Fifty was not sure how to answer, but Twenty spoke up to defend his friend, “He’s been a little off his game, sir. I’ll push him back into submission in no time.”
Fifty nodded profusely. “It’s true! He has to do that to me sometimes. Please, don’t kill me.”
The officer followed them for a little while before saying, “All right. But I’m going to file a report on you anyways. What is your number?”
Fifty-Six gulped and said, “Forty-Nine?”
“Right, get back to the trail!”
The two ants saw the pile of sugar up ahead. Fifty-Six peered back at his friend one last time. “You think its poison?”
Twenty-Eight shrugged. “Guess we’re about to find out.”
“Any chance you wanna switch places with me?”
“Just shut up and grab what you can. We need to get it back to the queen, A-S-A-P.”
“Jeez, you’re starting to sound like the officers. Are we ever gonna break free of all this monotony, Twenty?”
“Maybe someday, but right now, let’s go dive into that poison over there.”
Fifty-Six groaned, “Very funny. If it is poison, you’re gonna feel sorry for making that joke.”
To which Twenty replied, “If it’s poison, I won’t be feeling much of anything.”
Fifty sighed. “Good point.”
~~~~~
Chapter 10 – “A Travesty”
Malory crawled through the tunnels with a giggle. Her adolescent friend, Lucy, was right behind cracking jokes. “I can’t believe how big your butt has gotten since the last time I followed you in here.”
Malory giggled and kicked some dirt back at her. “Will you stop it?! No wonder nobody hangs out with each other anymore. You’re unbearable.”
“Aw, you’re just jealous that you aren’t as funny as me. But what’s so bad about two gophers getting food from the farm together?”
“Not a lot of us do it together is all. The farmers have a big crop this year. Everyone’s in a tizzy over it. I’m looking to get a good share for myself.”
Lucy laughed. “Your butt is just gonna get bigger if you keep eating this way!”
Malory huffed, “I’ll eat what I want and there’s nothing you can…” There was a sudden sound of clanking metal from above, and the girl let out a gasp followed by a gurgle.
Lucy bumped into her friend and backed away. “Why did you stop?” There was no response other than a few twitches. “Malory? Malory?! Are you okay?! Why did you…” Blood began to pool down the path from where Malory lay. Lucy saw it and her heart sunk. It was obvious what had happened: Malory had fallen into a deadly trap. She screamed, “Malory! Nooo!”
Only one day after the incident, the gophers of the farm all gathered just outside to have a meeting. Although it was not at all customary for such creatures to do so, the topic at hand was too important to be settled by each individual. Miss Ellen was the presiding and eldest gopher in the region, so it just made sense for her to lead the meeting.
“I know you are all probably very disturbed by what has transpired recently,” Ellen went on to say. “The loss of Malory presents a very troubling reality. It would seem that the farmer who presides over these crops have deployed traps that are intended to kill us!”
The gophers in the crowd were prattling nosily from hearing those words. Miss Ellen continued, “I know what you all must be thinking: what on earth have we done to deserve this? All we have done is come here to eat. We have done it for as long as I can remember. Why would the farmer be so cruel?!”
One of the gophers in the crowd spoke up, “Why did she have to die?!”
“Nobody knows. We’re not sure what brought on this sudden act of violence. If I was able, I’d give those humans a piece of my mind!”
It just so happened that as these gophers were congregating about the travesty at hand, an old owl was watching them from a tree. He was very confused by their words and desired to interject himself into the discussion. “Excuse me!” he said from where he perched.
Miss Ellen raised her head with the rest of the crowd. The owl fluttered down to a lower branch and politely stated, “If I may be so bold, Miss Ellen, I want to point out that I find it baffling that you did not see this coming.”
The elder gopher was nearly insulted. “Are you out of your mind?! One of our own was just stabbed through the heart for no reason at all! What have we done that deserved such a cruel death?!” All the gophers present seemed to agree with her judgment.
The owl ruffled his feathers for a moment before answering. “Was it not the farmer’s crops that you have been stealing all of these years? I have watched for a very long time, and I have seen you take far more than what you rightly deserve. I would even go so far as to say that you did not deserve any of it at all.”
Once again, Ellen was offended. “We have done nothing that we have not always done! We have every right to those vegetables! You are a fool!”
The owl sighed. He thought to himself how strange it was how thieves could come to accept their ways as normal. He did not have too much hope for the group. “Very well. You obviously don’t want to listen to me, but at least listen to my advice. These grounds are no good to you anymore. Whether you accept it or not, the lot of you are thieves and you have suffered a just blow. If you yearn for more food, I suggest you find it elsewhere.”
Ellen snapped back, “Leave us alone, you annoying bird! Can’t you see we have been hurt enough?!”
The owl–finished with his vain attempt–spread his wings and flew away. There was nothing more to be said and certainly nothing to break those gophers free of their own lies.
