Week 11 Story: Scorpion and the Rabbit

Scorpion and the Rabbit

A hot day is typically much warmer for a rabbit due to the hair covering its body, so as the day approached high noon and the rabbit quickly finished up its morning rounds in hopes of finding a shaded spot next to the river. 

As rabbit hastily made his way across the prairie, he offered little regard to his surroundings for all he could think of was how miserably hot he was. It was then that he heard, "Hey! What were you are going, you better not step on me!" 

Only slowing his pace a little, Rabbit looked around to see where the voice had come from. Just when he was about to give up he spotted a black speck following behind him. 

"I am sorry my dear friend, I did not see you on my trail. I am desperately seeking a place to rest for the next couple of hours, I am so hot I fear I am about to die!" 

The Scorpion laughed at the rabbit, "you are so weak, you do not deserve to be among the animals of the prairie." 

Rabbit offered little regard to the Scorpions comment as they carried on their way. The Scorpion continued to follow Rabbit, but never mentioned the reason for his travel, constantly mocking Rabbit for his weak display. 

As the Rabbit grew hotter, his patience for Scorpion's annoyances had reached an all-time low. "If you do not go your own way and leave me on my travels," said an increasingly tired Rabbit, "I will have no choice but to jump on you until you are one with the dirt." 

The Scorpion roared with laughter, which only made the Rabbit angrier.  

"Jump on me I dare you," said Scorpion, "unlike what others may believe, you are the most foolish animal in the prairie!" 

"And why is that?" said Rabbit as he stopped in his tracks.

"Go ahead and jump on me if you would like to find out," yelled Scorpion with a devilish laugh as he slowed next to Rabbit, "prove my point of your foolishness further!" 

Rabbit leaped so high into the air that he blocked the sun's light from reaching the ground. As he shot downward he aimed right for the head of the Scorpion so that he would be unable to mock Rabbit further. 

Rabbit, pleased with his decision to rid himself of Scorpion, continued to jump up and down, crushing Scorpion. 

The adrenaline from killing the pest sent Rabbit flying in the direction of the river, and, just as he had hoped, there was a spot directly in the shade for him to escape the suns wrath for a few hours. 

Relaxed and hydrated, Rabbit was now able to shut his eyes and enjoy a slight nap into the early evening. However, Rabbit never woke from his nap, for he had fell victim to getting carried away when dealing with Scorpion and had not noticed that while he was jumping on the pest, Scorpion's tale had found its way into the Rabbit's foot. 

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Authors Note: 

I based my story on Coyote and Snake, which was part of the Myths and Legends of the Great Planes. The original story dealt with the same scenario, but rather with a snake traveling in a straight line and the Coyote refusing to change his own path. The snake then bit Coyote for stepping on him, which eventually gave him an allergic reaction from which he died. 

I liked the general idea of keeping the same theme for this story because I enjoyed the petty altercations that turned deadly and thought it was funny how simply each outcome could have been avoided. Also, throughout this story I tried to use more dilogue due to my past stories being narrative driven. However, due to the short length I could not add too much. 

Judson, Katherine B. “Great Plains: Coyote and Snake.” Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook, 1913, mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/great-plains-coyote-and-snake.html.