Nature's Twist

by Ayoola Olafenwa

CHAPTER 6 : TWISTED LIFE

  The animal kingdom remained the same, life was twisted with fear and horror. The lions continued to be the main tormentors of the whole kingdom. All the animals were tormented by the lions. The monkeys were among the animals which lions had make life unbearable for. Out of their quest for protection from the savage, they decided to be living on tall trees beyond the reach of the lions. Unfortunately, not all the other animals are as fortunate as monkeys because they lack climbing skills. The animal recently had a new source of happiness in the form of heavy rainfalls. The cloud pumped out its water and the whole kingdom flooded with water. The crops bloomed exceedingly, providing much more food for the animals. The animals no longer needed to travel away from their habitat in order to get food, there was ample food everywhere. The animals therefore had to stay within their habitat enjoying their life. This helped to protect them from the predators that usually pounced on them whenever they moved out of their habitat in order to eat.

  The abundance of food reminded the animals about their festival "festival of Harvest" which they last held years ago especially because of the famine that recently ended and the great brutality of the savage. Gone were the good days when all animals would organize and celebrate together, but now, each of the animals choose to celebrate in groups. Some of these animals included zebras, antelopes, kangaroos and the monkeys. The monkeys had the most flamboyant celebration, on a large tree with many branches and large fibrous leaves that formed an attractive canopy adding to the enjoyment and celebration of the festival. The monkeys entertained themselves not only with food, music and dancing were part of it. The monkeys sang and danced happily with ample food available. The merriment continued for so long uninterrupted. But the devil is always on the look for those he would inflict evil upon and he takes advantage of the slightest chance to do so. The tigers had been wandering below the tall tree like a thief keeping watch over the owner of a property which he intends to rob. The tall tree failed to discourage them from unleashing their scheme, as they are skillful tree climbers. The saying that, “ignorance is a bliss” perfectly describes the state of these monkeys. The monkeys who were ignorant of the presence of the tigers continued to celebrate with great gladness. The tigers, about four in number climbed the tree unnoticed, as the monkeys were overwhelmed with happiness. The tigers in their fastidious way of climbing the tree reached the top of the tree without attracting any attention from the monkeys. They bumped into the monkeys like hawks who pounce on the chicks of a hen unawares. The enjoyable jubilation among the monkeys immediately came to an abrupt end. The scene of happy ceremony turned into horror and bitterness. This incidence was very unfortunate, not only did these monkeys suffer from the tigers’ wickedness. Other animals who engaged in festivals also suffered the same fate in the hands of lions and cheetahs. The animals wished they could perform a miracle that will banish all the cruel animals from the kingdom. The barbaric act of the savage seemed to be interminable. Everyday turned into fear as the lifespan of the animals was determined by the savage creatures.

  Some of these animals resorted to living outside the kingdom. The animals were able to find a better shelter from the savage. Many of these animals served as a source of tourist attraction to many people especially the kids. The animals which lived closest to humans are the dogs, cats and the rats. The rats which are very tiny animals lived in hidden places in homes. The cats moved closer to the people in order to have access to their prey, the rats. The rats who ran away from the kingdom because of the cats never knew that the cats will find them anywhere they went to. The dogs and cats behaved very friendly with the humans and people were very excited to have such animals with them, they also gave them food. Other animals like antelopes, zebras, kangaroos, giraffes and Monkeys were not so friendly, hence they did not live close to people, they lived around the human environment. These animals enjoyed the new environment. They hardly went into the kingdom, the savage were denied from their daily meal. The bliss the animals enjoyed didn't last for long as the lions became desperate and came out of their kingdom to hunt for their meal. In the process they attacked some people. This infuriated the humans because this had never happened before. They decided to take drastic actions by dealing with these animals and chasing them back into their kingdom. They killed some of the animals, the lions detecting that the humans will kill them, ran back to their kingdom. The other animals too had to return back to their kingdom as the outside world was no longer safe for them. Some of the animals killed were cooked or roasted and eaten by people. This incidence can be regarded as the event that led to hunting expedition among people. People decided to be hunting in the animal kingdom. With the use of a spear, bow and arrow, hunting was made easier. The humans ravaged the kingdom hunting for every living creature. The savage creatures served as a great obstacle to free hunting expedition. But the humans dealt with these savages. The humans taught them a lesson that the savages have a master and were not the only ones capable of hunting.

  Life must continue no matter the situation, a better choice must be considered. The choice of flying from a frying pan into fire is never the right choice. It will only worsen the situation. The choice of staying in the frying pan is fairly better. The animals, kicked out of the human world by both Savage and humans had to choose. They had to make a decision in this dilemma. Some animals refused to be sent into the fire. The Savage had made the animal kingdom a fireplace which burnt the weaker ones. Some of the weaker ones choose the human world as they thought that there is a chance of hope for them. Xolly and his fellow Dogs had to make this choice. Xolly and his friends choose to be living in a small desert area with very few people. The humans continued to hunt for the animals in the animal kingdom. Xolly and his friends continued their simple life feeding on the little food they had. The most prominent hunter in the human world was Bob who had been known to have killed two Lions. The Dogs occasionally go into the kingdom whenever they ran out of food and immediately returned back to their habitat in fear of the savage. The Dogs however protected themselves from intruders that came to their habitat by their aggressive behaviour of barking violently at anyone. The humans were very happy for their adventure into the animal kingdom. The animals serve greatly as source of food to humans. Some people especially the farmers were more prudent in their hunting as some set of animals such as Cattle, Goats and sheep were taken and kept on farms for the purpose of rearing. The hunters observed some set of animals which could be useful for things other than food. These included the Horses who are fast runners with strong limbs, the Camels, Ox and Donkeys. The Horses were best used to transport the humans. Also the Camels were used to transport heavy loads and for carrying people. Other animals which were put into use especially for farm operations included Donkeys and Oxen. These animals had no choice but to obey the humans since they knew that if they carry out the tasks given to them, the humans will not kill them and they will take care of them. Apart from this, the humans taking these animals out of the animal kingdom rescued the animals from the cruel acts of the savage. The animals became crucial to human’s life as they had helped greatly in performing human tasks and also as an alternative means of transportation, thereby reducing the stress of walking over long distances.

