The next topic is PICK TWO Aurora, Hard to believe, Contribution, Crew cut, Dealers, Dirty
RICHARD
Mahimba
Mahimba the storyteller struck an imposing figure in his tribal robes, and tonight – as always – he had a captive audience.
He was relating ‘The lion that ate cherries’, and other than his deep, sonorous tones, you could have heard a pin drop.
All too soon, it was over and the tourists made their way to the bar, topping up on drinks in preparation for Mahimba’s promised next story: ‘The dancing hippo’.
We made a killing at the bar on story nights, and Mahimba did extremely well from the tips.
As for his stories… Authentic African folklore? Nope. Complete fabrications? Absolutely!
SERENDIPIDY
As dictators go, he was probably one of the worst. Ruthless, heartless and despotic. Intolerant of opposition, few dared to challenge him, and those who did would come to a sticky end.
They called him ‘The Lion’.
And, he had a fondness for cherries. Expensive delicacies in this country, but money was no object, and he demanded the very best. So, the very best, he got.
Every day, he’d feast upon huge bowls of luscious, ruby red cherries, spitting out the stones as casually as he despatched his enemies.
Cherries, lovingly and carefully prepared by me.
Copiously laced with cyanide.
LIZZIE
He was furious. The Lion That Ate Cherries? What kind of a Xmas gift was that?! He was a writer. He wanted books, not worthless pseudo-art. And, on top of it all, that creepy cousin, smirking… No! And then, it hit him. The photograph. He remembered the photograph. “I’ll take it. The painting, yes.” Everyone mocked him. He smiled. Two weeks later, he arrived at a remote village in Africa. An elderly woman opened the door. “I’ve been waiting for you.” Right there, a whole library of first editions, rare books, a dream come true. “Your grandfather knew you’d understand.”
TOM
The Lion The Monk and the Mouse.
Most folk know the Koan about the Monk and the strawberry. In that same canon was: The lion that ate cherries. On a hill a Lion spied a Monk crossing a valley. He was very hungry. At his good fortune he gave out a mighty roar. Hearing said roar the Monk took off running. All day the two ran, the Lion never gaining on the Monk. Finally, the Monk spied a Cherry tree. He clambered up with the lion on his heels. The Lion dropped spent on the bottom of the tree. Now all he had to do was wait.
839
Train
Unseen in the branches was a field mouse. He noted the monk but kept his eyes trained on the Lion. While both were quite dangerous, the greater danger thought the mouse was being eaten. The Monk started throwing branches at the lion, the lion didn’t mover. The mouse began gnawing at tiny branches. A cherry dropped, the lion caught it and purred. The Monk joined, together they stripped the tree of all the cherries. The Lion slowly roses and walk back to his hill. The Monk and Mouse gave praise to the Budha. Limbed down the tree, and waked away.
NORVAL JOE
Buhmilda continued. “There are a lot of children’s songs that seem innocuous, but are actually used to encourage magical abilities. ‘Ring around the rosies’, ‘London Bridges falling down’, and ‘The Lion that ate cherries'”.
Linoliumanda’s eyes lit up. “I know them all. My daddy sang them to me for years. I should have magic then, right?”
Buhmilda gave the blond girl a sad look but Sabrina took advantage of the question. “No. It just shows you’re a dope. If you had magical abilities, you’d have learned some by now.”
Shell shocked by Sabrina’s rudeness, Linoliumanda wandered back across the meadow.
PLANET Z
It only took a generation to transform the studio from a beloved institution to a bomb factory.
Instead of giving audiences the entertainment they wanted, the studio greenlit projects that ticked the boxes woke social media activists demanded, but never actually paid for.
When management tried to steer the company back to sanity and profitability, radicals in the rank and file protested until the board, contrary to profit-seeking board behavior, replaced the management with their own handpicked radicals.
Pressure mounted at other studios to follow the radical studio’s trajectory.
Instead of surrendering to the mob, though, they fired the radicals.
CHATGPT
In the moonlit savannah, a lone lion with fur as dark as the night discovered a mysterious grove of cherry trees. Their blood-red fruits glistened, tempting the beast with an otherworldly allure. Ignoring instincts, the lion devoured the forbidden cherries. As the juices trickled down its jaws, an eerie transformation unfolded. Its eyes glowed an ominous crimson, and a malevolent hunger gripped its soul. No longer the king of the jungle, it prowled the shadows, a sinister creature haunting the dreams of those who ventured too close. The once-majestic lion, now cursed by the sinister sweetness of cherries, hungered for more than flesh.