The Multi-Colored Gazelle

(Remake of The Indigo Jackal)

Once, on a dark, cold, still winter night, a young frost-bitten gazelle wandered aimlessly into a village looking for food. He was very hungry. The winter had been long and hard, and there happened to be no food left in the forest. “Maybe,” murmured the shivering gazelle in his mind, “I’ll find something to eat in this village.”

I’m Hungry!

The gazelle, using his astounding nose, sniffed upon a copious amount of food at a rubbish heap. He scratched at it and was rummaging around so much. The noise attracted the village hyenas.

Ooh FOOD!

Now, hyenas hate gazelles, especially the ones that live the forest. A few of them went up to the gazelle. There were only three of them. One was short and very fat. He feigned to be the “tough” one. The other was tall yet lanky. He twitched a lot and seemed very capricious. The last one was an average-sized hyena that was quick and fast. He seemed to be the leader of the pack. They started growling malevolently and attacked the gazelle from all sides. “What are you doing here? This is our turf! Now get lost!” said the leader of the hyenas.

The dogged hyenas scratched and bit the unfortunate gazelle with their pointed, colorless teeth. Terrified, the haggard looking gazelle ran off as fast as his bony legs could carry him, through the shadows of the desolate streets of the village, passing identical brick houses, where all the windows were dimly lit and covered with drapes. The hyenas were too persistent. They ran after him, not far behind.

The gazelle did not know what to do. He dared not to look back and his legs were getting weaker by the second. Without waiting to think where he was going, the gazelle jumped over a wall and into a vast pot of permanent multi-colored dye. He was now dyed in many rich and extravagant colors! He came out dripping wet. “AHH! What have you done? You have ruined my dye!” said an angry peacock who apparently was the owner of the pot filled with dye, “Leave! And never come back!”

WHOA! Pretty Colors!

“Sorry, sorry. It was an accident,” pleaded the gazelle, “I’ll go.” Then, once the peacock looked up saw the gazelle, he was completely astounded. He did not know what he was looking at, some strange creature with rich colors.

“What are you?” exclaimed the peacock. He turned and ran away as fast as he could. Confused, the multi-colored gazelle took off, hoping that the hyenas did not hear a sound of commotion.

Now every creature that approached him was flushed with terror and ran away. No one recognized him anymore. “Oh,” said the gazelle now aware of everything, “the dye I am covered in must be scaring anyone or anything that approaches me.”

• The cunning gazelle constructed a devious plan. He called all the animals of the forest to him. When they had gathered, they looked as if they were a trembling ocean of animals. “Dear animals of the forest, do not be afraid. I mean no harm. I have been sent by the gods themselves to watch over all of you, and make sure that you come to no harm. In return, you all have to make me your king and do as I say. Otherwise the gods will be furious with all of you.

• Petrified, the trembling ocean agreed. They had made the gazelle the new king of the forest. They did all that he asked for. They bathed him, watched over him, spoiled him and fed him. He now had plenty to eat. The gazelle would never grow hungry anymore.

Use your imagination…it’s a forest, not a jungle!

One day a pack of gazelles inhabited the forest. The gazelle king felt a strange desire to be with them. Instead he told them, “You gazelles shall be my guards. If anything is to happen to me, you shall protect me.”

“Yes sire.” replied all of them in unison. They were fearless around him and full of valor. Now everyone knows that gazelles are skilled fighters. They have trained in the most ancient martial art, Gazelle-Kwan-Do. They always have an instinct to attack anything that means harm to them or their family.

A few months later…

It was a bitter night and the gazelle king could not sleep. Then all of the sudden, the house was attacked by ninja penguins! “Guards, guards! Help me!” yelled the gazelle. The gazelle guards came in and started to fight off the ninja penguins. Then inadvertently, the gazelle king got up and started to fight along side with his G.G.’s (AKA Gazelle Guards). When the guards saw this, they realized they had been tricked! The king was nothing more that a regular old gazelle!

The word spread fast in just a couple of days and all the animals were angry at themselves for having been conned. The gazelle realized what calamity was about to happen. He tried consoling with the animals, but it was useless. “C’mon guys. I just got hungry. I got carried away.” said the gazelle tentatively. He tried running away but all the animals ran swiftly through the forest and caught up to the gazelle. He was trembling like a little leaf in a blustering wind. Angry with him, the animals tore the gazelle into pieces.

There are many different morals to this story. It depends on the way you look at it. But the moral that stood out to me was to not be someone you’re not. Because although it may seem cool at first, once the truth is revealed, it can lead to a bad thing. The gazelle in the story was just an innocent animal looking for food. Soon enough, he found out that if he was someone he wasn’t he could have a lot of power over the animals. Though his idea did not work out so well in the end.