Fable 4: The Rabbit and the Rhino

A/N: Hello Dear Reader,

I have decided to write 10 fables (some modern and some traditional) inspired by the great Aesop! This is the fourth installment, and is a little longer than normal, I decided to add a secondary storyline to it! Enjoy! Please Like Comment and Subscribe!

-TWW

There was once a rhino. He lived in the African grasslands, content to graze the afternoons away. He blinked his heavy eyelids lazily and dragged his feet across the mud, moving from patch to patch, slowly.

One evening, while under a zebrawood tree, his ears swiveled to rid his head of flies. When they did so, the caught a sound. He swiveled his ears on purpose the next time, seeking out the noise. When he found it, he heard panicked squeaks from the other side of the tree trunk. The rhino huffed and lumbered over to the noise to see a rabbit stuck in a snare.

Upon seeing the rhino, the rabbit became even more alarmed, desperately pulling at the wire stuck in his leg. The rhino huffed in tired defeat and turned to continue his grazing.

‘A sad sight,’ he thought ‘but a common one I suppose.’

“Wait!” the rabbit squeaked.

The rhino's ears turned to face the rabbit, listening.

“I’m not ready to die! Have mercy! This is a cruel trap. The creature that laid it is not here to finish me themselves! Cowards, I say!’ The rabbit rambled angrily.

The rhino was intrigued, this rabbit was different from others around the grasslands. She was brave enough to ask for his help and was angry at her situation, such anger he had never seen from a rabbit before. The rhino turned to face the poor creature.

“There is nothing I can do I am afraid. For what it’s worth, I do think they’re cruel. Humans, they call themselves. Completely unable to face anything head-on!" the rhino’s nostrils flared in anger at some memories involving the horrid humans.

“Head on, that’s it!” the rabbit exclaimed.

The rhino looked at her questioningly.

“Look at the snare, here!” the rabbit was getting more excited by the second.

The rhino tilted his head to look at the snare that had caught the rabbit. A wire loop held the rabbit’s hind leg high in the air and led upwards to a tree branch above. The branch was bent, had it whipped upwards fully, the rabbit would have been suspended in the air. There was some damage to the branch.

“Well?” the rabbit asked.

“Stand back,” the rhino stated deeply.

The rabbit was back to looking rather fearful as the rhino began to plod over the grasslands to a greater distance. She extended her leg as far as she could and held the ground tightly. The rhino had begun to pick up some dust in the distance, he was running around in tight circles, jabbing his horn into the air boisterously. With wide eyes, the rabbit watched on.

The rhino was feeling wound like a spring. Adrenaline stung his veins and hot air whooshed from his nostrils. Finally, he turned towards the tree. His muscles rippled as he ran. His feet thumped the ground, faster and faster. When he got to the tree, he lowered his head before sharply driving it upwards, into the branch holding the snare wire.

A sharp crack rippled through the grassland. Birds took flight. The rhino skidded to a halt.

The rhino turned around to see the rabbit, eyes tightly closed and trembling. Her leg was slack, the branch had cracked clean through and the wire had fallen down. She was free.

“Enjoy your life, little rabbit,” the rhino said plainly, walking away. As he did, he heard the newly realized cheers and whoops of one happy bunny.

It was near that same zebrawood tree where misfortune struck again. This time for the rhino. He was simply grazing when a sharp sting caught his backside. Thinking it was perhaps a thorn, he continued grazing until his vision began to blur.

‘That was no ordinary thorn.’ He thought as he fell blindly.

He retained his sight as the humans approached with their machinery. Feeling pain as the machinery began to hack at his horn.

His horn, his pride. They were attempting to steal it, and not give him a chance to fight back.

‘Cowardly creatures!’ the rhino tried to cry, but the voice came from another. A small voice from under the tree.

‘You cowardly creatures!’ it shouted again, louder this time.

One of the humans turned to reveal, the rabbit!

She stopped the ground with her legs, her hind ones kicking up small puffs of dirt. The rhino could see the snare scar from years past. She had grown.

The human picked up a metal stick, which fired a large noise at the rabbit, and stripped the tree of some of its bark.

‘A gun.’ The rhino had heard of them before.

The rabbit ran away fast, her courage seemingly gone. The rhino was glad to see her trail of dust across the grasslands, he could not have anyone die for him.

The humans continued to cut at his horn, and the pain was growing. It was a slow process, they had only just begun.

Suddenly, the sound of large thumping footsteps rumbled through the ground. The tree shook as a huge elephant crashed through the grassland. His face was scarred and his feet bore the mark of many snares. The rabbit ran alongside him, roaring a small, yet fierce battle cry.

Together they charged the humans, who ran as fast as their pathetic legs could carry them, all the way back to the nearby metal beast they rode. They scrambled in and it ran away.

The rabbit hopped into the rhino’s line of sight.

“Hello again!” she said cheerily

The rhino could only puff air from his mouth to respond.

“It does not last long,” the elephant, who had abandoned his chase, joined them. “You will be back to normal soon. Do not stand up too fast.” The elephant gave a little bow.

“Oh, I will go and find you some of those special leaves to perk you up,” the rabbit said excitedly before hopping away toward the bushes. The elephant watched her go.

“She’s a curious little rabbit isn’t she?” The elephant started. “I got caught in a snare and, while my family tried to get me out, they had given up hope,” the elephant looked at his foot, it bore a large scar. “She just popped up and started to direct us all. She told us where to stand, where to pull and push and soon enough, the snare loosened. She pulled the wire off herself."

"When I asked her why she just said she had been in a similar situation and hopped away again. I never thought I’d see her again and suddenly, she was in front of me, asking me to help her scare some humans away from a friend. I just followed her. She has given me more years than I could have asked for. I am an old man now, thanks to her.” The elephant finished reminiscing.

Another elephant called from a distance.

“I must get back to my family. Good luck friend.”

The rabbit had returned.

“Goodbye Sir Elephant and thank you!” she gurgled through a mouth of leaves.

The elephant bowed and began its journey back.

The rabbit came into the rhino’s view again. The rhino took a deep breath and rumbled out words to her.

“Brave… brave creature”.

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Moral: Bravery and strength are not limited to stature.

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A/N: Hi there! I hope you enjoyed this fable! I enjoyed writing it! I wrote it overnight on a crazy night of inspiration!

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My best to you all,

ThatWriterWoman