A hawk once snatched a chick, amid the mother hen's alarming squawks.
He took his prey to his nest on a tall Iroko. The chick herself was both frightened and curious. She had never seen a hawk before; she had only hatched recently.
She had heard stories about hawks:how they were supposed to be wicked, deadly, flying monsters.
With curious and frightened eyes, she observed the hawk, who had brought her here, only to leave her, to tend to his nest.
“Are you going to eat me?” she asked in a tiny voice.
The hawk sighed. “What did you think I brought you here for, a hug? Of course I’m going to eat you. Didn’t your Mama tell you that’s what we hawks do?”
“But you’re a bird like me.”
“Oh please!” He sighed in exasperation, “Everyone knows chickens are only half birds. What sort of a bird can’t fly?”
The chick stepped forward, pointing at his face. “But you have a beak like me, nostrils like mine, you’re covered in feathers too! You also have wings. So, we are the same. Birds shouldn’t eat birds.”
“But they do. Who knew catching a chick would be this troublesome? Hawks eat chicks. That’s how it has always been. Now, please shut up and let me have my dinner quietly,” he almost wailed.
She was a bold one, for she didn’t stay quiet for even a minute. “My Mama said it is never too late to change, to do the right thing."
He sighed. “You’re not scared of me, are you?”
She turned her head from side to side. “Not so much now, not really. Would you have been happy if you were snatched as a chick, to be eaten and your mother was sad?”
He sighed deeply and replied in a surprisingly mild voice. “I suppose I wouldn’t.”
He turned away from the chick for a moment, he turned again and said,
"Fine! You win. I will not eat you. I will take you back to your mother right now. Not because any of your mushy talks got into my head or something. I suddenly feel like eating less noisy prey, maybe a lizard? All they do is nod. You will not hear a sound from that….”
The hawk didn’t need to say it, it was obvious that what the chick said got to him. Sometimes, when we look into the eyes of our supposed enemies, or who we shouldn’t care about; we might find that they are just like us, deep down, deep down.
It’s all a matter of perspective.
YOU ARE READING
THE TAPESTRY OF FABLES
Short StoryA collection of captivating fables, illuminating as they are amusing. It's totally worth reading.
