The Hawk and the Dove(modern political fable)

by shyster

Posted to Stories on 2002-09-11 11:56:00

Once a dove flew daintily through the clouds on a bright, sunny afternoon. Everything was going great for the dove, who was a little hungry, but it was early afternoon, so there was still plenty of light to catch some grub. Little did he know that for the hawk swooping down towards him at breakneck speed, there was no more time to waste. The hawk suddenly shot past the dove, which panicked into a spin and, once recovered, flew up towards denser cloud cover. The hawk, cursing his failing sight, spotted the dove making a get-away and sped after him, intent on making that juicy dove his din-dins.

After a time, nipping through the clouds, cutting evasive manoeuvres and nifty ducks, the dove decided to put on the brakes, hoping that stupid hawk would fly right by. Unfortunately for the dove, he miscalculated the skills of the hawk, who, as the dove jerked to a hovering standstill, made a sharp turn, and emerged triumphantly hovering and facing the frightened dove. So the hawk darted forward, but this dove was fast, and nipped above him, quickly out of the way of the grasping talons. So the hawk drove up, but again the dove nipped away. So they tussled, spinning endless circles, one going high, the other low, and then back again.

The day wore on, and slowly, but surely, both began to tire. The diving and the nipping slowed down, and neither was willing to give up the ghost, the hawk had its pride and the dove wanted to live

Then suddenly, a strange thing happened. The hawk caught the dove’s eye and the dove caught the hawk’s eye and they paused. For the hawk saw in the eye of the dove, a toughness that it knew, recognised and understood, for it sat at the heart of it’s own being. And the dove saw, through the steely glint of the hawk’s eye, a softness, an understanding aspect of the hawk, which the dove shared, albeit in a much greater quantity. Perhaps this encounter need not end as so many had done before; perhaps together they could survive better, more efficiently. And as antagonist and protagonist paused in this unprecedented moment of comprehension, a jet flew past sucking them into an engine and killing them both, leaving behind only a mix of feathers scattered in the air.