Summary

An antelope's greed leads to her downfall when she seeks a secret stream revealed by birds, only to be attacked by a crocodile and then a cheetah, illustrating the perils of selfishness in a survival-driven animal kingdom.

Abstract

During a severe drought in the safari lands, an antelope overhears two birds discussing a hidden stream with clear water. Despite the birds' initial reluctance, the antelope convinces them to share the location by promising to keep it secret. However, her solitary quest for the stream results in a crocodile attack, from which she narrowly escapes with an injury. Subsequently, a cheetah, having also learned of the stream from the birds, lies in wait and catches the antelope, revealing that the birds had struck a deal with the cheetah to save themselves. The narrative concludes by questioning who is most at fault in this tale of survival, suggesting that each animal was merely trying to survive, with the antelope's greed ultimately leading to her demise.

Opinions

The author implies that the antelope's greed and selfishness in seeking the stream for herself, rather than sharing with her herd, is a significant character flaw that leads to her misfortune.
The birds are portrayed as opportunistic, willing to betray the antelope to save themselves from the cheetah, suggesting a moral ambiguity in their actions driven by the instinct to survive.
The cheetah is depicted as a cunning predator, taking advantage of the situation created by the birds to secure an easy meal, reflecting the natural order of the food chain.
The crocodile's presence in the story, while brief, underscores the constant danger present in the animals' environment and the necessity of strength and cunning for survival.
The narrative raises questions about the ethics of survival in the animal kingdom, leaving the reader to ponder the complexities of moral judgment in the context of instinctual behavior.

The Greedy Antelope

Free verse

Upon a time, in the safari lands there was a historic drought, that emptied the rivers, and the herbivores, they had it the worst.

It was during this period when an antelope heard whispers, she was eavesdropping no less, feeding under a tree, and it was 2 birds from above.

They spoke of a stream that was unknown to the animals in the lands, a gushing flow of the clearest waters was what the birds had said.

The antelope snorted, and let her presence be known the birds looked down, initially terrified but once they saw it was an antelope, their fear was completely gone.

One of the birds asked, “What do you want antelope?” The antelope replied, “I seek the streams that you speak of,” the two birds both unanimously said, “Why would we tell you, what would you do for us?” After a mischievous grin, the antelope answered, “Well, I will keep it a secret of course, you don’t want all the other animals knowing, and I’ll even keep it from my herd.”

With that, the birds revealed the location of their secret, and the greedy antelope, snuck away from her herd, making her way to the stream.

Just as the birds had told her, the stream was plentiful, she could not believe her luck, she drank to her fill.

But just as she had finished, she felt a sharp pain in one of her limbs, a crocodile had bitten down, and was now devouring her leg.

She kicked and she fought, using all her might to break free, and with one final thrust she escaped with a limp.

As soon as she relaxed and began counting her lucky stars, a pouncing cheetah emerged, apparently lying in wait, Oh, those mischievous birds.

With her injured leg, she knew she was done.

It appears, the cheetah had also overheard the birds but instead of snorting, it silently crept up behind them for he knew, the birds would fly away.

With a swift pounce, one of the birds was underneath its paw and to save his own life, the bird had struck a deal with the cheetah. So in reality, the antelope was just a mark, and because of her greed, she fell right into the trap.

One might wonder though, who was more at fault? the birds for saving themselves? the antelope for forsaking her herd

and only looking out for herself? Or the cheetah for being on top of the food chain?

It seems to me, they were all trying to survive, the cheetah of course, was just looking for an easy meal and the crocodile, well, probably needs stronger jaws.

Thank you for reading. I missed the deadline for this prompt, but I’d like to thank jenine bsharah baines for tagging me to participate in this prompt and thanks to Victor Sarkin for originating the prompt.

Here is Jenine’s piece

The Birds and the Bees

GiaB prompt #20 animalia

medium.com

And the original prompt

Curious Lives

GiaB writing prompt #20

medium.com