A True Story...

*****All characters appearing in this story are taken from true life. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely intentional. If you can spot yourself amongst the characters, be assured that it is you  ****************


There was a tortoise living in a jungle. He was smart and handsome. He used to spend most of his time on a rock near a lake. His favorite time pass was  lying on his back under the sun and day dreaming. What did he dream about? or rather whom did he dream about ?
He dreamt about the rabbit who used to live nearby. He would sit on the rock and think about the rabbit for hours together - the way the rabbit would tilt her head and laugh, the way she would run around the tree...the sparkle in her eyes ... The tortoise could not find a single fault with the love of his life. The hours turned into days and days into months..... And did the Rabbit notice the tortoise. Yes indeed she did ! How can you not notice a person who worships the ground you walk on ? Did she reciprocate ? Ummmmm... she did have a soft corner for him but how could she be seen with him ? No that was not possible especially when all the male rabbits used to send her carrots everyday along with love notes and poems. What would her friends say ? No ... her vanity prevented her from going to the tortoise. She would just turn her head and nibble on the carrot sent by one of her suitors when she felt the tortoise starring at her.

One sunny afternoon the tortoise was sitting on his rock as usual thinking about the rabbit when he heard the rustling of leaves behind him. He slowly took out his head from his shell and

looked around. And what did he see ???? The love of his life was standing right next to him !

"Move out of our way ! " commanded one of her friends. "We are in a hurry"
The tortoise was totally lost admiring the Rabbit's beauty, completely unaware of what was happening around him. He was snapped out of his reverie by the sound of the clapping . "You can do it mate ! you can do it !" the crow was shouting !
The Tortoise was completely bewildered.."What do you guys want me to do ? "
"Race ! " "Defeat this lady here ! "
"No No I can't  ! I can't do this " stammered the Tortoise.

Just then a frog jumped out of nowhere and drew a start line.
The magpie flew down and with its wings on its hips ordered both the Tortoise and the Rabbit to get ready.

"On your marks get set GO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The rabbit happily skipped and jumped ahead.
All the followers of the rabbit kept cheering her all along. The tortoise was all alone. Even the crow was cheering for the rabbit. None of his friends were following him as it would have been too much of a task for them to return back. And anyways they were certain that he was going to loose... the race ...and his reputation .
The tortoise wiped his tears and gathered all his courage and slowly started moving ahead.
The rabbit reached the start of the dense forest. She turned back to check out the tortoise. He was nowhere in sight. The rabbit found a shady tree nearby which was out of the way and decided to take a short nap.

The tortoise on the other hand was slowly but steadily moving ahead .
When the sun was right above his head all he could think of was the rabbit. "My poor darling ! Am I the one who got her into this trouble ? " he wondered. "This harsh sun is going to spoil her smooth silky hair! "
He did not see the rabbit resting under the tree as he reached the dense forest. Had he seen her he would have surely woken her up. To save her from the sun he would have happily offered her his shell as well.
But then the tortoise did not see the rabbit and just walked ahead.

He came out of his dreams only when he heard the loud clapping and cheering of the jungle animals and birds.
He couldn't believe he had won the race. And then he saw her. Standing far away ... looking stunned !
He wanted to get down and run towards her as the elephant lifted him in his trunk . He closed his eyes. He just couldn't see her standing there defeated.  Finally the lion himself came down to him and handed him the trophy. With trembling hands he took the trophy and went up to the rabbit. With tears in his eyes he said " This is for you my love. I love you and will always be there for you."  His heart broke into thousand pieces as the rabbit threw the trophy onto the ground and walked away.

After this incident the rabbit stopped going out of her burrow. She lost all her confidence. She stopped eating and grew thin. Her hair lost its luster and the twinkle in her eyes was gone. Even the other rabbits who used to woo her stopped sending her carrots .  She was all alone and lonely . But her vanity prevented her from going to the Tortoise.

And the tortoise ? Untill today he was sitting on the same rock with a sad expression. He was missing the rabbit badly. His life didn't seem to have a purpose anymore...

But just now he saw a mynah sitting on a branch near his rock and his heart skipped a beat....

Moral/Lessons Learnt : 

• Don't try to put your love on a pedestal  . You know - " In order to place anyone else above us, we have to consider ourselves as beneath them and in doing so in actual fact you are setting your relationship with them up for failure."
• Even if you lose , people who love you and care for you don't stop doing so. 
• Love is blind but as its said  "never take someone for granted because you might wake up one day and realise that you've lost a diamond while you were too busy collecting stones."
• You can find love everywhere...just keep your eyes open ;)