THE RACE pt2

"On your marks....."The Parrot called out. They were poised at the starting line.

The Tortoise eyed the Hare.

"Mighty Tortoise,Mighty Tortoise!!!"

The crowd was chanting.

"Do you hear that?"The Tortoise said.

"That is the sound of my victory".

"Mighty Tortoise!Mighty Tortoise!"

The surface of the road burned with the intensity of the Mid-day sun.

"Once I am king,"The Tortoise said."I will make sure the Hares starve to death"


The Hare forced himself not to listen.His heart was racing.He knew the Tortoise would have some tricks up his sleeve this day.

"I still don't  think  this is a good idea my King"The Tiger said."Entrusting the kingdom in the......"
"I have heard quite enough from you,Mr Tiger"The Lion said."It's already been done.Now lets see how it all unfolds"

The Tiger stared at the King for a short while,but said nothing.

"Mighty Tortoise,Mighty Tortoise!!"

"Get set.......!!!"said the parrot.

Silence suddenly descended on the hot tarred road.

The Hare thought of his wife.He wondered if she had heard he was racing.


News travels fast in the animal Kingdom.Even before the rotten fruit falls to the ground in the South,It's already headline news in the North.

He wondered what she would think about him now.

Would she be proud?Would she laugh?Or would she just have her famous look of disapproval?

The crowd held its breath.All eyes rested on the Tortoise and the Hare.

."......and....GO!!!"

And so it began.The Hare dashed off as fast as he could.His goal was to create as much space between himself and the Tortoise as possible.

Of course this had been his M.O. In the last race.At the time,he'd over-estimated his  own speed and had underestimated the Tortoise's devious mind.

Never again.He thought. He left the Tortoise behind in a thick dust cloud.


The race-road was a mile long with many curves and sharp turns.At the other end was the Lion Queen and the remaining wives of the animals.They were the final judges of the race.

A mile wasn't exactly a long stretch for Mr Hare.But  a lot could happen in one mile.A lot of very bad things.


In seconds,the Tortoise was  yards behind him.But he knew too well that this was no cause for celebration.

He had to be vigilant.The Tortoise probably had traps littered all over the road.

 He ran through the mid-day heat,ignoring his burning paws and the doubts between his ears."What exactly do you think you're doing?"He heard his Wife's voice inside his head say."Are you going mad?..is this some sort of mid-life crisis?The Tortoise is too smart,you will lose."

"Focus,Focus....".said to himself."Focus".


The Tortoise took his time as he  moved.

"Mighty Tortoise!Mighty Tortoise!"

The Tortoise had barely gone a few yards since the race began.

"I am almost certain,"The Leopard said."That I would have grandchildren  by the time he gets to the finish line"

"It is the same story in all the races"The King said."The Tortoise is left behind....way behind.But somehow at the end he comes out as the winner"

"That's because he's a wizard"The Rat said defensively."A very powerful Wizard"

The Tiger  growled at him.

"I would eat you.But I would risk food poisoning."He said.

"Your saliva would probably give me a rash anyway"The Rat shrugged.

"Why you little...."The Tiger advanced.

"What will you do?....eh?"The Rat yelled,suddenly standing on his hind legs and making tiny fists.

"That's enough you two!"The King said.

The Tiger continued to glare at the Rat's awkward boxing stance.


Long pause.

"Please Mr Rat,Calm down"The Lion said.

"Mtcheeeew!!!"The Rat went in disgust as he slowly dropped his guard.

"If not for his Majesty eh?...I would've pounded you into the next dry season.Rubbish!!"

And on and on he went,throwing threats and insults at the Tiger.

The King sighed and looked away.

"This is going to be a long race" he said to himself.


All these years,the animals have laughed at him.The Tortoise thought to himself.They never realised he was wiser than all of them.Sure,Mother nature   dealt him a bad hand by making him a little faster than a snail.But she made up for it by giving him a hard protective shell as well as a magnificent brain.

"Mighty Tortoise!Mighty Tortoise!"

He smiled at the crowd.He was born to rule the animal kingdom.

"Mighty Tortoise!Mighty Tortoise!"

Yes!He thought.This was his destiny.


The Hare made a sharp turn into a muddy road,and slowed down.

Long pause.

This had to be the Tortoise's doing.He thought.This degree of mud had no business being here in the dry season.

He carefully stepped around the muddy ground.He hated the feel of mud against his fur.He especially hated it when dried up and became a thick crust.His senses alert to everything around him.There was a strange scent in the air he couldn't quite place.

It took him a few minutes,but he managed to get past the muddiest parts of the road.


Then he saw it.

