Week 2 Story: The Sheep and the Watering Hole

 There was once lived a herd of sheep near a watering hole that was historically notorious for its occupants- massive alligators. 

The sheep were constantly mocked and called weak by their neighbors, the hyenas, for not drinking the tasteful water provided by this watering hole out of fear of the alligators, but the sheep knew that the alligators, once woken from their slumber, were quite dangerous. 

The other animals in the savannah freely drank from this watering hole as the alligators rarely snatched an animal in the savannah and spent the majority of the year sleeping deep beneath the water. 

One very warm summer all of the watering holes in the savannah had dried up except the one with the alligators in it. All of the animals of the savannah flocked to this watering hole to stay hydrated but the sheep were still reluctant to do so because of the threat of the alligators. 

The animals mocked the sheep day after day for staying away from the watering hole and cited the fact that the alligators had not attacked an animal at that site in over 20 years! Still the sheep refused to drink.

As the summer went on and temperatures rose, the desperation of the animals rose to stay hydrated and survive this brutal season. The numbers in the herd of sheep slowly started to decline as many were lost to dehydration yet the leaders of the herd refused to approach this watering hole. 

One evening, the hyenas approached the elder sheep and begged them to save their herd by drinking out of the watering hole.

"Your arrogance will be the end of your herds existence!" said the hyenas. The sheep refused to approach the watering hole. 

As the summer drew to an end, all of the animals in the savannah decided to have a party, hosted by the Hyenas, at the watering hole to commemorate their survival of the brutal summer and spent the day drinking away while the sheep watched from a distance. 

As the night approached, the alligators grew increasingly frustrated at the noise coming from the hyenas and the animals at their watering hole and attacked! They ate all of the animals at the watering hole to shut them up. What a meal! As they finished they noticed the sheep observing them from a distance.

"Why did you not come to the watering hole all summer like your fellow animals?" bellowed the alligators, "We were certainly craving some sheep too!". 

" We may have been seen as the weaker animals and constantly mocked all summer, but look, here we stand! Alone in the savannah! Where are the hyenas now who mocked us relentlessly? In the blink of an eye we are now the kings of the jungle!" replied the sheep. 

 

                                  Domino, Game, Falling, Communication, Contact

                                (Dominos falling, just like the animals in the savannah,  pixabay)


Author's note: I used the story of the foolish, timid rabbit as motivation for this story and incorporated the theme of independent thinking and leadership as a tool for survival. 

Bibliography. "The Foolish, Timid Rabbit" from Jatakas by Ellen C. Babbitt. Web Source

Comments

  1. Hi Adam!

    I like the way you reversed the original story of the rabbit to have the main characters be smarter. The final line of the story about being the kings of the jungle was a very impressive ending line too. I think it has something to do with the fact that you wouldn't traditionally think of sheep as being the kings of the jungle so it was particularly clever in that way. It would have been interesting to see how you could incorporate this story with human characters too!

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  2. Hey Adam!

    I enjoyed reading your story. You definitely did a great job rewriting it. I like the way your writing was very consistent. The word choice describing the context keeps the reader intrigued because of the descriptive writing style. The way you were able to incorporate the original theme from the original source was impressive. Great job making it different.

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  3. Hi Adam, I find it amusing just thinking about sheep being the king of the jungle, though I'd argue it's the Alligators. I really like how you described the banter between the animals and the wording used in the quotes. However, I find it quite surprising that the sheep would just accept dying of dehydration rather than risking drinking some water. Why not risk death for a chance to live over meeting a certain death?

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  4. Hi Adam,
    Great Story! This is a very interesting retelling of "The Foolish, Timid, Rabbit". I loved reading this. Your writing is compelling and enjoyable to read. I think you did a great job with this one and I look forward to reading your other works!
    Best of luck with the rest of the semester, and stay healthy!
    -Ann Marie

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  5. Adam,
    This was a great read. It was super easy to understand the changes you made especially because I've read this story many times. Your writing is very easy to read and I think you did an amazing job, I look forward to reading more of your stories. I love how you incorporated independent thinking and leadership as a tool for survival, I would love to do that in one of my stories.

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