  Mavis, a young girl, loved adventure. She loved surveying round her environment, always wishing to know more about her environment. Out of her quest to learn more about nature, she became fascinated by the animals in the kingdom. She wished she could know more about the animal kingdom, particularly the animals. She however became frightened because of the savage in the animal kingdom. She once asked her mother, “Mummy I heard that in the animal kingdom some animals are good and gentle while some are cruelly feeding on other animals, why is it like that?” “I do not know why, but my darling daughter, never should you think of moving close to the animal kingdom, it is a dangerous place with dangerous animals, only bold hunters can go into the animal kingdom”. Her mother warned her. Mavis was still
willing to know more as she wondered why the horse her father (Bob) used to ride on never attacked him. Mavis and her father Bob went out of Sava land to pay a visit to someone living faraway. Riding gently on their horse, Mavis noticed a group of dogs walking afar off. She called the attention of her father to them, ”Daddy, see those dogs walking afar off, they must be coming from the animal kingdom.” “If they come so close to us I will deal with them,” Bob replied his daughter. They reached their friend’s home who was very happy to see them. They decided to spend some days there. On the third day, Mavis and the friend’s son about her age were playing with a kite around their environment. Mavis was so excited seeing her kite flying up so high. She couldn’t see her kite in the sky again and she decided to walk and check whether it was stuck to a tree while the other boy was busy chasing after a rat. She continued to run about excitedly until she reached a maze of palm trees where she thought the kite must be hiding. She continued to search about, admiring the beauty of these tall trees.

  Mavis’s period of excitement was interrupted by a strange sound, the sound of the stamping feet of a running creature. She looked around and couldn’t see anything. She moved forward and saw an Antelope running desperately away from a lion. She was extremely frightened as this was her first time of setting her eyes on any Lion. She began to run wearily. The lion was chasing after the antelope from the animal kingdom. The antelope had run so fast beyond the Lion. She continued to run with no sense of direction. She tried to get back home until she realized that she had run so far and couldn’t find her way back home. She found herself in a sandy environment and she couldn’t see anyone. She felt so frightened and she started walking about seeking for refuge. She finally found a lonely tree and she rested under it. Her mind was full of worry about what will befall her, wishing that her father will appear beside her and take her home. She stayed there looking round her environment in apprehension. She saw a Lion walking afar off supposedly to be the Lion that was chasing after an antelope. She felt so frightened that the Lion might come and attack her. She started running wishing she could grow wings and fly to a safe place, free from any wild animal. She was lucky to run further from the Lion’s vicinity. Xolly and about three dogs saw this young girl wandering about with no sense of direction. They had earlier seen the lion and they knew that the young girl must be running from the Lion. “That little girl must be running away from the Lion, ” Xolly said. “She would have lost her way back home. May be we should take her to Mr. Goody, he will be able to take care of her, ” another dog said. Mr. Goody was a man living in the desert that found Xolly and the other dogs wandering about in the desert and he adopted them as pets. They walked towards Mavis. She became frightened, turned back and ran. After running a while she looked back and she realized that the dogs were not running after her. It dawned on her that these animals might be one of those harmless animals that help humans. She walked back to these dogs, as she was walking back, Xolly used his mouth to throw a mango fruit to her. “Wow! These animals must be harmless. ” she picked up the mango. She came close to these dogs and the dogs turned their back. She followed them, walked a while and reached a small house with a mango tree planted in front of it. “This is unbelievable! these dogs led me to a house? These dogs must be living here.” Mr. Goody heard her voice and he came out. He was very happy to see this pretty young girl. He welcomed her warmly and gave her food to eat. Mavis narrated to him how she had lost her way back home and asked him if he could help her get home.

  Bob and his friend had been so worried about the whereabouts of Mavis. They had searched everywhere. Bob had gone to Sava land to ask his wife whether Mavis had returned home. Mavis’ mother informed Bob that Mavis didn’t come home. Mavis’ mother was frightened to hear that her only daughter was missing. She and her husband returned back to Bob’s friend and they all continued to search for Mavis. After three days of vigorous searching, they reached Mr. Goody’s house and found Mavis playing with a dog. They were extremely happy, Mavis ran to meet her parents. Bob carried her up excitedly. Mr. Goody was very happy that Mavis’ parents had located her. Mavis explained to her parents how the dogs led her to Mr. Goody’s house. Mr. Goody confirmed that the dogs brought Mavis to him and he also narrated to them how the dogs had been so useful to him. Bob and his wife were astonished that dogs are such useful animals. They thanked Mr. Goody very much for how he had taken care of their daughter. “I wish to have some of these dogs with me, please can you lend me some of your dogs?” asked Bob. “You can have as many dogs as you want, ” Mr. Goody showed him many dogs he kept as pets. Bob took two of them, including the dog Mavis was playing with. They went back home feeling happy. The Dogs were welcomed into the human world happily. The story of the young girl that the dogs helped made everyone to accept dogs as suitable animals that can live among people. They became common pets among people and they helped humans in different ways.