A Lion without his Tail

A lion was on his usual hunting routine in the forest. He stealthily hid behind trees and bushes as he tried to stay out of sight of his prey. He moved slowly to avoid making any noise. Behind the bushes, a group of hunters were camouflaged and slowly approaching the antelope with the same goal in mind as the lion. The hunters set traps in the forest ahead of time and were waiting to scare the antelope into one of their traps in order to capture the antelope. The lion was so focused on the antelope in plain sight that he did not realize the people in the forest were also hunting the antelope. The lion beat the hunters to making the first move as he decided to dash straight towards the antelope. The lion built up speed so that the antelope would not have enough time to run away but by the time the lion spotted the trap, it was too late to stop his momentum and he ran straight into a trap set by the hunters. He managed to move fast enough to avoid being completely stuck in the trap but he ended up losing his tail. The antelope found an escape route and ran off into the thick brush of the forest. A hunter threw down his cap in anger as others grumbled at the fact that they not only lost the antelope but also wasted a trap.

The lion quickly darted back to his cave to avoid being seen and stayed in his cave for days. He refused to leave in case someone saw him. He thought to himself, “I am the king of the beasts; I will never be able to go out in public again looking like this.” He replayed scenarios in his head of what would happen as soon as someone else saw him. He would see images of foxes sneering at him and saying, "Is that a lion without a tail!? He must have lost it from sitting around all day and doing nothing while the rest of us are actually working." He would also imagine other lions shunning him from their pride because he no longer fit in. His stomach growled endlessly but the thought of all the other animals laughing and making jokes about his missing tail was enough to shrink his appetite. He would only go out to get food and water when there was not a single glimpse of light left outside and then quickly go back into hiding. He paced back and forth in his cave and finally decided that he could no longer keep hiding.

When the lion peeked out of his cave, he spotted a group of foxes outside the entrance to his cave. His heart sank as he realized this was the worst group of animals he could possibly run into. The foxes were known for their tricks and jokes. They all noticed his missing tail immediately and rolled over on the ground in laughter. The lion decided to walk through the crowd full of pride and show off his new look. He tried to convince them that he meant to cut off his tail. He boasted about all of the advantages he now had without a tail. He flaunted about how he didn’t have a weakness now since no one could grab or step on his tail. He said with a smirk on his face “I wouldn’t expect you to understand though.” The foxes were outraged at the lion’s comment and started biting off each others' tails one by one to show the lion that they could be just as great as he was, while the lion walked away with a grin on his face.

Moral of the Story: The world won't end if something happens and you feel like you won't fit in anymore. Make the most of your situation because there will always be a supportive person out there that will help you through it and if you run into a bully, feel free to teach them a lesson.

The Lion and the Fox: The Baldwin Project

Bibliography. "The Fox without a Tail" from Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs, web source

Author's Note: In the original story, a fox lost his tail from getting caught in a trap and he was so embarrassed and ashamed that he stayed in hiding for a while. He gathered up the courage to be seen in public again by coming up with a plan to trick other foxes. He ended up trying to persuade other foxes that his life was so much better without his tail because he said it was annoying when dogs tried to chase after their tails. He tried to convince them that they should cut off their own tails too but none of the other foxes listened to him. They just laughed as he tried to convince them. I decided to change the main character to a lion because lions typically have a lot of pride since they are known as the king of the beasts. I also remembered reading one of Aesop's fables where the lion was the trickster for once instead of the fox always being the trickster so I combined those two ideas for my story. I also changed the ending to where the lion ended up being successful in convincing others because it would be too sad of a story if the lion was unsuccessful and had to go back into hiding for forever.

Image source: Lion: Buzz Feed