IF ANIMALS PLAYED HUMAN GAMES

 

Have you ever wondered what would happen if animals played human games? This book is a collection of stories where animals living in forests come together and play our games. 

 

Title : FOOTBALL MASTERS

 

Zoe the zebra and Jenny the giraffe were taking a stroll in the African Savannah. They were terribly bored, as their mothers were busy with housework. Suddenly, a pride of lions showed up and then began a long chase. Gladly, Zoe and Jenny ran into a few bushes before it was too late. “Whew!” said Jenny as they panted. “That was a close one.”.

 

Just then, they heard a noise that sounded like someone blowing a whistle and a loud chatter of words. They sneaked out of the bushes and saw that a large group of people had gathered around a field and were cheering on some people who were doing what you call kicking a ball.

 

Zoe and Jenny heard words like “Go Pro-Champs!” and “Go Fireball!” or perhaps “Go Football Teams!” “Aahh, Football! That’s what the game’s all about,” screamed Zoe. “Oops, Zoe, I really think you should not have screamed out so loud,” said Jenny. “What, Jenny? said Zoe. “No one has heard me. We are very far away from the crowd. By the way, I’m really sure that we won’t be found here.”

 

“You may be right, Zoe, but then why is this lion here?” asked Jenny, pointing at the lion, who had run past the bushes where they were hiding but was still within their sight. 

 

Just then, whoosh… Something came flying and banged the lion on the head. The object hit with such force that the lion fainted immediately. What was it? Where did it come from? How did it come here? Whose was it? 

 

Zoe and Jenny sneaked out of the bushes and went towards the lion, who was now unaware of what was happening around him. They picked up the object that had hit the lion and looked at it carefully. “It’s the football that was used in the game. Somebody must’ve kicked it so hard that it flew all the way here and landed on the lion’s head,” exclaimed Zoe. 

 

“Well, Zoe,” said Jenny. “The lion will regain his consciousness at any time. We’ve got to leave this place. Here, take the football with you. We’ll meet tomorrow at our usual hiding spot and decide what to do with this football. Bye Zoe”. “Bye, Jenny,” Zoe replied as they sprinted back to their houses.

 

Zoe and Jenny were so excited with their latest find that they could hardly sleep at night. They woke up early at the break of dawn and went to their hiding spot. The place was a very old cave near the bank of the Hip-Hop River. The cave was covered with moss and other plants all around. 

 

They sat down in the cave while they ate their breakfast. Zoe had gotten a grass sandwich, while Jenny had gotten a leaf pie. For water, they each got a hollow rock and used it as a water bottle. “Yumm, I love this sandwich,” said Zoe as she took a bite. 

 

“Zoe! Are you again getting distracted?” Jenny asked. “Oh! You are right, Jenny,” said Zoe. They both rolled on their backs and burst into laughter.

 

“Now, for the next part of the problem, what do we do with this football? Take it or leave it?” asked Zoe. “Hmm!” said Jenny. “I’ve got an idea! We can pass chits to the rest of our friends and ask them what they want to do with the football. Take it or leave it. They can each write down on their chip what they want to do. It’s just voting! The one with more votes wins.”.

 

“I like your idea, Jenny,” said Zoe. Let’s meet in the afternoon right here.” They finished eating their breakfast, drank water from their water bottles, and left. 

 

They were back at the cave in the afternoon. Zoe had come with the rest of the foals in the herd (Zelda, Feline, Rocker, Dasher, Dilly, and Martha), while Jenny came with all her other friends (Tallie, Meter, Mary, Cento, Necker, and Leaf).

 

They got a huge palm leaf and cut it into fourteen equal pieces. Zoe cleared her throat and spoke out loud, “Listen, listen, everyone! I have an important thing to tell you. Jenny and I have found a football. We need to decide what to do with it. Take it or leave it? I am passing a palm leaf chit and a graphite stick to each one of you. You must write down your answer on the chit. The answer that gets the most votes is what we are going to do.”. 

 

Everyone, including Jenny and Zoe, wrote down their answers, folded their chits, and put them in a stone bowl that Jenny had placed in the center. Jenny opened all the chits and shrieked with excitement. “Oh my god!” All fourteen of them had written:

Let’s keep the ball

 

“I can’t believe it!” said Zoe. “Me too,” replied Jenny. Now, for our plan, we’ll all go to the same spot from where we saw the football match. To the bushes!” Jenny shouted out loud. 

