A Hare’s Fear and an Owl’s Answer
One day, a hare was hopping along enjoying the breeze of the late-noon when he heard a thrashing sound.
Pound. Pound. Thud. Growl.
The hare was so curious as to where these sounds were coming from that he decided to tread lightly in the direction of it. After some time, he reached a clearing where he saw a grizzly bear that had been locked up in a cage.
“You there! Rabbit! Oh please, please release me from this torment. It was poachers you see — Horrible poachers they were!” the bear exclaimed.
With hesitation, the hare hopped up to the cage and said: “Why how long have you been locked away in this cage?”
“For weeks. Weeks that feel just as eons would. Freedom has escaped me so.” sobbed the bear.
Now the hare, feeling nervous at this moment started to step away from the cage. With each small step, the bear’s face began to twist with confusion, “You’re not going to leave me like this are you?”
“If you’ve been in there for weeks, you must...”
“I must what?” interrupted the bear.
Gulp. “Then you must be hungry now. I am but a small hare and you are a large bear. You could swallow me in one go if you had a mind to.”
“My dear rabbit. I would not dare touch a single hair on you. I just want freedom, I promise. Please let me out.”
Feeling the pity over the bear wash him down with guilt, the hare decided to release him from his holdings by jumping so high that he can reach the right ropes to chew through. After a few moments, the bear was free from the cage.
The bear leaped. Growled the mightiest of growls. Then turned to face the hare with a wicked smile and crooked head.
“It looks as though you’ve put your trust into the wrong person. Now that you mention it, I am rather hungry.” The bear begins to ogle the hare, slowly prodding in his direction.
“Oh no. No please! You promised me! Oh, let me live Mr. Bear please oh please!” The hare panicked and plead but the bear continued to move towards him. “Allow me to question why the world has fated me so.”
The bear decided to humor the hare. “Well go on. Ask the world how you got here. I haven’t got all day.”
The hare paused, then looked up to the skies. “Oh world, surely you can help me understand why I’ve been destined to end my lines here.”
“Um sorry — I actually don’t understand you see.” stated by a voice not visible to the area.
“Who was that?” exclaimed the bear.
“Oh, my apologies. I am Hugo the owl. I just caught the end of this peculiar situation. Would you mind breaking it down for me once more? I would love to give you an answer to your fate if I am able.”
So the hare begins to explain his situation to the owl but, no matter the storytelling method chosen the owl does not understand. He tells him one thing, but he’ll think the opposite and fall into a great frustration.
Finally, the bear becomes so agitated for waiting to feast that he intrudes on the explanation. “My goodness owl it is not that difficult to grasp! What are you not getting?”
“How was it that you were in this cage. It seems far too small to hold such a beast like you.”
The Bear follows the trail leading to the cage and re-enters his holdings to prove to the owl how he was able to fit into the cage.
“Now I see it. Perfect!” Said the owl as he closes the cage door and ties it shut with one of his feathers. "You do fit better than I expected in this cage."
For at this moment the hare felt so lucky. The owl may not have given him the answer he wanted, but he gave him the solutions he needed.
Author's notes: This story was a recreation of the fun trickster's tale Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal. My twist on the story does involve a species flip, as well as more dialogue at the beginning between the captive and the savior. I wanted more emphasis on playing up the deceit of the bear by having his character show more through his words. I also wanted the owl to not seem as confused as the jackal did in the original tale, but more or less just trying to help the hare by being his own version of "efficient."
Bibliography: "Tiger, Brahman, and Jackel" from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. Web Source with Bear and friends image from Wikimedia Commons
After reading two articles over the idea of "feedback" it kind of puts into perspective how I have learned to take feedback throughout my years in college. The two articles I read were Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt in Creative Work, as well as How to Mentor a Perfectionist. Both articles hit right at home to me because I try so hard to be the book definition of "perfect" sometimes. My goal seems to always want to impress everyone, regardless if I'm proud of what I did or inspired by what I did or anything of the sort. They both touch on learning to trust yourself and your gut when it comes to your creativity and that your work can be successful regardless of someone reaping over it or it not passing the "perfect" definition. I want to look at what is being critiqued and take it as help to go in the right direction so that I'm still on a successful path, not the "only" path.
