The Rhinoceros and the Savanna

Recently I had to write a fable for Ethics class.

Here's the assignment: Project 1 requires you to develop and write your own fable. A fable is a short story that is used to teach a lesson about morals or values. The fable usually has animal characters that speak and act like humans.

The Rhinoceros and the Savanna
On a hot sunny day in the African savanna, a young white rhinoceros named Marie sat in the shade of a rustling tree. The breeze blowing from the East did little to cool her thick grey skin; it carried only hot air to her. Her belly grumbled with a great hunger, yet she had no desire to rise up and start grazing on the crunchy, dried grass. She glanced over toward the tree line. The family of wild dogs was stirring in the cool temperatures. Her friend Elizabeth was prancing around barking at her younger sister.
Suddenly Elizabeth caught Marie’s gaze. Her mood instantly changed and she sprinted over to the shade tree. “Oh great,” Marie muttered to herself. “Why aren’t you eating? The grass is long today, and the hot wind is blowing!” Elizabeth was obviously upset at Marie. A Great White Rhino had an obligation to the creatures of the savanna to keep the grass short. Without the rhino a fire would easily whip through and ignite the dry timbers of the woodlands.
“I’m too tired, and it’s so hot! I’d rather just lay here and sleep if it’s all the same. Besides, I’m not the only one who can keep the grass short. Why don’t you eat the grass?” Marie watched as a dejected Elizabeth wandered back toward the tree line. Sure enough she started eating grass along the way. Her sharp teeth were meant for eating meat. She didn’t have the wide mouth with large lips like Marie, an animal that was perfectly suited for grazing on the flowing grass.
Eventually Elizabeth drifted under another tree, a little closer to the woodlands. She lay down and crossed her paws, her stomach feeling horrible from all of the grass her poor body had consumed. After glancing over at Marie she laid her head on her paws and let out a little whimper. Her eyes settled on a small boy from a nearby human tribe that was playing with some branches in the grass next to the Rhino.
The boy was young for a human. She had seen him before, being scolded by his mother while throwing rocks at nearby wildebeests. Elizabeth thought to her self, are those branches on fire? Sure enough, the boy had managed to start a fire and now was trying to cook a snake. When he finished cooking it, he ran the snake – still skewered by a branch – into the woodland. Elizabeth noticed that his fire was still burning, but her stomach hurt, and she was still upset that Marie was not doing her job. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
With a hot East wind blowing, the fire didn’t just stay put. Eventually an ember ignited a blade of already dry grass. Quickly, the flames zipped up underneath the tree that Marie was resting under. They nipped at her heals, heating the armor that her thick skin provided. “Fire! Help!” Marie quickly hoped up and started stomping the grass with her massive, flat feet. The flames darted from underneath her and raced for the tree line, and the family of wild dogs.
Hearing cries for help, Elizabeth hoped up and started howling for her family. Seeing the white rhino stomping out the flames, she was encouraged. She raced toward Rose, an enormous African Elephant that was eating near the tree line. Seeing the flames, Rose reacted before Elizabeth could warn her. She sounded an alarm and raced to help stomp out the flames. More elephants and rhinos came upon hearing the great fuss. Together with the other, smaller animals, they managed to stomp out the fire before it touched the precious woodlands.
Elizabeth walked toward Marie, who was hanging her horned head in shame. “I’m sorry Elizabeth; I should have been working today.” Elizabeth licked Marie’s face. “It’s okay. We’re all safe now,” She reassured. Rose strolled up and laid her trunk on Marie’s back. “Remember,” she advised, “Never expect someone else to do a job happily when you are unwilling to do it yourself.”


From the Author
As this is an original work of fiction, there were no citations. However I drew inspiration from many sources. For more information on:
Rhinoceros Legends
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros#Legends
White Rhino
http://www.rhinos-irf.org/rhinoinformation/whiterhino/index.htm
Savannas and their neighboring woodlands
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savanna
Wild Dogs
http://www.zoolex.org/zoolexcgi/view.py?id=511
African Elephants
http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/about_elephants.htm#AfricaElephant