More Equal Than You, Part II

A Story for All Ages by Aaron McEmrys

“What do we do now?” cheeped Mouse.

“We’ve got to undo it somehow, that’s what!”

Night after night Owl muttered to himself as he poured over ancient scrolls and through forgotten books until one morning the whole Village awoke to a shrill and triumphant hoot!

Hours later, when Manny stumbled sleepily out of his den to fetch the morning paper, he was shocked to find a very official-looking summons nailed to his door.

“To Manny the Mole, Village Chief, from Your Constituents:

Dear Manny, we hereby contest your right to hold office according to the Ancient Four-Fold Challenge. The challenge will begin at dawn on the 3^rd day of Leaf Fall.

Sincerely, the Animals”

Manny was furious. “What is the meaning of this?” he thundered in his shrill mole-voice. And all that night Manny paced the empty halls of his vast house, deep in thought.

All the animals gathered at the edge of the Big Meadow on the morning of the first challenge as Cheetah warmed up.

Nobody really thought Manny would show up. After all, no mole could possibly outrace a cheetah. But show up he did at the very last minute.

Manny adjusted his sweatbands and stretched while the animals blinked in surprise. But their surprise quickly turned to disbelief as his coaches strapped his stubby little legs into the strangest contraption they’d ever seen.

Suddenly Manny the Mole had four long titanium legs, like a giant smoke-spewing robot grasshopper.

Manny smiled to himself and adjusted his racing goggles one last time – and they were off.

Cheetah did his best, putting every beat of his proud heart into the race, but he was no match for Manny the Mole and his oily roaring hopping robot legs.

The animals gathered for the second challenge with a sense of dread as brave Falcon, warrior of the sky, circled gracefully in the sky on powerful wings.

The Manny showed up. He was wearing an aerodynamic bodysuit and matching goggles. His trainers cranked the tallest fire ladder in the Village as high as it would go, where an engineer fitted him with a huge pair of wings and a special pair of pants.

Falcon beat her wings so fast her feathers started to burn, but she was no match for the be-goggled Mole and his rocket pants.

Hardly anyone turned up to see how the third challenge would go. True, Otter was by far their fastest swimmer, but by now everyone knew to expect yet another trick from Manny, and they weren’t wrong.

Otter did his best, raced through the water, but Manny, wearing his one-of-a-kind submarine suit, was simply unbeatable.

“That’s three challenges down, my friends” said Manny with that slippery new smile of his, “Are you sure you want to keep this up?”

But the next morning the whole Village gathered at the base of the Great Tree.

“Who is to be my opponent today?” sneered Manny.

“None of us” said Bear, unclasping the heavy gold necklace Manny had given him. “Here, I don’t want this anymore. Today you must face yourself.”

And without a word, Bear and Owl gently pushed Manny down between twisted roots older than time into the big dark opening at the base of the Tree.

It was cool, and dark, and so big…it couldn’t possibly fit under the tree…Manny turned to leave, suddenly afraid, but there was nothing there – just blank darkness where the door had been.

An underground pool was as his feet, the water black, and still as glass.

The water began to swirl like smoke, and Manny stared as if hypnotized.

There he was in the water, walking through endless halls paneled with precious woods that echoed as only abandoned halls can echo. Eating dinner on silver plates that reflected only his lonely face, alone, so alone. In his mind’s eye he raced through his empty mansion, but couldn’t find even a single friendly face, only blank-faced employees who served him like machines but only for as long as the paychecks kept coming…

Thick tears began to well up in Manny’s eyes and his throat felt full with weeping.

On and on it went until finally Manny saw himself old, ancient, bald and wrinkled…sitting alone before an empty fireplace. Dust covered everything. Worse than alone, he was forgotten and dusty as only a forgotten thing can be.

Much later Manny stumbled out of the Great Tree, his full cheeks streaked with tears. He carefully took off his badge of office.

“I don’t want this. Not like this.”

Many things changed in the Village after that. As the animals slept Manny planted trees that would someday replace the shade he’s stolen. He drained his precious underground swimming pool. He even let go of his treasure, leaving it outside his front step with a sign saying, “Free Treasure!”

“Manny, we want you to be Village Chief again.”

“Me? After everything I did to you? You must be joking!”

“No, we’re not joking”, said Owl kindly. “We need a leader who can tell the difference between his best self and his worst self. We need a leader who can pass the test of love. Can you do that?”

“Yes. Yes, I can.” squeaked Manny as tears spilled down his furry cheeks.

No one wanted Manny’s gold, so now it hangs from the branches of the Great Tree like a thousand tiny Suns.