An Animal's Tail
It was a sunny day in the Kingdom and Sly Flamingo was working quietly at the Water Hole, trying to stay on a good path and not get into any trouble with the Boss Lioness. Sly Flamingo was promised large amounts of shrimp and sardines if she could behave for 4 whole moons. This was proving a hard task for Sly Flamingo since she had a knack for doing things that were wrong to others but right to her.
One day Wise Crane came to her and asked her if she could find something for him in the Forbidden Hills. Sly Flamingo understood why he asked her and only her, being that she had been there many times and knew the safest route there and back. Just as she was about to agree to Wise Crane's wish, Sleepy Orangutan ambled over and started talking to Wise Crane about many things. This distraction gave her enough time to think about whether she was doing the right thing or not. It was not long before she noticed Wise Crane and Sleepy Orangutan's conversation had come to the errand she was about to do, and with that she realized that it couldn't be wrong or forbidden if someone like Wise Crane asked it of her.
With that Sly Flamingo agreed with Wise Crane and set off for the Forbidden Hills. It did not take her long to find the odd tree book that Wise Crane had requested, and she found that it was not even in the slightest bit heavy. As she was leaving, she thought of Sleepy Orangutan and decided to find a small gift for him too. He was after all one of the few of the Orangutan tribe that was kind to Sly Flamingo. After searching for a while Sly Flamingo found the perfect gift for Sleepy Orangutan, it was made of some odd white vine and tied very neatly together. It would make a perfect new nest for Sleepy Orangutan and it could hold Wise Crane's tree book while she flew.
Very soon she could see the Water Hole, and within moments she caught sight of Wise Crane and Sleepy Orangutan. They were waiting for her to return with their 'forbidden' items. One animal that she didn't notice was the Boss Lioness' lookout, Eavesdropping Elephant, who was always looking for someone to snitch on. Eavesdropping Elephant had certainly noticed Sly Flamingo, and he also noticed that she had 'forbidden items' in her clutches. This was a big no-no in the Kingdom, and Eavesdropping Elephant wanted to use Sly Flamingo as an example for the start of the New Warmth. She would make a good example too, since she was infamous for many of her doings, but none of these could be proved and she never had gotten in trouble for them. This time though Eavesdropping Elephant would catch her, and she would be punished severely for her crime.
Wise Crane was overjoyed that Sly Flamingo had found his tree book for him and thanked her greatly, while Sleepy Orangutan proved that he liked the gift by going home to replace his old and misshapen nest with his soft, new one. Sly Flamingo was glad to have been able to help them, but was sad that she couldn't stay long for she had promised Small Tree Frog and Goofy Hyena that she would go with them to the Forest before Mid-Light. After saying goodbye to Wise Crane, Sly Flamingo turned to leave and happened to bump right into Eavesdropping Elephant, who had been trying to act casual and find out why Sly Flamingo had broken one of the biggest laws of the Kingdom. Apologizing to Eavesdropping Elephant, Sly Flamingo flew very quickly so she would not be late meeting her friends.
Eavesdropping Elephant on the other hand was overjoyed that Sly Flamingo had done something so foolhardy and criminal. This time he would gather proof as well, so that Boss Lioness would not let Sly Flamingo go without consequence. With these thoughts in mind, Eavesdropping Elephant went to Wise Crane's home and stole the 'forbidden item' from the shelf that was under the window. Not wanting to hold it for long he hurried to the Orangutan's camp and quickly found Sleepy Orangutan's home. Oddly enough Sleepy Orangutan was not in his nest, but out with his family gathering leaves and fruit for dinner. This gave Eavesdropping Elephant the perfect opportunity to take the silly Orangutan's new, 'forbidden' nest without any trouble.
With each of the 'forbidden' items in his trunk he went to Boss Lioness' home on the highest cliffs of the Kingdom. Boss Lioness had chosen this for her pride to stay because it provided her with a great view of everything going on in the small kingdom. It was also one of the only homes in the Kingdom that would be protected if a two-leg came from beyond the Forbidden Hills.
Eavesdropping Elephant quickly found Boss Lioness and showed her the 'forbidden things' that had been brought back to their clean Kingdom by the troublesome, Sly Flamingo. Boss Lioness didn't like that Sly Flamingo had broken one of the biggest laws of the Kingdom and was outraged. She decided to take immediate action to punish Sly Flamingo and sent her strongest guard, Brute Gorilla, to fetch Sly Flamingo and bring her in for punishment. At the same time she sent her messengers, Meager and Miserable Macaw, to tell the Kingdom that there would be an Execution before Dark. The Macaw brothers set off in excitement, since an Execution was very rare in the Kingdom, and Brute Gorilla jumped as quickly as he could through the trees to the home of Sly Flamingo.
Little did Boss Lioness know that Eavesdropping Elephant had not told her that Wise Crane had asked Sly Flamingo to go to the Forbidden Hills, and fetch his forbidden item. Instead he decided to take the promotion that Boss Lioness offered him and thought it best to not tell her the rest of the story. It was not long until Brute Gorilla returned to the cliffs with a very confused and frightened, Sly Flamingo. Boss Lioness did not want to hear Sly Flamingo's excuses and ignored her, as she watched the Macaw Brothers fly back to the cliffs, with the Kingdom's habitants in tow.
As night started to fall Boss Lioness told the Kingdom of the crime that was committed, and who had committed such a heinous crime. Sly Flamingo, now scared for her life, quickly yelped that what Boss Lioness knew wasn't the whole truth, that Wise Crane had asked her to retrieve his important tree book for him. This outburst shocked Boss Lioness and she angrily called for Wise Crane to fly forward and confirm whether the story was true or not. Not wanting to endanger the life of Sly Flamingo, Wise Crane flew urgently to the lioness and explained the situation in complete detail. While Boss Lioness listened to Wise Crane's story, Eavesdropping Elephant realized that he was about to be unveiled, and his crime was far worse than Sly Flamingo's. So he slowly backed away from Boss Lioness and Wise Crane, trying to escape unnoticed. Of course when you are an elephant it is hard to go anywhere unnoticed and Boss Lioness quickly caught sight of him and made him admit to not telling her everything about Sly Flamingo's "crime."
Embarrassed and angered Boss Lioness quickly renounced judgment of Sly Flamingo's crime, and decided that Eavesdropping Elephant should be put on trial, for not telling everything he should have and almost ending young, Sly Flamingo's life. The Kingdom soon found him guilty of trying to terminate a young Flamingo, and was sentenced and his sentence was to never be seen or heard from again, and to live the remainder of his miserable life as an outcast. Boss Lioness also included that should he ever come back to the Kingdom, begging for forgiveness or not, he would be attacked until he was in the Forever Sleep, and placed at the edge of the Crevice that separated the Kingdom from the Forbidden Hills. His Forever Sleeping body would be used as a warning to all those who thought of crossing the Crevice and for those who didn't like telling the whole story, no matter who it might endanger.
With that Eavesdropping Elephant was chased out of the Kingdom and to the Forgotten Lands, were he lived the rest of his life as just another Elephant.
Moral: Always tell the whole truth, even if you don't like a part of it.