Monday, October 27, 2008 | |

Short Story - The Lion and the Rabbit

Deep inside a dense jungle, a lion sat waiting for food. It was a week since he had anything. Now, today, it is a matter of life and death for him. The churning shrieks of his hungry stomach – he could bear no more.

And in that same jungle, a rabbit was running with the last few bits of energy in his body. The recent drought had gulped the rabbit’s food in the jungle and everyday he had to travel for miles to feed himself. Death lurked in the shadows of the trees and in each step he took but still, he could not stop. There is only one choice for him – either to face death or to die.

From morning till noon, and from noon to afternoon, and from afternoon to the time when the sky in the west became red, the lion kept on waiting for his food – for a prey – for a glimpse to the jewel of life – blood, and the hungry pangs of his stomach were unbearable – the pain of hunger – the pain of life – the pain of death; and the rabbit, his strides now were very slow due to the injury in his foot he got in the noon. His body felt like a mountain to him and the way in front – an open door into an empty interior.

And fate – the cruel, crooked, wicked witch flourished its merciless fingers. The rabbit was now in front of the lion.

Written by Parvez Ahmed on the 27th of October, 2008. 'The Lion with the Rabbit' is a painting by Eugene Delacroix.

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