It is widely known that Lion is the King of all within the forest. Yet what is less widely known is that Lion once prowled the grounds alongside several quieter and more impoverished-looking animals. Following his every step across the leaf-riddled forest floor were Hare, Turtle, Crow, and nine other animals. The others within Lion's family saw this group make their way through the trees and laughed to themselves, feeling like Lion had given up his strength and wisdom in spending his quieter times with these creatures instead of going out and hunting.

But Lion was not the King because he always did what the other animals expected. He was the King because he did what was right.

One crisp evening, as the first bits of wintertime snow collected around the bases of the trees and rocks, Lion laid down to dine with the twelve animals. Hare, the most devoted of all the group, decided to declare his allegiance to Lion by cutting off his tail and giving it to Lion. As he readied a sharp stone, the other animals gathered near and told Lion that they were ready to do the same.

Lion stood, ruffled out the crystals of snow that had gathered in his mane, and took the stone away. He looked at each of the animals with sadness in his eyes, and roared a roar that seemed to hang in the air for several minutes. All the animals stood quietly as the roar spread its way through the forest floor, and then Lion retreated towards a tunnel in the woods, one  that the other animals had never seen before but that seemed darker than any other part of the forest they had encountered.

The other animals seemed frozen in time. Turtle and Crow took a few steps backwards and then moved together towards the light of the clearing where the animals had spent most of their time together. Lizard and Pig made sounds towards the tunnel where Lion had gone, beckoning him to return. But when he didn't, they sat where they were and began to moan softly.

Hare, on the other hand, as he was the most passionate of all the other animals that had been following Lion, mustered all his courage. And with a thump of his tail, he began to hop towards to dark of the tunnel.

The woods seem to bend and contort in on themselves. They curled in ways Hare had never seen, reaching their tangled fingers down as if to steal him away into their shadows. Hare's courage quickly drained, and he soon found himself in complete darkness, completely alone, completely forgotten. He took four more hops forward, then heard a faint sound in his large ear. It was the slither of Snake, creeping his way towards him in the darkness. He looked down to see the yellow shine in his eyes against the otherwise blackened landscape.

"Sssssss...are you looking for Lion, sssssssir?" I have ssssseen you with him..."

Hare quivered and then spit out four words without thinking:

"I don't know Lion."

Snake slithered away slowly, and all was silent for a moment until Hare heard the resounding thump of Elephant's paws as he entered the part of the woods where Hare now stood.

"Is that you, Hare? Where is Lion? Aren't you one of the animals he travels alongside?"

Hare shook his head so quickly his ears flopped against one another.

Elephant lumbered away, and Hare took a few more steps. There seemed to be some moonlight forcing its way into this part of the trail. As he walked towards it, tiny Grasshopper clicked and bounced his way onto Hare's shoulder.

"You are one of Lion's animals. You smell like Lion, you even walk like him."

Hare brushed Grasshopper off of his shoulder and began jumping at full-speed towards the growing moonlight, yelling back over his shoulder, "No!"

Guilt and fear crept in on Hare like the branches of all the trees and he felt as if he could do nothing but burst when he emptied out into a small clearing...

...and came face-to-face with Lion, bound tightly by several taut ropes that were staked through each of his paws and into the ground.

If it weren't for the rich, red blood that seeped from his wounds, Lion would have looked peaceful. Hare tentatively stepped up where his head lay against a clump of damp grass. He glanced at his closed eyes, and  then his gaze was drawn to the woods behind Lion. Through the trees, he could just make out the haunting gaze of no less than seven other lions, smugly overseeing their handiwork.

Hare tried to muster the strength to say Lion's name, but all that came out of his mouth was a breath.

Lion moaned quietly, and shifted his body just the tiniest bit. This movement was enough to snap Hare back into the reality of what was happening. He bounded back the way he had come, and arrived back at the animals' clearing in an instant.

He explained to Turtle, Crow, and the others what had happened. They gathered together, wept, and fell asleep in the clearing, not knowing what to do.

They stayed together in that spot for nearly three days, until the urge for food was too great to bear. Hare went with Turtle to forage for some vegetables in a nearby garden. As they sniffed around in an ancient patch of lettuce, a familiar sound echoed through their ears. Hare thought nothing of it the first time, so focused he was on gathering breakfast. But then it happened again, a roaring sound. Hare's ears twitched as he looked up, and found himself staring directly into Lion's kind eyes.

"Look over on that side...there is a whole field of lettuce."

When Lion spoke these words, Hare bounded forward, burying his ears and face in Lion's mane. He purred softly, tears welling in his eyes. After a few moments, he stepped back, looking at Lion as if for the first time. He noticed that Lion still had holes from the stakes in his paws, but he was very much alive. Hare had thought for certain that Lion had been killed. This joyous wonder was stabbed through by the knife of guilt he felt at denying Lion.

But before he could say anything about it, Lion put his great paw on Hare's head. It was then that Hare noticed Lion wearing a bright gold crown, brighter than any object he had ever seen. Lion looked into Hare's eyes, and told him how those ropes were meant for him. Lion told Hare that it should have been him staked to the ground.

"But", Lion said, "the love I have for you is such that I was bound by that trap so that you never need be. In return, I ask simply that you follow my lead, that you care for the animals that have not met me, and that you make sure every animal in the forest knows they need never fear being trapped by those ropes again."

Lion and Hare, along with Turtle, Crow and the others returned to the forest, a forest forever changed because of what Lion did that day. It is said that since then, the whole forest has heard the tale of Lion and his animals. Some believe the story, others don't. But the most important thing to remember is that the traps have been removed, whether the other animals believe it or not.

Lion still wears his crown to this very day, and Hare grew old telling of their adventures and of how the love of Lion is what made him the King of all the forest.

The End

(a fable concerning itself with Mark 14-16 and John 21)

 