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Once upon a time, a long time ago in a happy land  there lived two happy people Tim and Maggie with their two children, John and Lucy.

To understand how happy they were you have to understand how things were in those days. You see, in those happy days everyone--when they were born--was given a small, soft Fuzzy Bag to keep for the rest of their lives. Any time a person reached into this very special bag they were able to pull out a WARM FUZZY.

Everybody wanted Warm Fuzzies because whenever someone gave you a Warm Fuzzy it made you feel warm and fuzzy all over. In those days it was very easy to get Warm Fuzzies. If you wanted one, all you had to do was walk up to somebody and say, "I'd like to have a Warm Fuzzy, please." Whoever you asked would usually reach into their bag with a smile and pull out a Warm Fuzzy the size of a tiny kitten.

As soon as the Fuzzy saw the light of day it would smile and blossom into a large, shaggy, Warm Fuzzy. When you laid that Warm Fuzzy on the person's head, shoulder or lap it would snuggle up and melt right against their skin and make them feel warm and fuzzy all over.

Everybody loved to get Warm Fuzzies - moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents, teachers even the family dog and cat. People were always asking each other for Warm Fuzzies, and since they were always given freely, getting enough of them was never a problem. There were always plenty to go around, and so everyone was happy and felt warm and fuzzy most of the time.

At the edge of this happy land full of happy people there lived a warlock in a big castle made of glass and steel. In this castle lived a wicked warlock who made potions and salves for sick people.

The warlock became angry because everyone was so happy and healthy. No one needed his remedies and very few people were buying any of them at all.

The warlock devised a very wicked plan: One beautiful sunny morning he crept up to Tim while Maggie and Lucy were having fun in the meadow.

The warlock whispered in Tim's ear, "See here, Tim, look at all the Fuzzies that Maggie is giving to Lucy.

You know, if she keeps it up she is going to run out and then there won't be any left for you!"

Tim was astonished. He turned to the warlock and said: "Do you mean to tell me that there isn't a Warm Fuzzy in our bag every time we reach into it?"

The warlock said, "No, absolutely not, and once you run out, that's it. You don't have any more."  With this he rushed away, laughing and cackling all the way.

Now. Tim took this to heart and began to notice every time Maggie gave a Warm Fuzzy to someone else.

He liked Maggie's Warm Fuzzies very much and did not want to give them up.

Tim certainly did not think it was right for Maggie to be spending all her Warm Fuzzies on the children and other people. He began to complain or sulk when he saw Maggie giving away too many of her Warm Fuzzies.  Maggie loved him very much, so she stopped giving Warm Fuzzies to other people as often, and reserved most of them for Tim.

The children watched this and soon began to get the idea that it was wrong to give Warm Fuzzies any time you were asked or felt like it. They too became careful. They would watch their parents closely and whenever they felt that one of their parents was giving too many Fuzzies to others, they felt worried and also began to object.

Even though they found a Warm Fuzzy every time they looked into their bag, they reached in less and less and became more and more stingy.

Before the warlock had appeared, people used to gather in groups of three, four or five, never caring too much who was giving Warm Fuzzies to whom. After the coming of the warlock, people began to pair off and to reserve all their Warm Fuzzies for each other.

People who forgot and gave a Warm Fuzzy to someone else would immediately feel guilty about it. They feared that their mother or father, sister or brother or partner would feel jealous over the loss of a Warm Fuzzy. 

People stopped giving Warm Fuzzies and soon people began to feel less warm and less fuzzy. Some of them even began to shrivel up and, occasionally, people would even die from lack of Warm Fuzzies.

More and more people went to the warlock to buy his potions even though they didn't really seem to work.

The wicked warlock was happy and satisfied because business was good.

But the situation was getting very serious indeed and the warlock who had been watching all of this didn't really want people to die (since dead people couldn't buy his salves and potions) so he devised a new plan.

Everyone was given, free of charge, a bag that was very similar to the Fuzzy Bag but this bag was cold while the Fuzzy Bag was warm.

       Inside the warlock's bag were Cold Pricklies. These Cold Pricklies did not make people feel warm and fuzzy but the did prevent peoples' backs from shriveling up.

So, from then on, every time somebody asked for a Warm Fuzzy, people who were worried about losing their supply had a choice to give a Cold Prickly instead.

Sometimes, two people would walk up to each other, thinking that maybe they could get a Warm Fuzzy, but one or both of them would change his mind and give a Cold Prickly instead.  They expected to feel good, but they came away feeling bad instead.

So, the end result was that while few people were dying, a lot of people were very unhappy and feeling very cold and prickly.

Things got very complicated because since the coming of the warlock, people were hoarding their Warm Fuzzies and there were fewer and fewer Warm Fuzzies around. Even though Warm Fuzzies were as free as air, they became extremely valuable.

This caused people to do all sorts of things in order to get them. People who could not find a generous partner had to buy their Warm Fuzzies and had to work long hours to earn the money.

Some people became "popular" and got a lot of Warm Fuzzies without having to give any back. 

These popular people would then sell their Warm Fuzzies to people who were "unpopular" and needed Warm Fuzzies to feel that life was worth living.

Another thing that happened was that some people would take Cold Pricklies--which were everywhere and freely available-and coated them white and fluffy so that they almost looked like Warm Fuzzies. These fake Warm Fuzzies were really Plastic Fuzzies and felt just as bad as Cold Pricklies. So people continued to buy the warlock’s remedies.

The situation was very, very dismal and it all started because of the warlock who made people believe that some day, when least expected, they might reach into their Warm Fuzzy Bag and find no more.

Not long ago, after a warm, clear night in May, a very special young woman with Big Hips came to this unhappy land.

She didn’t seem to have heard about the warlock and was not worried about running out of Warm Fuzzies. She gave them out freely, even when not asked. Many people who were under the warlock's spell were shocked and disapproved of her because she was giving the children the idea that they should not worry about running out of Warm Fuzzies. But the children liked her very much. They called her the Hip Woman because they felt good around her and began to follow her example giving out Warm Fuzzies whenever they felt like it.

This made the grownups very worried. To protect the children from depleting their supplies of Warm Fuzzies they passed a law.

The law made it a criminal offense to give out Warm Fuzzies in a reckless manner or without a license.

Many children, however, seemed not to care; and in spite of the law they continued to give each other Warm Fuzzies whenever they felt like it and always when asked. Because they were many, many children, almost as many as grown ups, it began to look as if maybe they would have their way.

The warlock noticed that people were snapping out of his spell. They realized that there were plenty of Warm Fuzzies to go around and that didn't need to buy potions to be happy. Overjoyed, they went out in the streets to celebrate.

Even though the warlock sent out his guards to restore order, the word started to spread, and more and more people joined the dancing in the streets.

The struggle spread all over the land and is probably going on right were you live. Will the people realize how abundant Warm Fuzzies can be when people give them away freely?

If you want to, and I hope you do, you can help by freely giving and asking for Warm Fuzzies (and hugs too) and being as generous and loving as you can.  

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