"Once Upon A Time..."

Thag had just moved his family into a new cave at the base of a cliff overlooking a beautiful, verdant valley. In a matter of days they had made it a nice, protected home for Mrs. Thag and their four Thag-lettes.

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And they were glad they had that new fortress, for one night there came a fierce storm, with rapid lightning strikes pounding all around them, the deafening roar echoing off their solid walls...but they knew they were safe. Suddenly there was a thunderous crash with a giant boulder falling in front of their cave's entrance.

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While the boulder did not block the entrance totally, it did make getting in and out a less than easy process. The next day, after the storm was long gone and the sun returned, Thag sat outside and thinking of how he might move that large boulder. Thag was a pretty strong Caveman for his P.G. species (Pre-Geico), but he knew better than to try and push the boulder.

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The storm had downed some nearby trees...as he sat and glanced at a nearby tree...a novel idea came to his mind: use the tree like a lever somehow to move the boulder.

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So he got a sapling, drug it over, put his muscle into it and ***SNAP*** went the tree. So he went and got a bigger tree to use....once again, when he put pressure on it, ***SNAP*** it went, too. He was barely able to drag an even larger tree over, and...well, I guess you can guess what happened next. The tree idea simply wasn't going to work.

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Dejectedly, Thag plopped back on the ground to think. Just then, he saw a familiar lumbering sight, a friend he had not seen since last fall's group hunt. Big Nate. And 'big' was an understatement. Bears were known to run from him, though he had a heart of gold.

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He ambled up and spoke to Thag about the family and their winter's tales, and saw the predicament his friend was in. Thag asked him what he thought would work...

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"Thag no worry. Big Nate go move boulder for you!" Like a heavyweight lifter in the Olympics, Big Nate stood in front of the boulder, mentally prepared his body for the strain and crouched down for his Herculean effort to come. With a mighty roar of his fearsome voice, Big Nate's muscles rippled and began to shake as he slowly ...slowly ...slowly began to move the boulder. Soon he had built enough momentum that with one final heave the boulder rolled away from the entrance - their doorway was now fully open!

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Thag was both overjoyed and awestruck over his friend's sheer strength. The Thag-lettes were running in excited circles. Mrs. Thag hugged Thag mightily.

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The big guy wiped the dust off his arms and body as he walked back

over and said...

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"Better Nate than lever!"

Have a good weekend, y'all!!!