He could feel the saliva dripping from his mouth.His nostrils savoured the delicious scents.His eyes were locked on the fine spread of fresh carrots,lettuce,cabbages and corn laid out by the side of the road.

The food items seems to glow,holding the radiance of the sun in their bodies.He stared at them.A tiny voice in his head was screaming for him to walk away.To look away from this unnatural seduction.But the rumbling in his stomach were like echoes of an empty well.



He hadn't foraged in days,and had been too depressed to even give food a second thought.Now he wished he had.The smells from the delicious looking spread called to him.They summoned him the way a nectar summons the fly.

He felt himself moving towards it.As if he had no control over his body all of a sudden.He knew he had Lost the race.He knew once he started eating,he wouldn't stop.


The carrots looked huge.Some of the cabbages were almost three times the size of his head and looked far better too.

To hell with the stupid Tortoise,to hell with the stupid King...to hell with the Kingdom.Then he thought of his wife.

That did it.

He snapped out of his hypnotic state and shook his head.He wasn't going to fall for that trick a second time.He turned around sped off without giving the food a second look.


"Not this time bro"he said smiling to himself.

"Not this time"

He raced on.

The Tortoise hated the heat and especially hated the smell of tar.Why did humans think smearing this filth every where was such a good idea anyway?What were they thinking?

The sound of the chanting had died down.

The Tortoise turned around to be certain he was far away from the finish line.Because of the sloppy nature of the road,it was easy for them to lose sight of him.The second he was certain that that was the case,he looked up into the sky.


"Right on time!"He said as the Vulture swooped down to pick him up.

"Thank You,Mighty Tortoise"The Vulture said as she carried the Tortoise into the air.

The Tortoise particularly liked flying.The air seemed clearer as you went higher.He didn't know what Mother nature was thinking not giving Tortoises wings.It was ridiculous.Why would she waste them on vultures.They were so.....smelly.Okay maybe not as smelly as Chimps but still smelly.



As they rose higher and higher,the Tortoise couldn't help but marvel at what was soon to be his kingdom.All he had to do,was take care of an overgrown rabbit.

"...and The Hare...?The Tortoise said.

"Almost at the ambush zone one"The Vulture said.

"Good"The Tortoise said delightfully."Take us there,now....I want to see the look on his face when it happens."

"But the Race....?"

"Obey me!"The Tortoise said.


Long pause.

"As you wish,Mighty Tortoise"

The Hare was a  panting.He was dehydrated,but he pushed himself on.The  mid-day heat was  slowly giving way to the evening cool.Since the muddy road he had not met with any more delays.He knew he was almost at the finish line.It seemed the Tortoise had ran out of tricks.

Or so he thought.

"Stop!!"He heard a coarse voice say.

Suddenly,two Hyenas ran into the road,blocking his path.


He grinded to a halt.

"What is it?" said the Hare trying to catch his breath.

"Why were you speeding?"said the smaller of the two Hyenas.

The Hare had a flabbergasted expression on his face.

"Speeding ke?"He said."In case you haven't noticed I'm in a race.".

"A race?"The small Hyena said softly."Are you not aware that there's a speed limit for this road?"

Long pause

"I really do not have time for this"The Hare said with a small sigh."If you will just let me get on my way....."

But the Big Hyena blocked his path.

After Chimps,Hyenas were the second most hated animals in the Kingdom.They were like huge piles of Elephant dung;Smelly and brainless.

"We need to see your particulars"The Big Hyena said suddenly.

"Did you just say,'Particulars'...?"The small Hyena said to him.

The Big Hyena turned to his small companion and said,
"Isn't that what humans call it when they stop each other on the road?"

"Now,where did you hear a stupid thing like that?"The Small Hyena said.

"A....Chimp...told me"the Big Hyena said,trying to keep his voice down.

"So now you listen to monkeys?"Said the small Hyena.

"Hey!"The Big Hyena said Offensively."Don't call my friend a Monkey."

The Small Hyena stared at his colleague incredulously.

"Seriously....?"He said. "We're actually having this conversation now?"


The Hare continued staring at the two of them.

"Chimps are not Monkeys!"said the Big Hyena.

"My fellow scavenging friend,"The small Hyena said."Chimps are Monkeys,Hares are Rabbits......"

The Hare was about to say something,then thought better of it.

".....and all Humans are Policemen"The small Hyena was saying.

"....em....what's a Policeman?"

The small Hyena stared awkwardly at his companion,then at the Hare and said.

"....just....something....I heard.....a Chimp say....."

"Oh....!So NOW we listen to Monkeys?"Said the Big Hyena triumphantly.

"Oh....! So now you agree that they're Monkeys?"

The Big Hyena looked towards the Hare.He seemed to be begging for some sort of support.

