THE GREAT RACE

Once upon a time, the Tortoise was slow and he knew he was slow... But he did not like the fact that he was never invited to compete in a race even though other animals like the Caterpillar whom he considered slow were often invited to compete. So, he decided to end it

On a particular meeting at the village square, he dared the Hare who was the reigning champion to a race, the Hare burst into laughter

Hare: have you considered the challenging the millipede

Tortoise: are you scared? oh, i can see you are afraid of a little competition

Hare: everyone knows you are slow, tortoise

Tortoise: no one here has ever seen me run

Hare: we have all seen you walk-

Tortoise: i walk slow, only because i run too fast. 

Now it was becoming serious-- The Tortoise spoke out loud to everyone's hearing

Tortoise: should the hare not be a coward and decides to accept my challenge. I want everyone to be at the finish line. I want you all to witness the moment i defeated the so called champ

Tortoise swaggered of the town's square

The Hare knew he has to accept the tortoise challenge as his reputation was at stake, but he decided this would be a race the tortoise would never forget, he would shame the Tortoise. He will leave him behind margins with hundreds of kilometers between them

The day of the race came and all the animals positioned themselves on the finish line while Hare and Tortoise were at the starting point. The race began and Hare bounded away, eager to get the race over with. He still thought it was ridiculous to be competing against Tortoise in a race but what Hare did not know was that Tortoise had positioned his cousins along the race path while Tortoise himself waited near the finish line

As Hare turned the corner around the forest path, he saw Tortoise walking ahead of him.

Hare: This is impossible! How did you get here?.....  he asked

Tortoise: i told you before. I'm too fast. I'm so fast you can't even see me walking past you

Hare began to run faster over taking the Tortoise. He turned another corner in the forest path and saw the Tortoise again ahead of him, he could not believe his eyes. Hare increased his speed as he ran with all his strength overtaking the Tortoise at each bend but as he got to the final stretch of the race he saw the Tortoise walking past the finish fine

The Tortoise was declared winner and fastest runner in the land while hare's reputation was ruined forever