The rooster and the sunrise

Once upon a time, there was a chicken family led by a rooster. The rooster took great pride in raising and protecting his family. Whenever he spotted something that might be dubious, he would spread his wings over his wife and his kids.

Every day at 5 in the morning, the rooster would fly to the top of a tree and crow so loud his voice would be heard throughout the forest. Then he would stay on that tree to see the sunrise. When the sun came up, the rooster would proudly say to himself

“The sun comes up because of my crow. Great power comes with great responsibility.”

And so the rooster continued this routine year after year — getting to the top of the tree, crowing, and anticipating the sun to rise accordingly.

One day, the rooster wasn’t feeling well. He took to the top of the tree nonetheless but when he tried to crow, he lost his grip and fell to the ground. Seeing him lying there helplessly, one of his kids came to offer help

“Dad, if you are too exhausted to do the crowing today, shall I do it for you?”

The rooster looked staunchly at his son

“Who do you think you are? Do you really believe that your crow will get the sun to rise? Get out of my way.”

The rooster slowly got to the top of the tree and crowed for one last time before falling flat on the ground.

Knowing that the end was near, he called for every member of the family to gather around him.

“I don’t I think can hang around much longer. When tomorrow comes, there ain’t going to be any crow from me, so the sun won’t rise, and every life on earth is doomed. Please take great care of yourselves.”

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Originally appeared on anontawong.blog