THE RACE!!!

The Hare lay on the forest floor staring at a bunch of noisy ants going about their business.
It was another Monday morning.And like all Mondays,he felt numb.

The sun was shining in the sky, birds in the trees were singing Praise songs to the almighty Tortoise .

"All hail  Tortoise!The swiftest,wisest of all animals.Rise up and bask in his Magnificence......!"

And on and on the song went.One heart breaking verse after the other.They hurt his long ears and each word was like a bee sting to his body.

The ants tripled in number as the minutes grew by.They rallied around a small piece of fruit.No doubt an offering to their "Great King".

He heard the sound of hopping behind him.To be frank,he had actually   smelled her fur whilst she was yards away.He didn't even bother getting up.

What was the point?



"Can you at least pretend to want to get up?"His wife's voice asked.

"What difference would it make?"He replied in a small voice.

His wife rolled her eyes and scratched her fur with her hind legs.She had heard this particular routine one too many times.

"This has to stop at some point,"She began.

"The Tortoise won this district from you fair and square and there's nothing anyone can do about......."

"It wasn't a fair race,the he tricked me....."The Hare snapped.

Once again,his wife rolled her eyes.

"So you keep telling us.But where's the proof?He won.Deal with it."

Long silence.

The Hare was tired of defending himself.No one would ever believe him.

"We just got back from foraging and......"

"We're hares,we rarely forage during the day....Just leave me alone"He cut her off again.

Long Pause.

"....how much longer do you want to do this?...do I have to punch you again?"

He was silent for a long time.Female Hares were notorious for "Punching"their mates.His wife was no exception.Ever since he had lost the race to the Tortoise,ever since his world went upside down,she had punched him quite a bit to snap him out of his depressed state.

It hadn't worked.

He  still felt as pathetic as ever.

Another long silence passed between them.

The Hare knew his wife was staring at him with the same look of hopelessness he'd grown accustomed to all these months.

Feeling it was worse than seeing it he thought as he got up and hopped away.

His wife stared sadly after him.His fur was patched and discolored in many places.And he had lost a lot of weight due to not eating regularly.Infact,he didn't do a lot of things regularly anymore.

She missed the robust healthy looking hare she had fallen in love with.He was dazzling to look at.

But it wasn't just his dazzle and robustness  that she missed,it was everything else in between.He had gone from a charismatic confident Hare,to something pathetic and weak.But she never stopped loving him.She still believed in him even though she knew she was the laughing stock of the entire animal kingdom for choosing to do so.

She wondered if she should have told him about the race this morning.Then again,she thought.He'd find out himself.





The Hare hopped towards the animal track road.Once,hopping along this road was the high point of his day.He remembered how the Hyenas and monkeys cheered him on in the mornings.He especially missed how the Chimps beat their chests in acknowledgement of his awesomeness when he came through.

But that was before the race.

Now,he dreaded this road.But the forests had few places to be alone,especially when you were the most disgraced creature in the animal Kingdom.

"Well,well,well......"Came the yelp of a Chimp in a tree nearby.

Crap!He had hoped to avoid being seen at least until he got to the road.Too late for that now.

He looked up and forced a smile that hurt his whiskers.

"Good morning,Chimpanzee"he said without looking up.He didn't have to.

Unknown to humans,Chimpanzees had the worst stench in the animal Kingdom.You could tell the smell of a Chimp from half a mile away.To be fair,he had no idea why they smelled so bad.Maybe it was their armpits.Once he'd been hugged by a chimp.The stink from its armpits almost made him pass out.

". ....if it isn't the tree stump of a Rabbit who lost a race to the Tortoise."

"I am not a Rabbit!!!"The Hare snapped.

Hares are infinitely Proud creatures.Calling a Hare a Rabbit was like calling a Human a Monkey or referring to a Bull as a Goat(the latter should only be attempted from a very safe  distance by the way).As far as Hares were concerned,Rabbits were Wimps.Enough said.

"Take that back!"The Hare glared at him.

"Oh!I'm sorry..."The Chimp chuckled throwing a Mocking bow.The Hare silently prayed that the branch it was standing on would break and throw the hairy primate against a very very very hard rock.

".....perhaps I should refer to you as a snail then...or at least a slow moving maggot.Because,that's the only kind of animal that would lose to a TORTOISE!"

The Hare charged up the tree(or at least attempted to)but his paws weren't built for such an activity.The Hare lost his grip almost immediately and fell down hard on the Forest floor.

The Chimp was laughing like crazy.

"....you obviously think in slow-motion .Since when do Hares climb trees?IDIOT!!!"

Chimp laughed some more.

"I guess you're going to watch the race...."

