friend was getting close he tried to wake the hare; however, he was deep in slumber. The scorpion really wanted those gold pieces so he decided to take matters into his own hands. The scorpion called up to the tortoise, "Carry me across the finish line, my friend! The hare has yet to cross it! You are going to win!" The tortoise quickly (well, as quickly as the tortoise could) scooped his friend up to place him on his back. All of a sudden the tortoise felt something scratching his shell.

The tortoise asked, "What are you doing up there?"

To which the scorpion responded, "I am trying to see if I can sting you through your shell."

Feeling completely betrayed by his old friend, the tortoise shook the scorpion off and left him in the dust. Moments after the hare awoke, he quickly raced to the finish line where the tortoise was waiting. The hare was running so quickly he didn't notice that he stepped on and killed the scorpion: a rightful fate for a bad friend like him.

This story was originally only about the tortoise and the scorpion and it didn't involve the hare at all. In the original story, the two friends were trying to cross a river when the scorpion tried to stab his friend in the back. When the tortoise realized what his friend was doing he shook him off into the water for the scorpion to die.

I completely changed the story by adding in my take on the classic fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. The classic fable is about a slow tortoise challenging a hare to a race. The hare was so confident that he took a nap midway through. While he was napping, the tortoise actually crossed the finish line.

I decided to keep the tortoise and the scorpion characters though because I think it really helps play into the message of the story: Even best friends try to stab you in the back. Make sure you have your own back and don't stab anyone in the back yourself because they will find out.

In the original story, the tortoise killed his friend. I wanted to change that detail to fit my story. Instead, I wanted the same hare that the scorpion made a deal with to carry out his fate. I think it was much more appropriate for his "partner" in the deal to come back and kill the scorpion.