Creation in Prose - Shreya Mitra

The King of the Jungle

by Shreya Mitra (IVF)

One fine day in the forest, something pretty unusual happened. Jackie Jackal had been thinking that he himself was meant to be the king. 

"Why should Mr. Lion Pride be king of the jungle when I could be so much better?" he thought to himself. 

That night, he went to the King's court (which was held at night) and interrupted a case.

 "What shall I do now?" wailed, Bobby Beaver, "My house has been broken again!". 

"We will build it again!" roared the King, "I'll send Mr. Badger to your house." 

"But it'll take so long!" cried Bobby. 

"Ah, but you see there is another way. You can move into a nice cave near the riverbank and walk down to the river everyday." said Jackie slyly. 

"Thank you Jackie, but it shall not work." 

"So be it." said Jackie and left. 

Bobby who had agreed to Jackie's plan also left. 

The next day , everyone returned to court. 

"It worked!" cried Bobby, "it actually worked!" 

"See," said Jackie, "Aren't I a better King than Mr. Pride?"

 "Yeah, you rock!" said Bobby. 

"So be it." said the (former) King and left. 

" Hip, hip hurray! Hip, hip hurray!" cried the courtiers. 

Jackie was now crowned the King of the jungle. He was very proud. A few days after his coronation, Jackie heard a knock on his leafy fortress. 

"Come in, come in!" he said proudly. 

In stormed Bobby. "Ah Bobby!" Jackie said.

"You suck!" said Bobby. Jackie looked confused. 

" I have to walk one Kilometre back and forth to get only food!" One by one all the animals he'd helped came with complaints. The lion decided to check out the scene. The crowd was still shouting away. This is where the old saying comes in," Be careful what you wish for. The lion was crowned King and Jackie had learned his lesson. 

The End