"Race....?"The Hare asked as he dusted some twigs off his fur.

The Chimp rolled his eyes.

"Didn't you pay attention to the pigeons this morning?

Long pause.

The Hare had a curious look on his face.

"...and you wonder how you lost to a Tortoise?

You know,there's a reason why humans have  Facebook accounts......updates,updates.I keep saying it,animals need to get online.But does anyone listen?Nooo.I mean,How would losers like you get the news?"The Chimp ranted.

Then the Chimp went on and on about the need for animals to be more Web-conscious and bla bla bla.

"What race???"came the hare.

Long pause.

"Oh!its like that?Silence the Ape because he's speaking the truth?"

"What race?"The Hare repeated softly.He was really losing his patience with this hairy primate.

"Well,....since you asked politely,....The Tortoise has challenged the King to a race.Winner keeps the Crown"The Chimp said climbing to another branch.

"What???"The Hare exclaimed.

"Why do you seem so shocked?"The Chimp inquired with an arched eyebrow.

"It's no surprise that after he whipped the collective Butts of you and Mr Dog,the next best thing would be the King himself....Guess we'll soon have a Tortoise King."

The Hare digested this info for a few seconds.

"But the Lion King must know that he can't win the race....not on the Tortoise's terms anyway"The Hare said awkwardly.

"Please don't say Lion King...."The Chimp said with a frown.

" ..sounds so Disney.Anyway,ofcourse the Lion will lose.I mean here's a guy who beat a Hare and a Dog in a race for crying out loud"

"He tricked me,and I'm sure he did the same with the Dog"The Hare said defensively.

The Chimp yawned.

"Yeah right,and Goats use Instagram"

"Can't we stop it?"The Hare cried urgently.

The Chimp stared at him closely.

"Have you been drinking fermented grape juice this morning?In case you haven't noticed,the Tortoise has alot of influence in our Kingdom.The Dude is  Elvis of the Forest."

"Who's Elvis?"

"Never Mind.."The Chimp said shaking his head again.

"Anyway,no one in their right Animal-Mind would dare stand between him and the crown.Even the Lions are scared."

There was silence for a time as the Hare thought this over.He had to put a stop to this somehow.If the Tortoise won the race and became King,the animals would suffer.He had no respect for animal life.All he wanted was power.

"I feel bloated"The Chimp was saying
"Do you think I should lose weight?"

But the Hare was already on his way.

He had been quiet for too long.And now the Kingdom was about to fall into The Tortoise's paws....or claws ...or(what were those things called anyway?).Well whatever they were,he had to stop the race from happening.





At the race track,the animals from far and wide gathered.They were all excited about the race .Most silently hoped the Lion would win.But no one dared say it,for fear of a serious mauling.

Hyenas,Vultures,and Gorrillas patrolled about,straining to hear any anti-Tortoise conversations.

The King and his entourage soon  arrived and there was some Cheering from the crowd.The Tigers,Leopards and Cheetahs strolled in Majestically with the King.

The Tortoise eyed them with silent disdain.

Despite his growing influence with the rest of the animals,he was yet to conquer the Big cats.

"They think that they're better than the rest of us"The Tortoise whispered to his close friend the Rat.

" I don't care what anyone says,..."The Rat whispered back.

"Male Lions have very Big-Heads"

They both chuckled at this.

"It's true"The Rat insisted.

"Look at our King's head.You could fit it on an Elephant".

They both laughed some more as they walked towards the King and his Entourage.

"Great King,May you live long"They both said with a slight bow.

"Lets just cut to the chase"The King snapped as the Rat shuddered at the boom of his voice.

"I don't know how you managed to beat the Hare and the Dog,but I will not race you"

Murmuring from the crowd.

"Are you sure that's wise, great King?The Tortoise said eyeing the crowd around them.

"These animals came out for a show...How would they feel if we told them that their King is terrified of someone less than half his size?"

"I will rip your shell off your back"The Tiger growled.

"Easy,Mr Tiger"The King said softly.

"We don't want any blood shed here"

"Indeed we do not"The Tortoise smiled.

"No one does"

"Lets just have a good clean race"The Tortoise said raising his voice.

The crowd cheered.

The Tortoise brought his voice low.

"If you win,you get to keep your crown.But if I win.....I become King"

The King roared and a heavy silence descended upon the road.

"Call off your hyenas and vultures,there will be no race"The King said as he turned away.

Murmuring began almost immediately.

"Why doesn't he want to race?....is the King scared of him?....why wouldn't he be?......"

These and several other voices spoke in hush tones as the King and his Entourage walked away.

"I don't think that was very prudent your majesty"The Leopard said.

