The Tiny Gazelle Read online

  The Tiny Gazelle

  The Tiny Gazelle

  Midpoint

  The Tiny Gazelle

  By Anne Spackman

  Copyright 2012 by Anne Spackman

  Smashwords Edition

  Cover art by Anne Spackman

  Using image from Wikimedia Commons

  *Note: this story is for older children, not young children.

  The tiny gazelle was born on the grasslands of Africa just before sunset. Her mother licked the gazelle’s fur gently and then watched as the tiny gazelle stood on her legs and wobbled about. The tiny newborn was a girl, and she was hungry. She nursed for a few minutes, and then nestled against her mother to sleep. The crickets sang a song out on the grass, and the sound of a lion roaring in the distance filled the air. There was no danger at the moment, but there was always the shadow of the lions to fear, for lions ate gazelles.

  The tiny gazelle grew as the weeks passed. She remained very tiny, however, and was in fact the smallest of the herd, even among the other newborn gazelles. She felt a little sad that she was so small, but she was happy, also, for she was very fast. And she liked to run. She jumped and ran a lot, very fast, and ran around the grassland where the gazelle herd lived.

  One afternoon, the gazelles were surrounded by a pride of hunting lionesses. The gazelles ran, but found themselves followed closely by the lionesses. The tiny gazelle ran as hard as she could and outran the lions! She was so happy that she had escaped the lionesses that she jumped about for joy.

  That night the gazelle slept soundly under the shade of a manketti tree. The next day, she wandered away from the herd a little. Out by the water-hole, under a grove of whistling thorn, the tiny gazelle thought she heard a funny sound. It was a baby cheetah out on its own, making the chirping noises that cheetahs do.

  “Are you lost?” the tiny gazelle asked the cheetah, for she was not afraid of the cub, since it was only a baby.

  “I can’t find my mother or brothers and sisters,” said the cheetah sadly.

  “I wish we could be friends, but I can’t trust a cheetah,” said the tiny gazelle. “I do hope that you will find your mother, but she is not around here.”

  “We could be friends, but not if you won’t trust me. So then, I will go the other way, and see if I can find my family that way,” said the cheetah cub. “You are lucky that my mother didn’t find you out here by yourself.”

  “I would have had to run as fast as I could to get away from her,” said the tiny gazelle. “I can run very fast.”

  “You are still lucky,” said the cheetah cub. “Because my mother can run faster than you can. Well, I am going the other way.”

  “Good-bye, I hope that you find your family,” said the tiny gazelle again.

  Many months passed, and the tiny gazelle grew up. She was running with the herd one afternoon when a cheetah came up beside the herd and tried to pounce upon her. The gazelle jumped away and ran so fast that she escaped the cheetah at first. But then, after a moment, the cheetah pounced upon her and caught her.

  “I know this gazelle,” said the cheetah that held her. “I met you out by the water-hole when I was lost one day.”

  “Let me go, then,” said the gazelle. “And if you do, I will tell you a great secret.”

  “A secret? What kind of secret?”

  “I can’t tell you unless you let me go first,” said the gazelle, trying hard to be crafty and to outwit the cheetah.

  “Very well, if you must know, I am a curious cat,” said the cheetah, “and not too hungry at the moment. But how can I be sure you will tell me a real secret.”

  “You have my word,” said the gazelle. “I know a good secret that would be interesting to you.”

  “Well then, young gazelle, I will let you go, if you tell me the secret.” And with that, the cheetah let go of the tiny gazelle!

  “Very well, now for the secret.” Said the tiny gazelle. “Out past the menketti trees you see on the horizon to our left lies a great valley, and past it a savannah full of animals. There lies a great plain of themeda grass with few trees on it, and many animal herds live that way. I only tell you this because you promised to let me go. But if you must know, there is a pride of lions that hunts that way, and they are dangerous to us all.”

  “Interesting. Thank you for telling me the secret.” Said the cheetah. “Now go at once before I catch you again!”

  The tiny gazelle didn’t need to be told twice. She ran away as fast and as far as she could. She had not done a bad thing by telling the cheetah the secret, and had outwitted him quite well! After all, no gazelle ever wanted to be caught by a cheetah!

  So the tiny gazelle went to sleep that night, feeling safe and happy.

  The end.

 

 

  Anne Spackman, The Tiny Gazelle

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