Assignment winner for Jan 20, 2006

The assignment was to write a story based on the above photograph.

The winning entry was written by Bob Blackman.

Hippopotamus and the Tortoise

Howard the hippopotamus was grazing alone in the great field by the
river's edge.  He always grazed alone. He liked it that way because
the thing Howard hated most was sharing.  If another hippo, or any
other animal entered the field where he was grazing, Howard, being the
biggest of all the animals, rudely chased them away.  On this
particular day, Howard had discovered a patch of particularly lush
green grasses. As he nibbled away, with his eyes to the ground his
forward movement was abruptly halted when he bumped into a large tortoise.

Howard sized the tortoise up. He noted two things. First, that they
were relatively equal in size, and second, he was much more agile then
the slow moving tortoise.  He immediately decided that of the two of
them, he, the hippopotamus was obviously superior.

"Get out of my field!" Howard demanded.

The tortoise raised his head, turned it in Howard's direction, stared
for half a minute then returned to munching on the grass.  This made
Howard exceedingly angry. A few foolish animals had from time to time
argued with him, but none had ever ignored him. He raised to his full
height and puffed out his chest. "You will depart my field
immediately, or experience the power of my wrath," he shouted.

The tortoise continued to ignore him, causing Howard to shake with
anger. He backed off a couple of yards, pawed the ground, and grunted
loudly.

The tortoise turned his head toward Howard, and spoke softly, "Young
hippopotamus, you are rude and obnoxious. You may well be the owner of
this field, though I sincerely doubt it. None-the-less, until you
soften your tone and respectfully say please, I shall continue to
ignore your unpleasant self.

Howard was overcome with anger. He pawed the ground again, lowered he
head and charged. He did not see the tortoise quietly ease his body to
the grass and draw his legs into his shell.  The force with which
Howard crashed against the tortoise shook a nearby tree and the sound
of the collision thundered across the field. Howard's hind legs flew
into the air and he tumbled tail over snout, onto the grass on the
other side of the tortoise.

The tortoise rose, turned to face him and said quietly, "Now that you
have gotten that out off your system, my offer remains. I have eaten
my fill and if you ask politely, I will gladly relinquish this field
to you."

Howard sat dazed and stared at the tortoise for several minutes then
humbly said, "If you don't mind sir, I should like to eat some of the
grass from your field."

The tortoise smiled, said, "Enjoy," then strolled slowly away.