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The Hawk and the Rat
By: Enrique Almaraz Guajardo and Patricia Garza
The shadow of a lone hawk circled the barren peaks of a tall, rocky mountain. His golden eye surveyed the ground, searching for something to eat. He sighed, knowing that he would find nothing; he hadn’t seen another survivor for weeks. It had been months since the world dried out, and slowly — but surely — its inhabitants were dying along with it. A sudden movement at the foot of the mountain caught the hawk’s eye, and with a fell swoop, he landed on the ground. Around him fine dust rose, he blinked and focused his eyes. He was standing in front of a desert rat, pale with fear. The hawk had his wings extended wide, so wide it seemed the whole desolate world was covered in darkness.
“Don’t eat me!” the rat cried. “If you eat me, you will be all alone.”
The hawk pondered this and said with an intense voice, “But if I don’t, I will die.”
“Others will come,” said the rat.
“Then I shall eat them too so that I can survive!” screeched the hawk.
“Then you should get on with it and eat me once and for all.”
“What’s the rush?” asked the hawk pensively.
“I would rather die than live in this dead and forgotten land,” the rat said.
The hawk grabbed the small rat between his claws and flew high over the mountain, higher than the highest clouds; high where the air was cool and rare. The hawk took the rat to the farthest star. It was absolutely quiet except for the beating of their hearts. All the rat could think about was that it was his time to die, that he would no longer be. However, the hawk, that lonely bird, could only think about the feelings of the rat and how he was willing to die to forget all the pain and suffering the destruction of the world had brought to all living things. When they got high enough, both of them looked back and took hold of the planet with their eyes.
The rat sighed, “It looks so beautiful from up here, doesn’t it?”
The hawk said nothing.
They both floated in the immense nothingness. A long peaceful silence submerged them in thought, their minds merged into one, all their feelings combined. Both felt grateful; the Earth had given them everything they had ever wished for, all they ever dreamed of, and never asked for anything in return.
The hawk and the rat floated away from their home, until they were no more. That was their gift to Mother Earth.
