Sometimes the politics of humans are mirrored in the animal kingdom. Animals that want to be leaders promise one thing and end up doing the opposite. I often refer to this to show my country's leaders the need for change and to embrace development instead of corruption.
Here is what I saw
I saw a pelican standing as if it’s aspiring for the role of a political leader in the Sea kingdom.
Describe what you feel
He looks directly at the fish while presenting his manifesto. He promises that if he is elected as the leader of sea creatures, he will not allow other pelicans to eat fishes anymore. The fish will be safe during his term. They will swim freely along the shores without being preyed upon by pelicans. But this is just a trap to lure out more fishes so the pelicans can catch them later.
A story about what happens next:
Once upon a time, there was a severe famine in the land. Most animals migrated to places with abundant vegetation. The pelicans couldn’t travel far because they weren’t built for long journeys. During a famine, animals like them face extinction especially if it last for a longer period of time. The pelicans were afraid and didn’t want that to happen to them. They wanted to be remembered in history.
To survive, they decided to have a meeting to discuss their situation. One pelican suggested making the issue political and electing a leader to rule the sea creatures. The whales and sharks understood this strategy but didn’t interfere because it didn’t concern them.
An election took place between the sea creatures and the pelicans won. The king of the pelicans promised fishes and other sea creature’s free food (earthworms) if they won. Since the fish were many, their votes outnumbered other sea creatures like the sharks, who didn’t show much interest. The pelicans won the election to rule over the sea creatures.
The king of the pelicans then thought of a strategy to lure fishes out of the water so they could eat them to compensate hunger. He told the other pelicans to find earthworms and place them near the water bodies. This way, they hoped to attract more fishes to the shore and eat them.
There were many fishes in the water at that time, so the pelicans brought earthworms to the shore to feed them. However, the pelicans changed their strategy and placed the earthworms a bit farther from the water.
This made fishes worried because it would be stressful for them to return to their habitat after feeding. The king of the pelicans was asked to explain the change in feeding location to the fish. He stood on a rock and addressed the fishes, assuring them that as the king of the waters, they had been providing food and there was no need to worry.
Then, the strike happened. One day, when some fish started retreating and ignoring the pelican's trap, the pelicans decided to act. They fed the fish with earthworms, surrounded the water body to prevent the fish from returning to their habitat, and preyed on the fish immediately. No fish escaped that day.
When the other fishes noticed this from afar, they called for the impeachment of the Pelican king. This led to the belief that when pelicans are seen near the water without doing anything, they are trying to apologize to the fish for the harm they caused long ago.
This story reflects the current political situation in my country, where leaders make false promises during elections and don't fulfill any when they come to power, instead feeding on innocent people.
This is my entry into the "Picture of a Thousand Words" contest. Thanks for reading.