Photo: Keith Kreates
It was never about the things he wanted to do.
It was never about where he wanted to go, what pasture he preferred, which direction he wished to head.
Conformity. Yeah, he knew all about it. How it was the only way to herd.
Still he found small ways to rebel: He’d lie down when others were grazing, chew his cud while the Head Honcho was patrolling, turn his backside to the wind when it went against every custom to do so.
“You will get yourself kicked,” his mother, who has long given up on instructing him but still couldn’t help herself from trying, lowed in his ear.
“Or eaten,” his sister, grown and soon to mother her own, added.
Their mother’s eyes were sharp horns of disgust at the sacrilege. One did not talk about becoming prey where one was already primed to be the hunted.
He shrugged and refused to turn his nose into the wind, though he could not control the small twitch of his ears, flattening to try and discern danger.
The cows, one young, one old, left to graze at the edge of the parched field.
He remained with his head petulantly bowed, feigning disinterest in any thing ahead. He’d been born to the herd. Without it, he’d be dead.
But it did not mean he had to be one with the herd.
Na'ama Yehuda 
Aha – a rebel in our midst!
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Yep. … within the boundaries of what can (hopefully) be tolerated without becoming lunch … 😉
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The trick is not to be the slowest or the weakest in the herd.
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The consolation ‘prize’ being that if you are the weakest or the slowest, you will not be so for long … 😉
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What amazed me was the intermingling of wildebeest and zebra. Apart from the obvious safety in numbers thing, it seems that the zebras favour taller grass whilst the wildebeest prefer it shorter – so there’s no competition for food. Ain’t nature grand?
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It is!!! 🙂
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What a wonderful take on the image, Na’ama! Love this. Quiet rebellion – one does what one can…
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🙂 Thank you, Dale … I can very much relate to the quiet rebellion … to do what one can even when one cannot do it openly … 😉
One does what one can – exactly! 🙂
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It’s all we can do!
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🙂 Yep. Though sometimes we can rebel openly, and it can be a lotta fun, too … 😉
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This is also true!!
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😀
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I do like what this is saying. Brilliantly done. 🙂
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Thank you, Crispina … As one who does not particularly like being put ‘in boxes’, I can relate to needing to be with others and a part of a community, without losing one’s self in the process … 😉
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Indeed.
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“One with the herd” thinks:
“I want to be heard”
TS
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Exactly! 🙂
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