It was a competition older than the two villages. For as long as the two villages existed, separated by the Nile River, so did the annual games. Every year, people from all over would come to cheer on the two teams. To the north of the Nile were the Srenoos, and to the south, the Snrohgnol. Both being an equal distance away from the Nile, made the river the perfect place to host the games. What was the game you ask? A two mile race along the river, ending at a famous feature of the Nile river: a massive swell of water called the Nottoc Bowl. The prize of the race? The winning village was declared King of the Nile for the next year, along with endless bragging rights.
Isnana marveled at the event, and could barely contain her excitement as the event came near. Although she was from the village of Anahg, her family, along with the rest of her village, would make the journey to see the spectacle, as it was the biggest sporting event in the region. Isnana never thought it was fair that her village did not compete in the competition, even though her father reminded her time and time again that it was for the top athletes only.
“You know Isnana, us elephants are not the fastest creatures out there," he would tell her.
She would remember how the participating teams would run through the towns in preparation for the race, and it was true, they were quite fast! Still, she did not think that was good enough reason why they couldn’t participate too! She gathered up her friends, and in typical Isnana manner, devised a game plan. They were going to join the race!
The day of the race arrived. The start line had been drawn, and the two teams were warming up. The kids were usually free to run around and play while the adults socialized, so no one even noticed what the kids were up to…
The announcers called for the two teams to line up, and all of the spectators took their seats. Isnana and her friends were nowhere to be seen, but with all of the buzz of excitement, no one took an interest. The racers lined up, and crouched down into their running stance. Bang! The gun sounded, and the runners were off. The two mile race had begun, and little did the spectators know that that a third team would soon be joining the race…
Two miles down the course, crouched in the bushes, were Isnana and her friends. From where they were sitting they could see the finish line, as well as the racers coming from the start line. When the racers neared, the gang was going to jump out of the bushes and cross the finish line. The plan was set, and now all they had to do was wait…
The runners in the lead approached, and Isnana began her countdown...
"3… 2… 1! JUMP!" yelled Isnana, and all the kids jumped out of the bush.
Gasps spread through the crowd, stunned to see children on the course. The runners themselves were shocked, and weren’t sure how to react. However, one of the runners in lead, a Gazelle from the Srenoos village, lovingly took the trunk of Isnana, and began to lead her toward the finish line. The other runners followed the example, and each took one child by the hand. The crowd went wild with cheers, overjoyed at the demonstration of good sportsmanship. Hand in hand, the runners from the Srenoos village, as well as the Snrohgnol, and the children all crossed the finish line together. The crowd went crazy! The children were ecstatic! However, this glory only lasted a moment before the event coordinator came storming over, furious at the children for ruining the race.
“How could you silly children do this?? You ruined such a huge event, where are your parents??” he fumed.
The professional runners, all having finished by now, surrounded the children, and fired back at the director,
“This race is not about winners, it is about bringing two communities of people together," retorted the Gazelle from the Srenoos, who was still holding on to Isnana.
“These are the future runners of this race, and they are going to change the world!” he exclaimed.
The crowd went wild with cheers. Red in the face, the director stormed off, and by a vote of the people, the trophy was awarded equally among all of the runners, the kids included! For the next year, there was no boasting or bragging, just celebration!
Author’s Note-
I originally wrote this story while driving back from OU/TX weekend, and I thought it would be fun to get Isnana in on the Red River Rivalry action. But of course, the stories are set in Africa, so the Nile River it is!! If you didn’t already, you might go back and recognize some of the play on words, which are so fun to do! However, there is an original animal trickster story from Ghana that a lot of this story is drawn from, called King Chameleon and the Animals. In the original, there is a village that has been having many disputes and crimes, but no governing system in place to punish the crimes, so it keeps continuing. The village decides to have a race among the different animals, and whoever wins will be crowned King of the village. They are set to race two miles to a great stool set under an ancient tree that they believe is the abode of some of their gods. The race starts, and a participating hare, being a fine runner, outruns the rest of them. He reaches the stool, and to his surprise sees that the chameleon is already atop of it. The chameleon had seized the tail of the hare before the race, and blended in all the way to the finish line. The hare was outraged, as he had been severely tricked and now could not be king. The people of the village, however, were not satisfied with this result, and no one was elected as King.
As the reader, hopefully you could see some of the parallel between the original and my own story. As usual, Anansi stories and their endings tend to be a little more devious and deceitful than I like to make for Isnana. She is a bright youth, whose stunts (while they can be inconvenient) usually call for the uplifting of moods! As always, feel free to drop any comments on my wall! Happy Reading!
Bibliography: William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, King Chameleon and the Animals, Story Link