Inspired by "The Tortoise and The Hare" by Aesop
There once was a forest, located in a land long since forgotten where animals ruled and possessed human like consciousness; it was here, on this particular day that a troubling sight indeed could be found.
“How
slow you are! It’s a wonder you manage to make it anywhere!” a rambunctious
hare would mock a seemingly timid tortoise, running circles around him in
teasing fashion.
“There
is more to life than speed, Mister Hare.” The tortoise would rebuttal, eyes
slowly following the other with evident annoyance about him.
“Is
that so, eh? How about you put your money where your mouth is then!” the hare
would toss the gauntlet down, confidence and ego bleeding out of him at every
corner.
“And
just how do you propose I go about doing that?”
“A
race of course! That is… unless you’re too terrified that I’ll be right in the
end!” Mister Hare would laugh, hands coming to his gut as he could barely
contain himself at this point.
“Indeed…”
Mister Tortoise would trail off for a moment of reflection before resuming, “…I
accept your challenge then.”
“You’re
kidding me! Right? You don’t stand a chance!” he would laugh even more at this
stage, a tear swelling in his eye from joy.
“We
will see Mister Hare.”
“Well,
if you’re so certain about wanting to lose! I will let you plot the racetrack!
Gotta give you a little hope.”
Upon
hearing those words, a small smirk would arrive on the lips of the tortoise who
would eagerly yet slowly crawl deeper into the wood. “I shall meet you at this
clearing in the morning, Mister Fox will referee for us.”
“Whatever!
See you then!”
And
without another word from either beast, the remainder of the day would pass
without a hitch.
Morning
would come soon enough, the hare awaking from his slumber and speeding over to
the clearing mentioned the day prior. Upon arrival, the furry beast would note
the tortoise, and the fox, and various other creatures of the wood who had come
to watch this race; reveling in the prospect of an audience, the hare would
bombastically strut into the clearing without care.
“Good
morning, Mister Hare.” The tortoise would greet, showing sportsmanship that was
true to his character.
“Yeah,
yeah, yeah let us get on with it already! I got places to be!” Impatience
coated the words of the hare, who would take his position on the starting line
with haste.
As
Mister Tortoise crawled towards his starting position, Mister Fox would stand
between the two on the opposite side of the line. “The race is to be kept to
the dirt path behind me, the winner is the first to crossing the line at the
end of the path... no foul play of any sort, is that understood?”
“Of
course.” Tortoise spoke, finally reaching the starting line.
“Duh!”
replied Hare, foot tapping in impatient fashion.
“Very
well…. Begin!”
Hare
would burst out into a full sprint, a trail of cloudy dust in his wake as he
careened down the dirt path in front of him; occasionally, he would glance back
for a moment or two to see not a single sign of the tortoise, which caused a
hearty laugh to escape from his belly. “What a fool! Challenging me! Speed
isn’t everything? Don’t make me la-“ Suddenly, Hare’s train of thought was
brought to a halt and replaced with a far different sensation… one of falling.
It
was over as quickly as the sensation was felt, a loud crash as he felt his
tailbone collide with the hardened ground beneath him; darkness surrounded him
in every direction but directly up, where faint remnants of the sun above shone
down to provide bare minimum dimness to his surroundings. “What… how did I?”
Mister Hare spoke, utterly perplexed before being overcome with another new
sensation. With a yell of agony, a rush of pain would surge through his body as
he began to desperately clutch at his gut; confused and distraught, his eyes
would soon adjust to the light and allow him to see the source of the pain;
horror coated him as he noted the three jagged and splintered spikes of wood
that had pierced his torso, his gorgeous brown fur stained with fresh blood
seeping out from the wounds.
“Help!
Somebody help me!” he would cry out, his vision hopelessly shifting up towards
the whole he fell down. Hours would pass, the poor furry creature slipping in
and out of consciousness as the blood slowly seeped out from him.
“Well,
I did say that speed wasn’t everything in life, Mister Hare.”
Finally
hearing another voice, Hare would shoot his eyes upward towards the entrance of
the pit and spot none other than Mister Tortoise.
“Tortoise!
Help! I’m… I’m…”
“Oh
but of course you are, after all I was the one who set up this little… trial
for you.” The once timid expression of the tortoise now shifted, pure malice
and sadism being all that remained.
“H-how
could you… I was just teasing... I’m… sorry…!” it was becoming increasingly
more difficult to speak, to breathe… to exist at all.
“Fear
not my friend, I’ll finish the race and tell them that you were so fast they
completely missed you! After all, that’s what you would want… isn’t it?”
Shaking
his head, tears would sprout from the corners of the hare’s eyes.
“Goodbye,
Mister Hare.” And without another word, the evil creature would begin is slow
crawl once more towards the finish line.
The heat would continue to escape
from his body, as the darkness that surrounded him only continued to grow and envelop
him; the heaving of his chest began to slow, his eyes grew heavy as his arm
extended upward once more seeking help...
...and
then there was nothing but darkness.
To
this day, no one in that wood was certain of what became of dear old Mister
Hare; some say he was so fast that he is still running to this day, others say
he was embarrassed by his loss to Tortoise and he ran away.
In
the end, it did not really matter to the woodland creatures that happily went
about their lives unknowing of the rotting corpse that laid beneath their feet.
The end.
