Two villages. One problem. Two very different kinds of “solutions.”
It was the day after the “Faster Horse” demo.
The teams from Yolotown and Dunwell were reviewing the project: what worked, what didn’t.
Yolotown
The rooster slammed a wing on the picnic table.
“He said he wanted a faster horse. That’s what he got. He didn’t say he wanted a safe or controllable horse.”
“B—but…” said the sloth, before the rooster talked over him like he wasn’t there.
“These horses were just too flammable,” said the parrot. “Maybe next time… we find less flammable ones?”
The lazy cat nodded, scribbling notes onto a leaf.
The parrot added, ruefully, “With another ten horses, I could’ve made it work. Maybe twenty.”
“The peacock makes no sense,” the rooster huffed. “You’d need to be psychic.”
The parrot paused, then lit up. “No—wait. What he said was ‘faster horse’… but what he meant was ‘railway’. Of course.”
“Right,” said the cat, furiously jotting. “So if next time he says ‘faster fish’…”
“If we just ask—” began the sloth, before being interrupted again.
“We still have some rockets,” offered the rooster.
“No,” said the parrot, “It means he wants an underwater jet powered monorail.”
“Excellent,” said the cat. “Good analysis.”
Dunwell
The Dunwell team all sat on a hill.
“It was good,” said the snail. “It all worked smoothly.”
“Maybe,” said the lion, “at the moment. But the carts and track still need maintenance.”
The squirrel said, “We can set up a reminder to check it and plan any maintenance.”
“Good idea,” said the turtle.
“Um, anything else?”
“There could be more tea and biscuits, the ginger ones were nice,” said the snail.
“I’ll add it to the shopping list,” said the turtle.
A few days later the turtle was walking near the forest.
By the picnic table he found a leaf.
It was the notes made by the lazy cat.
“Oh, she might want them back,” said the turtle.
He picked up the leaf and looked. It said:
- Investigate less flammable horse
- Ignore peacock
- Faster = railway
- Be psychic
Then he quietly placed the leaf back down on the table.
“Maybe not.”
A gust of wind gently picked up the leaf and carried it into the forest.
Davide la Locomotive 
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