“Now, now, Figlio, will you go to sleep tonight without a story?”

“Nu-huh, you’ve gotta tell me one, Dad!,” Figlio insisted, his eyes wide with excitement.

Shaking his head, Dad said, “You’ll become an encyclopedia at this rate.”

“Maybe I’ll become a historian after I’m too old and wrinkly like you to keep fighting.”

“Your old father still has some fire burning inside, battles to fight… But let’s talk of better things.”

“Hopefully, you’ll still have stories to tell me, too!”

“I’ll have to dust off some of my old books, but yes.”

“My friends and I were playing Rats and Leopards today. They said they invented it. I don't remember you telling me any stories about Leopards or Rats. Please tell me that there’s a story to go with it.”

“There is, there is.”

…

THE RAT AND THE LEOPARDS

Written by: Isabel Chiwibel (Fiverr name @Chiwibel)

Edited by: Celina Mike (Fiverr name @Celinawrite)

Seasons and seasons ago, when the wars were fought with simple weapons and simpler plans when scouts rarely came back from expeditions. During this time the leopards declared war against the mice and the birds.

The mice, because the leopards saw them as inferior tricksters who always wait for the deep shadows of the night to cover their attempts at hitting back. The Aerial race because of their cowardly way of keeping to the skies. Those birds always struck suddenly and without warning. They dove from the clouds and flew away and out of reach immediately after their swift, diving attacks. The leopards, however, fought head-on with weapons in hand and hid behind nothing.

They were very close to wiping out the rodents and the Aerial race, but the mice and the birds suddenly were, even now in talks with the emissary of a new potential, but unknown ally that could tip the balance of the war in their favor.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The leopards, getting wind of this news quickly sent out scouts and spies to capture this emissary before he could successfully make it back to his king with the offer the mice and the birds had given him.

A leopard spy patrolling the south road found a bearded mouse walking straight towards him.

“Seen mouse, dead mouse,” the leopard said, raising his knife, “I have you now.”

image [https://i.postimg.cc/zfyVCwgH/Leopard-2-Light-source.png]

The mouse grew extremely angry and shook his fist at the scout. “How dare you slander me! I’m no stinking mouse but a rat and proud of it! Don’t you know the difference between a mouse and a rat?”

The scout hesitated and had a look of confusion on his face as he peered closely at the mouse who claimed to be a rat. Had he been fooled? He’d seen many mice during the war but had never met an angry mouse. Even in war, Mice were calm, working together in tight units to defeat their enemies. From all he had heard of rats though, they looked like mice but had short tempers and were not to be trifled with.

“Of course, I knew you were a rat,” said the spy, chuckling, as he put his knife away. “I was just having a bit of fun with you that’s all testing to see if you knew what you were. Now move along and have a great evening.”

Later that night, much further down the south road, an armored leopard scout with a spear in hand caught sight of the same bearded mouse who had claimed to be a rat.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/qRBDDRpK/Leopard-colors.jpg]

“I caught you, Emissary! Didn’t think you’d be a rat though,” said the leopard scout, keeping the tip of his spear on the rodent’s chest. The leopard had heard of the fierce temper of rats, and he had to be on guard.

“What are you saying, sir?” said the bearded mouse in a very kind, and calm manner. “Can’t you tell the difference between a mouse and a rat? I’m not a rat like that emissary I’m tracking down. They have a very short temper. Wait. Did you let the emissary get through your watch? No wonder your friend up the road with the knife told me you’d probably be taking a beauty nap and would let this happen.”

The armored scout, shocked, realized that there was a possibility that he might have closed his eyes and caught himself dozing several times earlier. He stared down the winding road in the direction where this bearded mouse was heading.

“Go back to that useless knife-wielding nitwit,” the hunter said fiercely, “and tell him I didn’t close my eyes a wink. Go right now!”

The bearded mouse openly showing fear on his face sprinted back up the road where he had originally come from, but when he was gone some good distance, he quickly snuck back to where the armored scout had been, but the leopard was no longer there. The bearded mouse could see him running down the long, winding road with his spear in hand, searching for the emissary.

It was now morning and the same bearded mouse who had claimed first to be a rat and then a mouse sat on his throne made of living arms, and once he placed the crown on his head, a spinning sword suspended in mid-air materialized directly above him. In his vast throne room, all his rat generals had gathered to hear the command of their king.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/XYcTst9T/Emperor-Loucura.jpg]

“The mice have requested our help in their war against the Leopards,” said the bearded rat king as the sword spun above him. “We go to war to help our mice kin!”

…

“Hmm, dad I don’t know if I like this story more than I love my game.”

“How come, Figlio?”

“In my game with my friends, rats and leopards are enemies, and we fight. Sometimes rats win, sometimes leopards win, but a leopard would never let a rat escape.”

“I see.”

“Dad, are you trying to teach me a lesson about patience?”

“No, the lesson for you, Figlio, is you are a mouse like your mom and me, but there are times when you have to be a rat.”

“Hmm, but I’m not a rat, dad.”

“I know you’re not.”

“I don’t understand.”

“In the future, if you ever run into a leopard or any other dangerous individuals who want to hurt you, your life may depend on you becoming a rat. Do you understand now?”

“I think I do. I’m not really becoming a rat; I just have to pretend to be one so I can protect myself from dangerous individuals like the Leopards.”

“That’s right, my son.”

The End! Stay tuned for the following Fable next week!

Artist: Raqvel (Fiverr name @Raqvelcano)

Artist: Nelson O (Fiverr name @Nelzartz)

Logo Designer: Nishi T (Fiverr name @Nishi_gfx_vfx)

Created by: Robert S.S. Gordon