#ANIMAL: Life of a gazelle... Living at a cost; sacrifices and Survival of the fittest.

Somewhere in Africa it was another sunny day, a gazelle and her fawn were grazing apart from their herd when two lions were spotted from afar walking towards the herd like two young men strolling to the restaurant to grab lunch. As was usual, the adults among the herd started “stotting” to avoid predation by the two unwanted visitors but the hunger in their bellies urged them on and slowly but precisely they advanced towards the herd. Some of the gazelles were beginning to disperse to wherever seemed safe but “mother gazelle” stayed behind with her fawn along with a few others.

The intruders were a good distance away from them, the adults tried their usual trick again but it was like pouring water into a basket and expecting it to hold it. The warriors of the jungle advanced fearlessly and then stopped, their eyes fixed on their soon-to-be meal. It was just a matter of picking which one it would be to satisfy their hunger.
Few minutes ago, it was all tranquil and the day seemed good but right now it felt like all hell was about to break loose and survival was precedent. The atmosphere was tensed and heart beats sounded louder than megaphones. The silence was deafening as the two parties were unaware of their fate in the few minutes to come. One party would have to go hungry for the rest of the day while the other party run faster than their shadows or vice versa.

Like a bolt from the blue, instinct kicked in and the race for survival began. Mother gazelle and her young one ran fast and hard but then had to reduce her pace, her fawn wasn’t as strong as she was. The predators seemed to have communicated telepathically that the fawn won’t be a bad lunch and they weren’t prepared to let this opportunity slide by. The young gazelle after few minutes of running at break-neck speed, was now visibly weary but unrelenting kept on running head straight, at least instincts told her to continue running for safety, it was the only way out of this. The enemies were gaining in on them and something had to be done else, mother and child will end up in the bellies of their greatest enemies at the moment.

Swiftly and abruptly, mother gazelle turned round and stopped, her pursuers slightly taken aback by this new course of action, this wasn’t supposed to happen but then the die was already cast and they realized what this meant and wasted no time in descending on her. The young gazelle, totally incognizant of what was happening behind her kept running, mother was behind her or so she thought.

As she lay on the ground torn limb after limb but mentally numb to the pain of sharp nails and razor-like teeth digging into her body in different parts of her body simultaneously, mother gazelle watched her calf run off to safety. Hopefully, liberty awaited her young one. it was victory on her own part but her sunset had come. Inevitable darkness fell and she gave up the ghost.