~~~~~
About These Stories
About “Wild” – Having read the collected works of Aesop as well as a number of other stories that stared animals, I was really fascinated by how animals can be used to personify human traits. With “Wild,” I set out to demonstrate aspects of the human race through similar parables. My hope was that it would expose some of our failings and bring the reader into a state of healthy introspection.
About “Chicken” – Sometimes adulthood is the only thing that can save a kid. This parable shows how children tend to act on impulse rather than good judgment. The sad thing is that some people never really grow up; I’ve seen adults do things just as bad.
About “Trash” – This was not so much a deep tale as it was just a simple story about a married couple from the perspective of raccoons. Part of this probably stemmed from my love of the show “Mad About You.” I know that most of these stories are about more meaningful things, but I guess that I am just a sucker for cute stuff.
About “The Other Bird” – This was intended to be an amusing yet dark parable about self-image. It is pretty obvious that the bird was only seeing his reflection and perceiving it as hostile (which really does happen.) But there are some people that can look in the mirror and truly despise what they see. I sometimes think this is why people go out of their way to change their appearance. It is almost like a mask that makes them feel more comfortable when they have to look at themselves.
About “Family” – After watching an episode of “Leave it to Beaver,” I had the idea of presenting a similar story but from the perspective of vicious coyotes. The moment where the father encourages his son to murder the one who is bullying him is intended to come across as shocking while still realistic. Nature is a very hostile thing, and there is no problem in the animal kingdom that cannot be solved by simple murder.
About “Motherhood” – It should be apparent why I chose kangaroos to symbolize mothers. The issue I was trying to bring to the table here is the problem with overprotective mothers. Sensitive feet or not, if a child does not learn to break away from the nest, he will end up in a far worse scenario later in life. Mother and son are both to blame, but I give a special shameful glare to the mother who should have been more responsible.
About “The Bad Boy” – There comes a point in in a teenager
’s life where he wants to rebel. There are a lot of temptations out there, and a lot of them are influenced by that person’s peers. Sometimes something looks so good, but ends up being a trap. That was the reason I used a duck decoy to illustrate that concept. The parents usually make good calls on these things and listening to them at these critical moments would be advisable.
About “Pride” – I got this idea after seeing an episode of “The Honeymooners.” I had also recently found out that the female lion is the one that does all the hunting, while the male is just happy to remain at home and eat the food. I actually find this scenario relevant with humans as well. Imagine a man in a reclining chair. He has a beer in his right hand, and he does little more than watch TV while the wife does all the cooking and cleaning. Confronted with his laziness, he will come up with every excuse in the book to avoid the real issue. Lions fit this scenario flawlessly.
About “The Bully” – This parable was more of a vent. I never had to deal with bullying in my school; they were way too strict for it to ever happen. Still, I saw what was happening on the TV and heard about it from others, and it made me pretty angry. The cases that especially reached me were the ones involving suicides. I am sure that–at some level–those poor kids believed all the bad things those bullies said. That particular aspect was what this story focused on.
About “On the March” – This story could easily be misinterpreted as an anarchist propaganda tale. In reality, it is actually very patriotic. Some people take for granted what freedoms we actually have in the United States. There are other countries out there that do not even come close. There have even been cases where a country will demand you sacrifice your life for the greater good, and if you refuse, they will take your life as punishment. Where I live, I can make that choice myself, and nobody can force me to do anything.
About “A Travesty” – I have seen multiple cases where human beings have out rightly stolen things and actually feel that it was owed to them. I always found this to be very bizarre. People will go out of their way to selfishly step on others in order to get what is usually a frivolous gain of some kind, and when they are accused of wrongdoing, they have no idea that any misconduct has taken place. This lack of concern for others is a very dark side to humanity, and I have little remorse for these people when they are thwarted.
~~~~~
Animals vs. Human Beings
To be brief: Animals run entirely on pure instinct. They do not have a choice in anything they do. Everything is based off their inborn nature, and that is all there is to it.
Human beings have a similar inborn instinct; however, they have the unique ability to make decisions and can actually override those impulses. They do not have to let their instincts drive them. This separates them from animals entirely.
We are not feral, but if we allow ourselves, we can easily slip into that realm. We can quite literally become nothing more than just an animal, and that is a horrible thing. It is like taking all of that wonderful potential and tossing it away like it is nothing.
We are human. Our ability to choose is what makes us special. Once we take that for granted, we give up our right to be human.
Human Being [hyoo-muhn bee-ing]
noun
1. any individual of the genus Homo, especially a member of the species Homo sapiens.
2. a person, especially as distinguished from animals or as representing the human species: living conditions not fit for human beings; a very generous human being.
Animal [an-uh-muhl]
noun
1. any member of the kingdom Animalia, comprising multicellular organisms that have a well-defined shape and usually limited growth, can move voluntarily, actively acquire food and digest it internally, and have sensory and nervous systems that allow them to respond rapidly to stimuli.
2. any such living thing other than a human being.
3. a mammal, as opposed to a fish, bird, etc.
4. the physical, sensual, or carnal nature of human beings; animality: the animal in every person.
5. an inhuman person; brutish or beastlike person: She married an animal.
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