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The Otter and the Stag

A Tale of Pride

By The Rainbow RamPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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There once was an otter and a stag, the stag saw how quickly the otter could walk on land, but he was proud and he was much faster when running.

Stag poked fun at the otter for playing in the water all day long and one day said "Otter, I'm much faster than you on land, look at how my big hooves can crush grass and dirt and bound over rocks! You could NEVER beat me."

The otter simply replied, floating on it's favorite little river "I can get to where you want to go too Stag, I easily float on the water."

The Stag laughed at him, "Otter, you are a fool, the water hits rocks, and its currents are cruel, just like the rocks and thorns on the ground, you have to go over them or stomp over them to get to where you want to go!"

Otter just mused and playfully danced around "Hey, I'll race you! I'll bet you cannot reach the river's end before I can!" The stag glanced at the way, he knew it well, it held thorns, thickets, and mountainous terrain. He knew also that the Otter's path had rushing currents, whirlpools, and a crashing waterfall. He would easily win, he thought.

"I'll take your bet, but you can't just float the whole way there!" he snorted his amusement.

The otter simply looked at him and asked, "Why not?"

And so the race began.

The stag bounded over great distances, his hooves slamming the rock into tiny pebbles, over the grass he sped, down the hills with sliding gravel and finally to the mountain path, the mountain was huge, he knew just beyond was the river's end, and had gotten there so soon he was prideful. But, the mountain was very steep, and dangerous.

He stormed his way up the path, only to realize that he couldn't get up very far with his pounding hooves... they would loosen the rock and dirt and cause him to slip and slide precariously close to the edge.

Ignoring this, he kept going, on and on he tried, till it was night, and then day. He was nearly to the point of slamming his hooves on the graveled side of the mountain when suddenly he looked back to hear the little otter singing

"Swimming, swimming yes indeed, is the happy way to be! I can float and I can swim, I am so happy in the river I am in!" Otter stopped, seeing the beaten down Stag. "Oh dear, what happened? Can you not get to the other side? Why did you not swim? The river is right there! I know it winds and takes a bit longer...but it's better than this..."

"It's too easy, I wouldn't have gotten what I wanted..." he replied pridefully.

"To be tired?" The otter asked confused, swimming in circles.

"No!"

"To be angry?" he asked happily, wondering if she had guessed it.

The stag slammed his feet on the ground and shook his head "NO!"

The Otter frowned...

"Just because it's easy to swim, and takes a bit longer than running, does not mean you cannot get there." The otter swam again. "See how I got here? I floated past the rocks, and yes I was afraid of the currents, but they took me where I needed to go, I avoided one current and I hurt my paw! I think currents are a good thing now.. .despite how scary they are." He paused, thinking.

"And the waterfall was scary too, I did fight that for a bit, but then I realized that was where I was heading in the first place! And once I let go, I just whooshed on down and here I am!" he jumped out of the water and dove in, popping back up chattering "But why are you fighting the mountain when you can beat it by going around? The mountain won't go anywhere...so in the end you beat it!"

"It's not the same,"

"Because you aren't using your hooves to smash things? Don't you see the more you fight the stones and gravel, the more you create? Your hooves not only cause damage to the mountain, but to yourself!"

The Stag looked at his hooves and forelocks, they were bleeding.

The otter called. "Come on!"

"I can't swim..." the stag hung his head.

The Otter splashed "I can help you!" but the Stag refused.

The Otter called off the race, for in the end it was never about winning, it was about having fun in the world with her friend.

To this day the Stag still stands, pounding furiously, at a mountain that will not move.

wild animals
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About the Creator

The Rainbow Ram

The Rainbow Ram lives in the beautiful state of Idaho. She is fantasy author and spends her free time writing romance novels!

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