 

All the friends galloped to the exact spot where Zoe and Jenny had gotten a free seat to watch the match (the bushes in which they were hiding from the lion). Team FIREBALL played the match with a different team today. The friends quietly watched the game. They had all got a palm leaf and a graphite stick along to note down the rules and strategies of the game. 

 

They watched silently when Necker whispered, “I like how the player hit the ball with his head. I think he did a header. I wonder if there is something called a necker too,” and he wrote ‘neckers’ on his leaf. 

 

After some time, Zelda screamed out loud, “I like the front kick. Then why not do a back kick too?” “Shut up, Zelda,” Zoe said. “Anybody can hear you from a mile away, and besides, I am interested in being a goalie.”. 

 

“I’ll be the captain,” said Jenny. “Me, Mary, and Cento will block the opponents,” said Tallie. 

 

“Me, Rocker, Dasher, Dilly, Martha, and Meter will shoot the ball,” said Feline. 

 

Soon, the new team was ready. They named their team ‘ZIRAFAS’. Funny name, isn’t it? They were all so excited that they threw a huge party to celebrate the formation of the team. They were ready to play the newly discovered game. Now the problem was who would be their opponent. 

 

As Zoe had feared, Zelda’s shout was actually heard by the players. The match had just ended, and the captain of the Fireball team decided to check out what the sound was. 

 

As the ZIRAFAS team was busy discussing their plan, the captain of the FIREBALL team suddenly appeared in front of them. He shouted, “You silly animals, it was you who stole my football yesterday. Give back the ball. We won the semi-finals yesterday and will now be playing the finals.”.

 

“So it was yours!” said Jenny.

“Of course!” replied the captain. 

“Fine!” said Jenny. “Let’s hold a challenge.

“What challenge?’ asked the captain.

Jenny replied, “It’s a challenge in football. My team will play against you in the finals. The winner will not just get the trophy but will also get to keep the football. Deal?” 

“Deal,” said the captain with a big smirk. He was so sure that his team would win the match.

The captain shook Jenny’s hand (actually, Jenny’s hoof).

 

The next day, Zoe received a letter. In neat and clean words, it read:

DEAR ZIRAFAS

The match is tomorrow; get ready. It’s time for you to get defeated!

From: Fireball Football Team

 

The rest of the page had a drawing of an evil-like emoji.

 

Zoe was astonished! She knew it was time for another meeting. She went to Zelda, Feline, Dilly, Dasher, Rocker, and Martha’s houses and broke the news. Then she called Jenny and read out the letter. Jenny told Zoe to meet at the bank of the Hip-Hop River at noon sharp. She also told Cento, Mary, Meter, Leaf, Necker, and Tallie about the letter and the meeting.

 

At noon, everybody was there at the bank of the Hip-Hop River. Zoe showed the note to everyone and spoke out, “If we want to keep the football, we have to win the match tomorrow. We have to practice our moves and play fair. It’s a huge challenge, but we will give it our best shot. Now who’s with me?” “Me, me!” everyone shouted out loud and started practicing their moves.

 

They practiced non-stop until late in the evening. Zoe could block all the shots. “Well done, Zoe!” Jenny said as she patted Zoe on the back with her long neck. “You might be able to block our shots even if we hit them by mistake,” said Jenny. “Well, thanks; I did try hard!” replied the elated Zoe.

 

Everyone, though exhausted, was excited for tomorrow’s game, as they would be playing their first ever match of football, and that too with humans. They went back to their homes and had a good night’s rest.

 

The next day, they woke up way before dawn and practiced their moves. Everyone was super excited but also a bit nervous. When they reached the venue, they were greeted by the cheering crowds, who were thrilled and eager to see an animal team participating in the competition. 

 

The referee gave eleven of the team members jerseys with ‘ZIRAFAS’ written on them. He said, “Dear Zirafas, I see that you are fourteen players. However, as per the rules of football, only eleven players are allowed to play the match. I specifically picked Tallie, Feline, and Mary not as players but as cheerleaders. I think they are good dancers.”.

