The Story of the Warm Fuzzies

A Warm-Fuzzy means… You are Special – I like You!

Long, long ago in a small village far, far away there lived some very kind people with broad smiles and cheery greetings for everyone.   One of the things the kind people liked to do most was give Warm Fuzzies to each other. Each person carried their own special bag, which was filled with Warm Fuzzies. Whenever two people met each other they would give one another a Warm Fuzzy.

A Warm Fuzzy is a wonderful gift because it means, “You are special. I like you.” So, the people liked to give Warm Fuzzies because it made them feel good. And they liked to get Warm Fuzzies because the Warm Fuzzies made them feel very loved, and besides, they were soft and cuddly against their cheeks.

Outside the village, in a cold, dark cave lived a nasty, mean troll who didn’t like people and especially didn’t like giving or getting Warm Fuzzies. He thought Warm Fuzzies were silly!

One day, the mean, nasty troll was strolling in the village when a kind person met him. “Here is a Warm Fuzzy for you,” said the kind person, “I’m happy to see you, and I am very glad to give you a Warm Fuzzy.”

The troll didn’t want the silly Warm Fuzzy, and he was tired of hearing about Warm Fuzzies anyway, so he put his arm around the kind person as if to tell a very special secret, and whispered, “You know, if you keep giving away all your Warm Fuzzies, one day, you will run out of them.”

When the troll noticed the fear on the face of the kind person, he looked inside the kind person’s bag and said, “Yep, I bet that you have only 57 Warm Fuzzies left. You’d better go easy on handing them out.” With that, the troll padded away, and a very confused and unhappy kind person was left standing there.

Now the troll knew that no one could ever run out of Warm Fuzzies. As soon as one is given away, another one magically appears to take its place. But he wanted to see what would happen If he planted a tiny seed of doubt and worry into the minds of the kind people.

Well, it didn’t take long. The word soon spread. “If you give out too many Warm Fuzzies”, the kind people told each other, “pretty soon, you’ll run out, and you wont have anymore.”

So, instead of giving each other Warm Fuzzies all the time, as they always had, the kind people kept most of their Warm Fuzzies to themselves. Oh, every once in a while one kind person would give a Warm Fuzzy to another, but it had to be a very, very special occasion – which didn’t occur too often.

It wasn’t long before the normally happy and cheery kind people were feeling sad and gloomy. They no longer had the joy of giving away Warm Fuzzies, and they rarely felt the happiness of receiving one.

What was worse is that the kind people began to distrust each other. They were worried that someone might steal some of their Warm Fuzzies. Soon, it wasn’t even safe to be out on the streets after dark. Most of the kind people began to feel sick. They had pains in their shoulders and their backs because their special bags of Warm Fuzzies felt heavier and heavier to carry.

But, that’s the way it went for a good long while. And the troll was very pleased that his little lie had worked so well.

One day, one of the oldest and wisest of the kind people said, “You know, things were much, much better here in our little village when we gave each other Warm Fuzzies. No one is happy except for the troll. And really, no one likes the troll very much. You know, I think that it is time for us to give Warm Fuzzies again.”

But most of the kind people said, “Oh no, we can’t do that. If we give away our Warm Fuzzies, we’ll run out, and then we’ll never have any more to give.”

The wise one replied, “Our Warm Fuzzies aren’t doing us any good now. They just stay in our special bags getting dusty. Keeping them to ourselves hasn’t made us any happier. Let’s try it again. Let’s give our Warm Fuzzies to each other just like we used to, and let’s see what happens.”

And that is what the kind people did. Soon, everyone was giving Warm Fuzzies to everyone else – just like in the old days. And guess what!? Every time someone gave away a Warm Fuzzy from their special bag, another one magically appeared. Once the Warm Fuzzies were shared again, there was a never-ending supply.

It wasn’t long before the nasty, mean troll and his words of worry and doubt were completely forgotten, and all the kind people of the little village gave their Warm Fuzzies to each other in love and with joy. And happiness filled their lives once more.

The End.

(Adapted from Claude Steiner’s original tale)