"That's not what I meant......please don't confuse me!"He said angrily."You always criticise everything I do"

"Well its not my fault you listen to Monkeys!"

"THEY ARE NOT MONKEYS!!!"

And on and on the two of them  went.The Hare knew they were sent by the Tortoise to delay him.He cautiously crept away as their loud argument ensued.

"....next, you'll tell me Giraffes are Goats"The Big Hyena was screaming.

"Don't they both eat grass?"The Small Hyena said.

"Well...yeah...."

"Then they are Goats....."

And so began another round of arguments.

The Hare was almost far enough to resume his hopping.

"Stop him,you idiots!...He's getting away!"Came the Tortoise's voice from above.

The two Hyenas stopped their argument  and swiftly blocked the Hare's path again.

"So you came to cause confusion between me and my brother?"The Big Hyena said with a growl.

"We're related...?"The small one said.
"....Aren't we....?"

They were about to slip into another argument when the Vulture touched down with the Tortoise.

"Hey Mr Vulture..."The small Hyena said."You look great.Have you been working out?"

The Vulture proudly spread his wings.

"No,its my new diet.I'm off maggots and Rotten fruits.I just stick to water and decomposing flesh"

"Hmmm..."Said the small Hyena to the Big one."You think I should go on a diet?"

"Will you three just Shut up??"cried the Tortoise placing his hands....or paws...or ...(whatever)...he placed them on his head.



The Hare just stood there in silence.

The Tortoise turned to stare at the Hare.

"I just wanted the opportunity.."The Tortoise said delightfully.".....  to tell you that,I will enjoy killing all the Hares once I am King"

The Hare glared at him
"So long.....Mr Rabbit.Hyenas,...Kill him!"The Tortoise said as the Vulture hoisted him into the air.

Long silence.

The Hyenas growled as they approached the him.What Hyenas lacked in intelligence,they made up for in brutality.

The Hare backed away.

He had to think of something .....fast.

"I guess we're finally going to know what Hare meat tastes like"The big Hyena salivated.

"Yeah!!"said the small one as they prepared to pounce.

The Hare suddenly had an idea.

"Wait,....you guys have never had Hare meat before?"

They both paused and stared at each other curiously.

"Em....No.....not that I can recall"The Small Hyena said thoughtfully.

"...well,there was that one time...."The Big Hyena began.

"...that wasn't a Hare,Stupid.That was a squirrel.And we both had constipation for a week."The Small Hyena said rolling his eyes.

"That wasn't a Squirrel,it was a Rabbit"Said the Big Hyena.

"So we're back on this again?"Said the Small Hyena,clearly exasperated with his companion."They are the same,you ignoramus!"

"Did you just call me a Hippopotamus?"said the big Hyena with a growl.

"I never called you a Hippo"
"Yes you did!"

"Did not!!"

"...did too!"

"...Did not!!"

And on and on they went.

The Hare saw his chance.He broke into a run,picking up speed in seconds.The Hyenas never stood a chance.All they saw was a blur whoosh passed them.

Then the Hare was gone,leaving them in a cloud of dust.

For a long time,they just stood there staring after him.

Hyenas were terrible runners.There was no way in Animal-dom they would ever catch him.

Long silence.

"See what you did?"said small Hyena
"Oh,so now its my fault?"



The Tortoise was pleased.Everything was going according to his plan;the hare was dead,and he would soon be king.

The Vulture dropped him off behind a large rock a few yards from the finish line.

"You will be greatly rewarded"He said
"Thank you,your majesty"the Vulture said with a bow,then he flew into the air.

The Tortoise began his triumphant march towards the finish line.

"Mighty Tortoise,Mighty Tortoise!"The crowd of female animals chanted when they saw him approach.

Yes.He thought.

This was his moment.This was his time to outshine the animals who laughed at him all these years.He was going to be King.

WHOOSH!!!

A strong gust of wind blew passed him.

"No....!!"The Tortoise said as a furry blur crossed the finish line.

Instantly,the chants changed.

"Mighty Hare!Mighty Hare!"


And so it was,the Hare won the race and redeemed his honour.He was never shunned nor disrespected ever again.

The King retained his throne and the Tortoise was banished from the animal Kingdom for cheating.

From that day forth,calling the Hare 's Rabbit' was a crime punishable by banishment.

The Hare and his wife had many children.And they all lived happily ever after.



The End.



The moral of the story is;just because you've failed in the past and everyone laughed at you,doesn't mean you're a failure for life.

Everyone deserves a second chance.Another opportunity shall come again.And as long as you believe in yourself, and stay focused,...... YOU WILL WIN.




LIFE IS A CHOICE
SO CHOOSE WISELY
ENOUGH SAID

#iReadopustjkwrites