Once upon a time, there lived a sheep on a green pasture near the ocean. Because she often roamed furthest away from her flock, she was called a outlier. With her anti-social behaviour, the outlier had naturally not much friends. Everyday she would wander away to graze on her own and ponder on her own thoughts.
One day, as Sheep was spacing out as usual, she heard an animal coming closer towards her. The outlier turned around and saw a mountain goat trotting towards her. The mountain goat had a smile on her face and the outlier was drawn to her at once. After a few exchange of words, the Sheep realised it was summertime and the mountain goats usually left their high-altitude habitats for mineral licks (in search of nutritional needs).
The outlier and Mountain Goat became fast friends. Sheep was impressed by her new friend because she seemed so worldly and Sheep felt she could learn a thing or two from her. The outlier would let on where to graze for the greenest grass, where to source for the freshest and sweetest water, where to catch the best dawn and sunset, where to find the best place to rest oneself and so on. Mountain Goat was grateful for the outlier's kindness and in return she would relate her adventures high up in the mountains and how to fight off aggressive fellow mountain goats or predators like bears. Many moons passed and Sheep was truly glad she had found a friend at last.
After the initial thrill of discovering each other wore off, the two friends went about their business as before; Sheep would graze on her own while Mountain Goat would explore this new place with her fellow mountain goats. Of course the 2 new friends would find time to catch up with each other every so often. Again many moons passed. Mountain Goat gradually became painfully aware that the 2 of them didn't have many common topics to engage in except in the subject of nutritional needs. The Goat was bored. She was badly in need of some fun which resulted in her spending lesser and lesser time in Sheep's company.
One day, Mountain Goat came trotting excitedly to the outlier and exclaimed in exhilaration she had discovered a pasture nearby with the sweetest grass. Together they rushed to the mentioned pasture. Already other sheeps and mountain goats were there to savour the temptingly sweet grass. Upon seeing Mountain Goat's approach, they begun to sing praises of how clever she was to have found such delicacy and how generous she was to share with everyone. Mountain Goat was very pleased with herself. However, she realised her friend, Sheep, was grazing quietly without a single word a distance away from them. It puzzled Mountain Goat a little but she was just too distracted by the enthusiasm of the others to dwell much on it.
Quite unexpectedly one day, something caught the attention of Mountain Goat: The Sheep was conducting herself in a similar way as the Goat, in the way Goat walked, talked and behaved. Nonetheless, the Goat didn't believe what she saw. She shook herself and blamed herself for being too sensitive. Days after, Mountain Goat couldn't help but continue to observe the outlier. By and by, she was certain it was not her sensitivity at work here but the Sheep was indeed trying to carry herself like the Goat. The Goat was in a perplexed state. She had no idea what to think of it....
Further and further drifted the 2 friends apart. After her discovery, Mountain Goat couldn't bear to be in the presence of the Sheep anymore. The Sheep sensed Goat's distance. Whether she knew why, she showed no signs of it. Sheep's pride also prevented her from bridging the now-widen gap between them.
Moons passed. Green leaves turned to shades of yellow and fell from the trees. The landscape was filled with all sorts of gold. The sheeps and mountain goats planned an excursion to a nearby hill to view the beautiful, golden autumn around them before the goats leave in a few weeks time. Gaily they set off for the hill. Mountain Goat caught a glimpse of the Sheep in a distance and gave her a weak smile. They haven't spoken for months now.
Later, after the oohs and ahs over the fantastic scenery, some started grazing while others just lazed around. Mountain Goat was minding her own business when she casually looked up and caught the Sheep watching her. The Goat was startled by that look. She couldn't put her finger on what the outlier's look meant. Goat mulled it over the whole night and the whole of next day. It finally dawned on her: it was a look of envy. Goat was even more baffled, why the envy? She mulled it over again the whole of next night and day. The rational Goat eventually figured it out that perhaps Sheep had insecurity problems or that she might be discontented with her life. Hence, she would tend to be competitive and could not be happy for her friends if they did better than her. Admittedly, the Goat was always charming and more popular than the Sheep amongst the other animals, the Goat was handsome with her long black horns and her full woolly white coat, she was also very sophisticated and was able to dispense clever advices. Perhaps these were the roots of Sheep's envy. Such conclusions saddened the Goat because more often than not, envy or jealousy tended to ruin friendships. Even so, Goat knew it wasn't her fault to be who she was and she shouldn't feel apologetic about it. Somehow it reminded her of an old friend which was also suffering from the same problems and it was simply too draining to remain friends with her. The Mountain Goat certainly didn't need another one in her life again. She would rather be without friends.
With downcast eyes, Mountain Goat decided it's high time for her to leave and go back home in the mountains.
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