Wolf! Wolf! Shouted the Shepherd

Long long ago there was a big dark forest. The forest was so dark with its dense colony of huge trees and their wide canopy of leaves , almost touching each other so closely that even the poor sun rays had no access to enter the land. They danced only on the top leaves and left by evening.  Even the proud moon passed over the forest with no clue of what was beneath the thick tree tops. The creatures that lived in this forest were almost semi blind like workers who worked in dingy glass bangle factory under dim lights and were happy like the citizens of ‘ the City of the Blind’.

The insects that lived there were not tiny creatures but as big as a fox in an ordinary forest. Anybody could mistake them for an animal except for the classic six legs and antenna of a normal insect. There were two friends in this forest. One brown long wood borer and a brown tree beetle. The wood borer was named Driller and the beetle was called Boxer. Driller would bore the rotten wood fallen on the ground and Beetle would look for tiny creatures to munch upon. Both were happy and never bothered to venture out of the dark forest. Both were so lost in each other that they had no time to make friends with their own species. The only drawback with Driller was that he always loved to lie. Though Boxer knew about the habit, he always ignored and also tried reasoning with Driller.

“Listen Driller! Yesterday you made the poor ants under the far away tree to abandon their colony by creating a panic that you had seen an anteater lurking near by which relished ants with its thin tongue in one scoop. The poor little ones almost ran for their life, abandoning all their granaries as well as their eggs. Stop creating such baseless panic warnings. I implore you!”, said the frustrated Boxer, the beetle.

“Ha, ha, ha. It’s fun to see the brainless creatures running here and there. i was only taking a little revenge for biting me while I was trying to find the most juicy food for you near their home. Serves them right”, Driller, whistled softly. 

Poor Boxer sighed and continued to walk with his friend.

“Oh wait, wait! Don’t move”, shouted Driller in a shrill tone almost making Boxer freeze on his way with his front two legs almost dangling in the air.

“What it it?”, he almost whispered, with fear writ large on his face.

“Nothing! I just wanted to see your reaction”, laughed Driller.

Boxer was so annoyed that he hit Driller with all his six legs and romped him on the ground and started biting his pincer antennae

“ You Nasty creature. Stop your pranks or you will get a good lesson like the “Shepherd who warned about a wolf! wolf...”, shouted Boxer.

“ Stop! Stop!. I beg you i have no more patience to hear your Shepherd story. Oh God. I rather jump from the tallest tree and give up my life once for all”, saying Driller started climbing the nearest tree in such a haste that Boxer could not comprehend as too what was happening.

In no time, Driller was out of sight. Poor beetle walked back to his hut made of dung to take rest. He knew that the nasty fellow would come back and as usual would apologise.

It was almost two nights. There was no trace of Driller. Boxer started getting worried. He wandered aimlessly in the forest and tried to enquire with few more creatures about Driller. No one knew his whereabouts.  

Boxer decided that he would climb the same tree and find out about his stupid friend. He slowly inched half way through the huge trunk. He was already breathless. His body was so heavy that his legs would just slip at every move. But still he continued and when he was almost at the top and tried to peep through the leaves, one more heavy creature fell on him. Boxer lost his balance and like a ball rolling on a downhill, fell on the soft rotten leaves. He cursed under his breath and tried to push the smelly creature which was still clinging to him.  

“Get up you idiot. Let me breath ”, saying Boxer pushed the creature from his chest. With great effort he turned on his legs. He wanted to take stock of his bruises first but was aghast to see that the creature was none other than his friend Driller. He hugged him tight and started asking him a volley of questions.

Driller appeared haggard. He had lost lot of weight. Always his eyes darted left to right as if in great fear. Boxer tried to calm him down. Both walked back to their home. On the way Boxer noticed even the sound of dry leaves which crushed under their legs made Driller nervous. 

Boxer made him sleep and kept a watch on him the whole night. Next day morning, he woke up Driller who sat on the bed almost startled. 

Boxer gave him nice breakfast of choicest worm juice and slice of soft tree bark. 

Driller felt relaxed and began to speak.

“ That evening when I was annoyed with you, I climbed to the extreme top o f the old tree but unfortunately slipped the other side and landed on a ground which was hard . I was excited to see the strange place, creatures walking on two legs, making funny noises from their mouth. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry. Few also stopped to look at me. One funny two legged fellow even tried to hit me with a stone. I somehow ducked and ran for safety. Everywhere there seemed only stunted grass and trees. Anyway I found another wood borer , microscopic version of mine. He had the audacity to laugh at me “, Driller gritted his teeth.

“ Hello! No offence. The Human beings - I mean the two legged creatures have no respect for lesser mortals like us. Even once upon a time we were like your size but lack of forest, lack of protection and scarcity of food made us shrink. You better go back to your world or else... even before he could complete his words, a heavy leather boot fell on him and all that was left was a thin paste of the poor creature”, with a shaky voice Driller completed his sentence.

Driller continued to express his thoughts as if in trance. 

“ I continued to walk down the path. At a distance I saw a tree. Thought to quench my thirst. The moment I tried to bore , my tooth broke. I realised it was an artificial tree made up of cement and concrete. I desperately wanted to escape from that place. Whenever I tried to climb a tree, the very next day a huge giant machine with sharp Saw would cut down the tree. It seems the two legged want houses for themselves and not care for other creatures. During one of my escapades, I overheard that the next target would be our forest”, sobbed Driller. 

Boxer, the beetle didn’t bother to ask further questions about his escape. He was glad that his friend was alive. All the denizens came to meet Driller. Some believed his story and some laughed it out as one of his pranks. Overall he was given the responsibility of cautioning the creatures in case of the alien invasion. 

Driller promised that he would not lie . He would sincerely perform his duty. 

The next day early in the morning, he heard the typical sound of  a tree being cut. He immediately came out and started beating a drum loudly to caution the inhabitants. Creatures big and small ran helter-skelter to save themselves. Boxer realised in a little while that an old tree whose roots couldn’t hold fell and had made the sound. 

Everyone , once again went back to their homes. Some had sigh of relief, some felt cheated, some cursed Driller. 

Driller was embarrassed. But continued to keep watch. Slightest strange sound made him so jittery that he immediately would beat the drum. It was almost a week. All the inhabitants of this dark forest were loosing their patience. It was like a mock drill. Some participated ,some ignored.

It was Sunday morning. There was an air of laziness. Even Boxer , the beetle didn’t leave his bed. Only Driller was alert. Suddenly there was this sound of the machine and the big saw slowly entered the forest. Driller clearly saw that already half a dozen trees were lying on the ground. 

He immediately took his drum and ran toward the middle of the forest. He started hitting the drum hard. Not a single being came out. Rather tree after tree fell with every beat and the giant machine came near Driller and with one swoop broke his drum.  

Driller ran shouting “ They have come ! They have come.... but no one heard the Shepherd shouting Wolf! Wolf! And poor Driller was crushed by the mean machine.