 

“Well, that’s true,” said Tallie. “I am better at dancing than at football,” she blushed. The referee handed them dresses meant for cheerleaders. The dresses had a print of a zebra and a giraffe holding a football. The word ‘ZIRAFAS’ was embroidered beautifully on the dresses.

 

Rocker looked extremely worried. He said, “What do we do now? Tallie, Feline, and Mary are now cheerleaders instead of scorers or blockers.” “Don’t worry, Rocker. We will do fine. Let’s give it our best shot,” said Jenny. “Yes!!” replied Rocker.

 

“Mary, I see that you have been raising your hoof for a long time. Do you have something to say?” asked Jenny. “It’s a concern for all three cheerleaders. What dance should we do when our team scores or misses a goal? And what when the opponent scores?” asked Mary.

“Well, if we score, do some happy and cheerful dancing, and if the opponent scores, don’t dance. If we win the game, do a gala dance. Got it?” said Jenny.

“Yep,” replied Mary.

All their doubts were cleared. There were only five minutes left for the match to start. Both the teams exercised and warmed up. They were fully charged up and wanted to win. They formed a circle with their respective team players and chanted their team song.

 

The scorekeeper announced that it was now time for the match to begin. The teams went onto the field and took their positions. Zoe went to the goal line. Jenny stood a little farther off from the goal post. This meant that she was protecting Zoe and the goal post. As the referee blew the whistle, the audience cheered. The match had begun!

 

The referee threw the ball to the center of the pitch. One football player caught hold of the ball and was running towards Zoe. Team FIREBALL would have scored their first goal, but it was Necker who saved the day for Team ZIRAFAS. 

 

Necker positioned his long neck on the ground. He moved it along to and fro, and when the player was about to shoot the ball, he caught the ball and lifted his head up. He shot the ball into the opponent’s goal and scored the first goal for ZIRAFAS. “Goal!” came a loud cheer from the audience, and at once the three cheerleaders sprang into action. They did a couple of back flips. Then Tallie and Mary intertwined their necks and moved them up and down while Feline jumped over their necks. It seemed that the zebra was skipping. It was a hilarious sight and made everyone laugh. The ZIRAFAS ran ecstatically towards Necker and patted him.

 

The whistle blew again, which meant, ‘Dance over, get back to your positions now!’ All the players obeyed. The ZIRAFAS played really well, and in no time they were 3-0 against FIREBALL. clearly in an advantageous position.

 

But just then, Fireball scored a goal. The baseball team had three cheerleaders with the team logo painted on their faces. The moment their team scored a goal, they did a pompom dance. The whistle blew again. As always, the teams sprung back into action.

 

Meter (who was taller than Necker) scored the fourth goal for the ZIRAFAS in quite a humorous manner. One of the FIREBALL players, the same player who had kicked the ball so hard that it landed on the lion’s head, kicked it hard again. This time, it landed on Meter’s head and right in between its horns. 

 

The annoyed Meter suspected that there was something on his head but couldn’t see it.One of the FIREBALL players began climbing up Meter’s neck to get the ball back. Meter was shaking his head vigorously to get the thing off his head. The ball flew off in between his horns and landed close to Fireball’s goal post. Zelda was standing right where the ball landed. She immediately darted and kicked the ball onto the goalkeeper’s head. It all happened so quickly that Fireball’s goalkeeper seemed completely lost. He bounced the ball in the air, and it sailed into the goal. The crowds roared with laughter. So did the players of both teams. 

 

Just then, the timer went out. The ZIRAFAS had won! The cheerleaders began performing a gala dance. The ZIRAFAS huddled together and lifted Zelda and Meter on their backs. The excited ZIRAFAS then ran all over the football field. The euphoric crowd sang the slogan, ‘ZIRAFAS are the best’. This was the first time they had witnessed a match played by animals.

 

The award ceremony began. The chief guest handed over the trophy to Jenny, the captain of the ZIRAFAS. He also invited the ZIRAFAS to be a permanent football team. 

 

The ZIRAFAS were thrilled with the invitation. They could now play matches with different teams. But most of all, they were excited to be able to keep the football with them. 

 

If you ever happen to go to the African Savannah and get hit by a yellow football with a green stripe, remember that it is the ZIRAFAS who are practicing for their next match!

—

Jhanvi Shah

***

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