Heir's Race
🐺 Modern Fables #7 — A followup to the classic Tortoise and the Hare
A young hare races alongside her best friend, a tortoise.
They are both daughters of legends — the tale of their fathers’ infamous race has been told throughout the lands.
The day arrives when the young friends must follow in the footsteps of their fathers and race each other on the big stage. They anxiously wait at the starting line, giving each other a warm smile.
Bang!
The young hare takes off to an early lead. She looks back and sees her friend lagging far behind. She settles into a rhythm, and her mind begins to wander. The memory of her father’s painful loss flashes in her mind. Her father always warned her to avoid his mistake: He had stopped for too long, and that cost him the race. She promised her father that she wouldn’t suffer the same fate.
When the hare hits a fork in the race, she makes a quick decision and keeps going. Sometimes, she takes a wrong turn, but quickly adjusts her course.
The hare keeps moving, no matter what.
The tortoise, by contrast, stalls on each fork. Her own father always reminded her of the secret to his success:
“Slow and steady wins the race.”
She promised him she would take his advice to heart and carry on his legacy.
When the young tortoise hits a fork in the race, she never rushes, taking her time with each choice. Sometimes, she gets caught in a thought, and spends an hour choosing a single turn.
The tortoise keeps thinking, no matter what.
As the tortoise ponders another turn, the hare crosses the finish line. The hare wins the race handily, despite making many wrong turns along the way.
The tortoise takes the loss in stride, learning a lesson of her own. Someday, she tells herself, she will pass on her own advice:
“Slow and steady wins the race, but overthinking freezes you in place.”
If you liked this tale, you might enjoy the other fables in the Modern Fables section of this Substack:
And if you’re looking to dive deeper into longer, richer tales, then be sure to check out my new book of fables, Wandering Spirits:
Wandering Spirits: Modern Fables - by Salman Ansari
🐺 My new book of fables is out now!
Lastly, if you’re local to the San Francisco Bay Area, I have a book event coming up that I’d love for you to join! I’ll be doing a live reading from my book at Lamorinda Arts Council’s upcoming Art Embraces Words event at the Lafayette Library this Saturday, May 18th at 2pm PST.
I’ll be presenting a gallery of illustrations from the book alongside my live reading. I’ll have books available to sign, as well as limited edition Wolf’s Way stickers. Come say hi! I hope to see you there.