"What would you have me do?...Succumb to this tyrant?"The King growled.

"If you refuse to race him,you will lose the little influence you have over the Kingdom....But if you go ahead with it,you will be seen as a hero"

"A hero who loses to a Tortoise?"

"Mighty Tortoise!Mighty Tortoise!"The animals were chanting.

"His influence grows your majesty"The Tiger said as they stopped to stare at the crowd.

"What would you have me do?"The King asked softly.

"There's another option my King"The Cheetah said stepping forward.

The Cheetah was an unusually quiet Feline.He was truly a Cat of few words.

"Let me be your champion to race him"

Long pause.

"You are one of my most trusted advisors Cheetah.Though you're fast I can not risk your life in such a race.The Tortoise is very dangerous.He nearly killed the Dog in the last race."

"Perhaps I can help"Came the Hare's voice.

A defeaning silence descended across the road as the Hare hopped out of the bushes.

"Get lost Rabbit.You've caused enough damage as it is."The Tiger said.

The Hare ignored the insult.

"Your majesty,let me be your champion"The Hare said urgently.

All the animals began to laugh.

"Are you for real...Mr Rabbit?"A Giraffe chuckled.

"Champion Ke?"Came the voice of a Baboon.

With near Elephant-like strength,the Hare blocked out the voices around him and focused on the King.

"My King,"He continued.

"Grant me this,"

"And Why should I grant you that Mr Hare?"The King said drawing close.

"It is because of you that all this is happening.The Tortoise could never have contemplated challenging The Dog,let alone Me if you hadn't lost that race."

The King towered over the Hare like the giant he was.The look in the Lion's eyes was less than warm.

"Why couldn't you defeat him?....why?"The King growled.

"Y-your m-ma-Majesty,I was tricked"The Hare said awkwardly.

"Nonsense!You lost because of your  arrogance.You underestimated your opponent...and so you lost!!!"The King roared.

Long silence.

The Hare cowered.His shoulders trembling as he sobbed.

"This could be your only option your Majesty"The Leopard said thoughtfully.

"How?With  this Rabbit of a  loser?"The Tiger growled.

"I am not a Rabbit"The Hare muttered.

"It is because of him that the Kingdom is in this mess."The Tiger snapped.

"Then perhaps we should give him a chance to redeem himself"The Leopard said calmly.

"You would risk the fate of our Kingdom by letting this Rabbit race?"The Tiger cried.

"You would risk the life of our King by not letting this Rabbit race?"The Leopard replied evenly.

Long pause as the Two mighty Felines stared each other down.

All through,the Chanting continued.

"Mighty Tortoise,Mighty Tortoise!!"

"Do you hear that Mr Leopard?"The Tiger began.

"They're cheering the Tortoise.What happens if this Rabbit loses again?"

The Hare cringed at the word "Rabbit".

The Tortoise came over or rather was 'carried over' by an angry looking gorilla.

"Well,well,well"the Tortoise began delightfully.

"If it isn't my old friend The Rabbit"

"I'M A HARE!RABBITS ARE SMALLER,YOU STUPID SHELL-CASE!!!"The Hare screamed.

"My apologies then.Once you've beaten one long eared rodent,you kinda all look the same!"

"Hey....!!!" Cried The Rat  defensively.

"Not you,Mr Rat,you're a separate breed of rodent"The Tortoise said apologetically.

The Rat smiled at this.

"Why should I let you race him again?"The King asked.

Long pause.

"I will not lose this time"The Hare said boldly.

"And if you do?"

"I wont lose,your Majesty"

"And if you do???"

The Hare was silent for a long time.

"I will not lose your Majesty.I realise now that my actions have put the Kingdom In this condition....give me a chance"

Long pause.

"Mighty Tortoise,Mighty Tortoise!"The crowd continued.

The King stared at the Hare for a few more seconds.

"I would strongly advise against this my King"The Tiger said in a small voice.

"Personally,I don't care who I race,"The Tortoise said with excitement.

"As long as I claim the Crown"

"You will lose this time"The Hare said defiantly.

All eyes were on the King.

"I will grant you your wish,Mr Hare..you may race to reclaim your honor.But the fate of the Kingdom is in your hands....or paws"

"You hear that?"The Tortoise taunted.

"You get to lose to me again"

With that he was carried away towards the race track.

"Are all the animals in place?"The Tortoise whispered to the Gorrilla as they walked away.

"Yes my lord"The Gorilla replied in a deep voice.

"There's been a change of plans.Since the Hare wants a rematch,I'll make an example of him.Tell the animals to kill him the first chance they get"


to be continued.....


LIFE IS A CHOICE
SO CHOOSE WISELY
ENOUGH SAID

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