Short Fable Story: Grassland Team

None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.” – Mother Teresa

Do you know how Zebra survive in savanna? He is not alone. He has wonderful team. It is the short fable story of  how he started his team.

Zebra was running in fear against the flow of the dusty wind and the thickness of bush. It was not his good day. He hoped we would not become meal for the wolves. He hoped he could see the sun of tomorrow’s morning. He was running faster and faster.

“Am I safe now,” Zebra thought.

He felt nothing behind him. He was slowing down his speed and then he was just walking.

“Yes, it’s safe now.”

Zebra stopped as he saw a dark creature with strong horns, eating the grass.

“He eats grass. He doesn’t eat meat. He is not dangerous, ” Zebra thought.

Zebra smiled at the creature.

“Hi, how do you do,” said Zebra.

“Hi,” the creature smiled.

“Are you a cow?” Asked Zebra.

“No,” said the creature.

“A bull?”.”

“No.”

“A goat?”

“No, I am a Wildebeest. Call me Gnu,” said the creature.

“I’m Zee. I am a zebra. I eat grass like you do.”

“Look! There’s so much green grass here. There’s enough for everyone. We can have lunch together here,” said Gnu.

Both Gnu and zebra smiled. Then, they were grazing  together.

“Hey, Gnu! Come here. This tall grass is delicious,” said Zebra.

“No, thank you. I don’t like tall grass. I prefer short grass. It’s more delicious for me, ” said Gnu.

Zebra was curious but suddenly he remembered human sayings.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

 “In matters of taste, there can be no disputes”

Zee, the zebra, was watching Gnu grazing and an idea flashed in his mind.

“Gnu, we can make a great team. It’s good for us. You love short grass. I eat tall grass. There’s no competition to get food,” said Zee the zebra.

“What kind of team will we build?” Asked Gnu.

“In our team, everyone is happy. We will search the green savanna together. You’ll get short grass and I’ll have tall one. You have good sense of hearing while I have sharp vision. I can see very well. I become the eyes of our team and you become the ears. If you hear something dangerous like a lion coming, you can warn me. If I see something dangerous, I can warn you, ” said Zebra.

“Yeah, we can team up. We can be best buddies,” said Gnu.

“Search food and eat together but safety comes first,” said Zebra.

“With special talent, I can win small things but teamwork can survive in many big things,” said Gnu.

It was the beginning of the team and friendship between Zebra and Gnu. They moved to another part of savanna, grazing and sing together. Lion, tiger, and wolf missed their target as Zebra and Gnu had early warning procedure to save them from predators. They ran before the predators got closer.

In a green calm grassland, Zebra and Gnu enjoyed the warmth of sunlight. However, something made Zebra  not comfortable. He felt small things crawling at his skin. It was very itchy and Zebra needed to clean himself from those parasites.

Zebra saw an Oxpecker and he said, “Oxy Oxpecker, could you please to eat the parasites on my back?”

“Of course,” Oxpecker replied.

Oxpecker enjoyed to help Zebra. He ate the parasites. He got food and Zebra was free from parasites.

“Oxy Oxpecker, I have a proposal for you. Please join our team. Let’s build team together!” said Zebra.

“How do we build our team?” asked Oxpecker.

“We start by trusting and caring each others,” Zebra answered.

“What can I do for you? What will I get from you?” Asked Oxpecker.

“You can enjoy parasites who disturb me. You can get food every day and I’ll be free from parasites,” said Zebra.

“That’s good idea,” said Oxpecker.

“Gnu is our friend too. We can live and eat together. I heard that you have loud voice and you are sensitive when something strange coming. If wolf, tiger, lion or other dangerous animal come, please give us early warning,” said Zebra.

“Yeah, we can survive by helping other to survive,” Gnu said.

“Alone we can be good in small thing. None of us is as great as all of us. Together we can do so much wonderful thing,” said Zebra

Even if they were weak, they became solid team to save themselves from attackers. They needed each other. They lived and ate together. When the gang of tigers approached them, oxpecker flied up into the air screeching, warning the zebras of incoming danger and the predators missed the prey.

“We eat together, live together, and save each other,” said Zebra.

“The wonderful  thing about teamwork and friendship is that I have the others on my side,” said Gnu.

Zebra became the watcher. Gnu sensed the danger with his sharp sense of hearing. Oxpecker became an alarm. Gnu and Zebra shared the foods. Oxpecker cleaned Zebra’s skin by eating the parasites. Everyone played the respective role.   Zebra, Gnu and Oxpecker build good teamwork.

The End

“In union there is strength.” – Aesop

This business fable collection is written by YW Purnomosidhi a.k.a Mas Wahyu Didik, a blogger who loves fable stories.