Gilly Loves to Swap

Gilly is an otter who simply cannot sit still when there’s a swap to be made. She hops from paw to paw at Gully’s market, tail swishing, always looking for a good trade — and not because she’s greedy. It’s because she can’t bear to watch good things go to waste.

“You’ve got three grain and you only need one!” she’ll say to a friend. “And look — Ferny over there has wool she can’t use, and you need wool! So swap! Swap, swap, swap!”

One day Gilly had extra grain — a whole basket of it, more than she could ever eat — and she needed wool for a warm blanket. And her friend Ferny had extra wool and needed grain for the winter. Two islanders, each sitting on a spare, each missing the very thing the other had too much of!

Gilly couldn’t stand it. “Ferny!” she called, holding up her grain. “I’ve got spare grain, and you’ve got spare wool, and — well?”

Ferny grinned. “Swap?”

“SWAP!” cheered Gilly, and quick as a splash they traded — grain for wool, wool for grain. Now Gilly had her warm blanket. Now Ferny had grain for winter. And the funny thing was, neither of them had lost a single thing. They’d just passed their spare to where it was needed.

“That’s the joy of it,” said Gilly, wrapping up cosy in her new wool. “A thing you’re not using is just… sitting there, being nothing. But swap it for the thing you are missing? Now it’s a blanket! Now it’s supper! And your friend’s happy too. Everybody’s warmer.” She wiggled with delight. “I never keep a spare long. Somebody always needs it, and I always need something. So I swap!”

So if your basket has more of one thing than you’ll ever use, do what Gilly does. Find the friend who needs it and is missing what you’re missing. Swap your spare for what you need — and watch how you’re both better off.

Don’t sit on a thing you’re not using — swap your spare for what you’re missing, and you’re BOTH better off! That’s Gilly.