The Market Moon of the Forest Fair

Economic Interdependence - Bonus for economic series

By Ross Boulton © 2025

The moon rose high on Festival Night,

And bathed the grove in silver light.

The forest buzzed with booths and song—

A fair where all could trade along.

From Ribbonroot came jars and jam,

From Pinepaw Market: boots and ham.

The Floating Log brought tools and twine,

While Meadowbright sent tarts so fine.

But then a shout near Maple’s stand—

“The pies are gone!” cried Rilla’s band.

“I’ve only mushleafs!” Grizzle grinned.

He’d raised the price, then caught the wind.

Crabbie squawked, “I won’t dig free!”

“No tolls!” the Buzzerds barked with glee.

A berry shortfall brewed unrest—

And no one knew what trade was best.

Owliver flapped, then took the stage,

With scrolls of bark and eyes of sage.

“A fair must flow with balanced care—

Let’s draw a map of what we share.”

He sketched a wheel with leafy rings—

Each spoke one of the forest’s things:

Fair work, clear price, and honest spend—

And trust to hold it all, my friend.

“Maple,” he said, “you led the trade.

You taught us deals are fairly made.”

“And Milo showed how money flows—

But value fades when greed outgrows.”

“Lantern lit the need for rules,

And Rilla measured cost with tools.

Crabbie warned when crowds mislead,

And Grizzle proved what want can breed.”

They set one booth with signs so round:

“Each voice, each gift, each rate is sound.”

They used the wheel as fairground guide—

And priced with care, and swapped with pride.

The fair returned. The forest cheered.

The moonlight hummed, the pathways cleared.

No one raced, and none felt small—

For every critter shared it all.

At dawn, they carved a shining token,

A circle strong and never broken.

One side said “Give,” the other “Grow.”

And that’s how forest markets flow.

MORAL (Reveal Button):

A fair and growing forest doesn’t run on coins alone—but on shared choices, earned trust, and the wisdom to balance them.

Why I Wrote This: The Market Moon of the Forest Fair

By Ross Boulton © 2025

This final fable in my Forest Economics Series was written to tie everything together—not just the lessons, but the forest itself. Each of the previous stories explored a single economic idea in isolation: scarcity, incentives, trade, inflation, taxes, trust. But real economies don’t work in pieces. They work in systems.

In The Market Moon of the Forest Fair, the forest faces a moment of confusion. Everyone brings their own goods, lessons, and expectations—but something’s missing: a shared structure to hold it all. That’s what Owliver brings. Not a fix, but a framework—a way to remember how all the parts depend on one another.

This story reminds us that an economy isn’t a machine. It’s a community of decisions. It needs balance between price and purpose, trade and trust, effort and reward. Each character brings a lesson from a past fable—but only when those lessons work together does the forest thrive.

I wrote this to help children—and adults—understand that wisdom isn’t just knowing one rule. It’s knowing how rules connect, and when to make room for one another in the clearing.