Malory crawled through the tunnels with a giggle. Her adolescent friend, Lucy, was right behind cracking jokes. “I can’t believe how big your butt has gotten since the last time I followed you in here.”
Malory giggled and kicked some dirt back at her. “Will you stop it?! No wonder nobody hangs out with each other anymore. You’re unbearable.”
“Aw, you’re just jealous that you aren’t as funny as me. But what’s so bad about two gophers getting food from the farm together?”
“Not a lot of us do it together is all. The farmers have a big crop this year. Everyone’s in a tizzy over it. I’m looking to get a good share for myself.”
Lucy laughed. “Your butt is just gonna get bigger if you keep eating this way!”
Malory huffed, “I’ll eat what I want and there’s nothing you can…” There was a sudden sound of clanking metal from above, and the girl let out a gasp followed by a gurgle.
Lucy bumped into her friend and backed away. “Why did you stop?” There was no response other than a few twitches. “Malory? Malory?! Are you okay?! Why did you…” Blood began to pool down the path from where Malory lay. Lucy saw it and her heart sunk. It was obvious what had happened: Malory had fallen into a deadly trap. She screamed, “Malory! Nooo!”
Only one day after the incident, the gophers of the farm all gathered just outside to have a meeting. Although it was not at all customary for such creatures to do so, the topic at hand was too important to be settled by each individual. Miss Ellen was the presiding and eldest gopher in the region, so it just made sense for her to lead the meeting.
“I know you are all probably very disturbed by what has transpired recently,” Ellen went on to say. “The loss of Malory presents a very troubling reality. It would seem that the farmer who presides over these crops have deployed traps that are intended to kill us!”
The gophers in the crowd were prattling nosily from hearing those words. Miss Ellen continued, “I know what you all must be thinking: what on earth have we done to deserve this? All we have done is come here to eat. We have done it for as long as I can remember. Why would the farmer be so cruel?!”
One of the gophers in the crowd spoke up, “Why did she have to die?!”
“Nobody knows. We’re not sure what brought on this sudden act of violence. If I was able, I’d give those humans a piece of my mind!”
It just so happened that as these gophers were congregating about the travesty at hand, an old owl was watching them from a tree. He was very confused by their words and desired to interject himself into the discussion. “Excuse me!” he said from where he perched.
Miss Ellen raised her head with the rest of the crowd. The owl fluttered down to a lower branch and politely stated, “If I may be so bold, Miss Ellen, I want to point out that I find it baffling that you did not see this coming.”
The elder gopher was nearly insulted. “Are you out of your mind?! One of our own was just stabbed through the heart for no reason at all! What have we done that deserved such a cruel death?!” All the gophers present seemed to agree with her judgment.
The owl ruffled his feathers for a moment before answering. “Was it not the farmer’s crops that you have been stealing all of these years? I have watched for a very long time, and I have seen you take far more than what you rightly deserve. I would even go so far as to say that you did not deserve any of it at all.”
Once again, Ellen was offended. “We have done nothing that we have not always done! We have every right to those vegetables! You are a fool!”
The owl sighed. He thought to himself how strange it was how thieves could come to accept their ways as normal. He did not have too much hope for the group. “Very well. You obviously don’t want to listen to me, but at least listen to my advice. These grounds are no good to you anymore. Whether you accept it or not, the lot of you are thieves and you have suffered a just blow. If you yearn for more food, I suggest you find it elsewhere.”
Ellen snapped back, “Leave us alone, you annoying bird! Can’t you see we have been hurt enough?!”
The owl–finished with his vain attempt–spread his wings and flew away. There was nothing more to be said and certainly nothing to break those gophers free of their own lies.
-Author Notes-
I have seen multiple cases where human beings have out rightly stolen things and actually feel that it was owed to them. I always found this to be very bizarre. People will go out of their way to selfishly step on others in order to get what is usually a frivolous gain of some kind, and when they are accused of wrongdoing, they have no idea that any misconduct has taken place. This lack of concern for others is a very dark side to humanity, and I have little remorse for these people when they are thwarted.
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