Look before you leap: The panda and the leopard

this was a fable I wrote a while ago for my creative writing class:


One day, a young panda was lying lazily in a bamboo tree when a leopard approached her.
“May I help you”? Asked the Panda
“you see that break in the road over there”? The leopard responded, jerking his head toward a split in between the road up ahead.
“Yes, I see it why”? Asked the panda
“I bet you I could get across the break more successfully than you” responded the Leopard.
“I highly doubt that” said the Panda twiddling a piece of bamboo between her fingers “I am smaller, lighter and smarter than you”
“Prove it” said the leopard
“Not today, my mother says there will be a storm, maybe some other time” and with that the panda hopped down from the tree and walked off.
That night a storm did come, and what a storm it was. The trees blew in the wind, and the water rose above the streets, the sky blackened, and the roads flooded
The next day, the Leopard met with the Panda in the same tree.
“I bet you I can get passed that break in the road more successfully than you Panda” said the leopard. The panda looked around, the streets were wet from the rain and the break in the road was full of the salty water.
“Okay” said the Panda. “Let’s see if this is true”
The panda and the leopard stood in front of the break of the road.
“On your mark, get set, GO”! Yelled the leopard, and the panda watched the leopard leap toward the break. The leopard’s paws tried to hold on, but the water from the rain was too slippery for his pads to grip. The leopard fell in the break and into the water. The panda looked down; making sure the leopard was okay then smiled and said
“like I said, I am smarter than you, you silly cat”