Portfolio Story: Bruce The Hyena

  BRUCE THE HYENA

My name is Bruce, I am a wild hyena and I live in the animal kingdom. First, let’s be real, I am super cool and friendly with everyone. It’s just that out here in the wild, you have one job: make sure you get food in your belly. Whether or not that entails working in teams or going solo, you have to find a way to make that happen. 
Like I said, I’m a pretty cool guy who has no trouble making friends. But there is one thing can sort of get in my way as far as being social goes, but I’ll get to that in minute. There are a few things you need to know. If there is one thing I can tell you about the wild, it’s that everyone is real cliquey. The elephants and the giraffes are good friends, the rabbits and lions are in cahoots with each other and so on. So not too long ago, I struck up a deal with the monkeys that we could split any fruits that I found, if they would let me know when they saw a rabbit I could hunt. Boy, never had a deal ever worked so well. 
Everything was going great until I found myself a little extra hungry one day, so I ate all the fruits that I found, breaking our deal. Simply put, I think I just tend to get a little greedy when I’m hungry. Moreover, the assumption is that I am crooked anyway, I’m a hyena! So, I sort of took on that role. So of course, a few of my relatives were annoyed because they’ve been trying to play down that stereotype, but none of them were complaining when I was bringing home extra goods! Nevertheless, the monkeys were ticked at me after that.  
However, I didn’t think much of it until one day I spotted a rabbit who looked like he was in deep thought under a palm tree, which was a perfect time for me to ambush him. Ill remind you that I hadn’t eaten in days, so I was thrilled. I began to creep up closer to him. Then, all a sudden the monkeys dropped a coconut on his head! He quickly sped off.  Next, more rabbits joined in. I thought I was going to have a buffet! But I was wrong. A stampede broke out. I tried to bite at the rabbits, but it wasn’t worth my effort with giant elephants in the way. Then, right before the entire land had tied themselves into know from running in circles, I heard the loudest roar! The lion, the king of the jungle had growled the chaos back in order. Intimidating as ever, he demanded silence from everyone unless someone could explain what all of the fuss was about. I continued to eavesdrop as the rabbit explained his worries to the lion. After the rabbit told him about his fear of the world breaking up, the brave lion eased his mind. 
After this interaction, I made my way back to the tree to wait for the rabbit to return. However, when he made his way back, I should’ve known that those monkeys had their good buddy Mr. Lion to accompany the rabbit! I howled and ran off as fast as I could! When I was a safe distance away, I could hear the lion and the rabbit talking about some lesson that the rabbit had learned about being brave in the wake of fear. Or maybe he said something about eating a steak with cheer? The point is, I didn't care about any lesson! Until I realized that I had actually learned one as well: I shouldn’t have been so greedy to put myself in the position that I was in.

          

                                                       Bruce the Wild Hyena

Bibliography: The Foolish, Timid Rabbit.
Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt.

Authors Note: The original story is about a rabbit is wondering what would happen to him if the world were to break up. This is a deep fear of his. However, he decides to take rest beneath a tree. Then, all of a sudden, a few rowdy monkeys drop a coconut on his head, which he mistakes for the world breaking up. Since he interprets this as the manifestation of his fear he becomes frantic. This causes him to run away in panic. As other animals in the land see him, they overhear that the earth is breaking up and this begins a stampede that is also in panic. However, before things get too chaotic, the brave lion who is the king of the beasts, halts the panic and calls for the rabbit. He asks why the crowd was running. The animals explain that the earth is breaking up. As the lion inquires deeper, the lion begins to realize that the rabbit was simply startled and this began all the chaos. Then, he calms the crowd and the he walks the rabbit back to his tree post. On the walk back, he also calms the rabbit’s nerves. Upon their return, the lion showed him that it was simply a coconut that fell on the rabbit’s head.  
In essence, I thought the story was really fun. However, as a Biology who has taken many ecology classes. In studying ecosystems, I have learned that what may seem like the main idea or center of one story can simply be a supporting piece in a much larger story. This is what sparked my idea to add another animal and make the original story a smaller piece of a grander scheme.