THE FLOCK

There once was a flock of sheep. The flock was tired of being preyed upon by wolves. The flock has lost many of its kind from wolf attacks. So much so that one day, the flock chanced upon a magnificent and kingly lion and asked the lion to lead them and protect them against wolf attacks.

The lion obliged. The sheep were proud to have a lion as their leader. He gave them hope. Many of them sang praises to the lion, reasoning that a flock of sheep led by a lion is better than a pack of lions led by a sheep.

But there were those who weren’t convinced. They reasoned that the lion is a predator and a predator by its very nature, eats prey. Which they were, they reminded their fellow sheep.

Those who believed in the lion promptly ridiculed and labelled non-lion believers as traitors. They suspected that many of the unbelievers were wolves in sheepskin and the believers made every effort to expose their unbelieving fellow sheep. Of course they couldn’t. Because the unbelievers were never wolves, but sheep, after all.

Though many of the unbelievers were silenced, there were those who continued to voice their doubts. Many claimed that the lion had already killed a number of sheep. The believers were enraged. They insisted that those who were killed were victims of wolf attacks and there was no evidence to show that the lion was the one who killed them. Besides, they said, those who were killed used to work with wolves and have even partaken of hallucinogenic grass. They had it coming all along, they said.

The anxiety and fear of the unbelievers never waned. They became more alarmed when the lion started hanging out with a brown bear and a panda. They again reminded their fellow sheep that brown bears are predators themselves and that the panda may look cute and adorable, but it’s still technically a bear and it could still eat them alive if it wanted to.

Some of the smarter sheep laughed at the fears of the unbelievers. They said the unbelievers were being stupid. “I have a doctorate in inter-species relations and lion behavior,” said one sheep. “You’re all being paranoid and stupid,” said the smart sheep. He said the lion was simply forming an alliance with other predators because wolves work in packs and the lion couldn’t possibly defend them all. The smart sheep ended his expert assessment with a proud, mocking gaze. He was thoroughly impressed with his own understanding of predator behavior and inter-species relations. He was convinced that the flock was finally on the road to salvation and utopia.

Of course the lion, the bear, and the panda preyed upon the flock the next day and ate lamb and mutton to their hearts’ content. Overhead, a bald eagle scanned the bloody carnage below.

“Dumb sheep,” the eagle muttered under its breath before flying away.