Week 9 Story: The Ox in the Tree

 

"An Ox" Source

The Ox in the Tree:

    It was a blistering Saturday afternoon under the sun of East Africa. An Ox named Ali was helping his owner plow maize and transport bags of potatoes across the farm. The overwhelming heat from the blazing sun proved to be too strong as Ali began to slow down and lose stamina. Ali was 17 years old and had been working on the farm for all his life, he was a mentor to the younger oxen and had become a father figure to many of them, but Ali was in his last few years of life and no longer had the passion for farming that he once had.

    Ali became too tired to work anymore and the farmer noticed this. The farmer let Ali free and he struggled back to his stable to find a drink and rest for the rest of the evening. As he was lying there, he began to daydream about how much better his life could be if he were not an Ox. He looked around his pin and thought, "I wonder what it is like to be a hay bale, to just sit all day and not do work." Said Ali, "I wish I was a hay bale." Then out of nowhere a wise man appeared and made his wish came true and Ali turned into the hay bale that lay beside him.

    Ali soon found that being a hay bale is not so great after all after the farm animals began to poke and prod at him looking for their next meal. The animals began to take small bites and Ali became disturbed and did not wish to be a hay bale any longer. He quickly thought of something else that that would make the rest of his days calm and relaxing and wished to be a lilypad on the water.

    His life as a lilypad was all he wished for. He floated on the water all day and remained cool and out of the way of the cruel sun. One day, a family of frogs visited the pond of which Ali floated on and began to jump all over him. This hurt Ali and he wished not to be a lilypad any longer. He quickly looked around and saw a leaf on a branch above him and thought that would be a peaceful life, so he wished to be a leaf. So he became a leaf.

    As a leaf, Ali hung by a branch for months on end. He had nothing to do but float by the mercy of the wind and struggle to hang onto the branch. This became boring to Ali and reminisced of his life as an Ox and wished to be one again. The wise man was tired of granting wishes and did not grant this one. Ali became mad and lived out his life as a leaf on a tree. 

Author's Note: I took inspiration from "The Man In The Moon." I changed the main character to an Ox instead of a man and the things they turn into are different. I honestly just thought of a random animal and used it as my main character. I do this with most of my stories, I go off the top of my head and use my creativity.

Bibliography: The Man In The Moon from "Laos Folk-Lore" by Katherine Neville Fleeson