À l’heure du tout à l’image et du buzz sans suite, «l’express» souhaite faire découvrir la plume de poètes, de chanteurs, d’écrivains et de tous ceux qui jettent leur âme sur le papier, et qui mettent en mots des réflexions profondes.

Grunt knew he would never be the king of the jungle by nature. He didn’t have a golden mane and a terrifying muzzle. He had a soft snout and he spoke in a high pitch snort. His little tail coiled in an inferiority complex every time he saw the majestic Lion. He craved to rule like the Lion. He wanted the animals to fear him but they did not and they always reminded him of the mud of his origins. Grunt wished he could rule by a birthright that he didn’t possess.

His best friend, Snooty, was more cunning than him. He didn’t only want the Lion’s status; he wanted more… He did not want to be just the king; he wanted to be GOD! One lazy afternoon, sunk in slimy mud, they both were doing absolutely nothing. However, they got disturbed by the rhythmic flap flap flap of a flock of birds. The birds landed with such precision and elegance, they pecked worms, their body supple and light. Then, like magic, feathers flapped and they were in the air, sailing… owning the blue and vast sky.

Snooty watched in amazement and he ached with envy. “Grunt… we need to fly!” He felt a sudden flutter in his big round belly. His body ached with the sensation to fly, he rolled in the mud, in desperation, trying to rub away the heaviness. His body felt like a burden. His ambition churned in his head. He hissed, “We can rule Grunt… We can be GOD!” Grunt felt a boost. They had always wanted to rule and every time they saw the Lion, they sighed with envy, jealousy and adoration. “The Lion is the king of the jungle because of his sharpest claws and fiercest roars… If we fly, we will rule from above, the animals in the jungle will worship us. We will descend, flapping our wings stealthily, and we will usurp the Lion’s throne,” Grunt snorted.

With their aspiration from mud to majesty, they began to convince the jungle dwellers about their calling. “You fear the Lion, but you will worship us. We are the divine,” they would proclaim with confidence in their voices. The animals looked at them in awe… Two pigs reaching divinity! Grunt and Snooty trotted with their snout pointing skywards. They preached about giving a better life to the meek animals… They came with their slogan “Soaring swines reaching the divine”. Monkeys were assigned to collect silk from the silkworms. The silkworms spun the threads in obedience. They were too tiny to question or to rebel. They just spun day and night… for the divine wings. Tiny squirrels paced to and forth to craft the wings. Finally, the day came where the wings were tied to the pigs. The jungle animals were curious… The Lion was unbothered. Two pigs with wings were still not majestic to the King.

With their massive, gaudy silk wings, Grunt and Snooty squealed in pride. They were not only pigs. They felt powerful, they felt above all the animals, they swelled in a cocoon of arrogance. “Lion controls the land and we shall control him from the sky,” they challenged. “We are God and the Lion king will bow to us!” they squealed hysterically. Grunt and Snooty went to the cliff’s edge and beat their silk wings. The animals held their breath and the Lion yawned in his den. For you see, the Lion had a bigger catch to make. The silk wings looked like majestic glides on which rested the swines’ confidence or you may say overconfidence. The wind whistled through the shiny wings, whispering the promise to fly or maybe pleading not to fly. Grunt and Snooty flapped frantically and then they took off and…THUD!

Like over ripe jackfruits falling from the high branch… No grace at all, just a bad fall, and they hit the mud pit. The animals around held their breath… Was there going to be a rise from the mud? A resurrection? Grunt and Snooty lay stuck in the muck. The monkeys let out screeching howls of laughter and the King of the jungle emerged from his den. His golden mane resplendent in the sun, he walked gracefully towards the stuck swines in muck. He roared. “You both exploited the small animals to weave wings for your ego.. You draped yourself in the finest silk thinking you will be God… A throne built on exploitation will unravel at the first gust of truth. You are pigs and a pig who knows his mud will be more respectable than one who makes others believe he is god!”

Bio

Namrata Daumoo Aukhojee

An English educator with 16 years of experience teaching, she serves as the MES English speaking test coordinator and is a national coordinator for Model United Nations.