The Eagle and the Turtle

Once, there lived a fluffle of bunnies on a hillside in the deepest part of the valley. They had lived there for many years, but after so long, their green grassland had begun to dry up. Their food had begun to disappear, and so did the size of their fluffle.

On the other side of the mountain, in a very large and thriving forest, lived an Eagle. Eagle was a prideful hunter, always gloating to himself and others of how clever and skillful he was when catching his prey. One day, he decided to go to the other side of the mountain, where he spotted the bunnies. He came up with a plan to eat them all.

Eagle swooped down to the hillside, so the bunnies could have a clear view of him as he made his descent. Once on the ground, he proudly waltzed his way over towards the bunnies. With their full attention, he confidently exclaimed, “Hello bunnies. Do not fear, for I am not here to eat you. I was perching atop the mountain when I spotted your poor little dried-up hillside. It seems you may be losing a lot of greenery.”

The Biggest Bunny stepped forward and beamed at the Eagle.

He shouted, “You don’t fool us, Eagle, for in the entire history of time, not once has an Eagle brought good to a bunny. If not to eat us, what are your intentions here?”

“Well, you see, I live on the other side of this mountain. On the other side is a forest, filled with lots of grass. Although it is true, I sometimes may eat a bunny here or there, I still seek to bring you no harm. I’m simply offering you a chance to live somewhere else, where your fluffle can continue to flourish,” the deceitful Eagle lied. “I will take you there to see for yourself.”

The bunnies didn’t want to believe Eagle, but at the same time, he might be their only chance at seeing the grasslands again.

“Alrighty then,” Biggest Bunny shouted, “we will send one of us with you. Our smallest bunny, Little Bunny, will come with you to see the other side of the mountain. Bring him back, and you will earn our trust.”

Eagle took Little Bunny to the forest on the other side, and then shortly they returned. The fluffle was anxiously awaiting the return of Eagle and Little Bunny. Little Bunny jumped out of Eagle’s claws and ran to the group. The bunnies concluded they could trust Eagle. They decided they would let Little Bunny be the first across, since he was so brave to go on the test flight. Little Bunny jumped back into Eagle’s claws, and off they soared to the top of the mountain

“We are here,” said the Eagle, grinning.

“What do you mean, Eagle?” asked Little Bunny, suddenly frightened.

“Silly bunny, I never planned on helping you all. I’m going to eat each and every last one of you!”

And so Eagle did so. First he ate Little Bunny, then he came back for Big Bunny, and every last bunny till there were no more. A few days later, Eagle returned to the dried-up hillside. He didn’t find any more bunnies, but he did spot a green snapping turtle, sitting on top of a warm rock, just beyond the brown hillside.

The Eagle thought to himself, “Hmmmm, when was the last time I had turtle soup? Surely it’s been too long. I can trick this turtle with the same plan I used on the bunnies.”

“Hello, Turtle,” Eagle snickered, “I see your grassland has dried up. I can help you get to the green forest on the other side, as I did with the fluffle of bunnies that once lived here, too.”

The Turtle, however, knew the Eagle had no desire to help those bunnies. He knew that, if he were to trust the Eagle, he too would end up in the Eagle's belly. Turtle did want to get to that forest on the other side, so he thought up a plan.

“Alright, Eagle, I’ll take your offer. Fly me over the mountain to the forest beyond.”

“Sure, just let me scoop you up with my claws. I will carry you there,” exclaimed Eagle.

“Oh, but Eagle, my shell is too big for you to take me with your claws. I’m afraid you will drop me. Instead, let me climb on your back. There, I can hold onto your great wings,” replied Turtle.

Eagle, getting impatient with the wise Turtle, cracked back, “Fine, hurry up and climb aboard. We will go now.”

Turtle climbed onto Eagle’s back. They took off and ascended to the mountain top. Turtle had his sharp snapping beak close to the back of Eagle’s neck. Once at the top, Eagle stopped, and prepared for his feast.

“This is as far as you’ll go, Turtle, for I am going to make you into soup.”

“Surely, Eagle, I would be truly terrified in this moment, just as the bunnies were before you ate them, too. However, I’m a little smarter. If you don’t put me down on the forest floor below, I will snap your neck with my beastly beak. If you want to live, you’ll bring me to the forest floor.”

Eagle became terrified and nervous from the trap the Turtle had sprung. Worried for his own life, Eagle complied.

“OK! Down to the forest we go!” cried Eagle.

They swooped down rapidly, where Eagle asked Turtle to jump off his back, so he might fly away and never bother Turtle again. Instead, once at the bottom and on the ground, Turtle snapped Eagle’s neck, killing him on the spot.

“Often those who take advantage of others get what’s coming to them,” Turtle wisely boasted, as he waddled into the forest.

Bibliography. "The Cunning Crane and the Crab" from by W. H. D. Rouse. I enjoyed this story and changed the characters up a little bit, keeping the plot the same with similar overarching themes. Instead of using a crane, I was deciding between a crocodile or an eagle, just some type of large and predatory animal. I settled on an eagle because they hunt a lot of small animals. This story could be changed many different ways, but I wanted to keep the plot the same because it helps incorporate the moral of the story: what goes around comes around. Basically, if you do bad things to other people, then chances are it will eventually catch up to you and something bad will also happen to you. Using animals as characters helps keep the story a little light and not so dark, considering all the bunnies in the story end up dying, along with the eagle himself. I originally wrote a much longer story, with more detail and plot development, but it was too long to be considered a short story, so I had to trim down a lot. I had fun writing this story because the plot was already set so I just needed to make my own changes to the characters for it to have the same effect.

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