The Hawk and The Mouse: A Matter of Perspective

Setting: A sunlit meadow, where tall grass meets scattered rocks and an old fallen log.

HAWK: (perched on the old fallen log, preening its feathers) Ah, another beautiful day to continue hunting.

MOUSE: (nervously peering from behind a rock) Not for everyone, I'd say.

HAWK: (tilts head, looking amused) Well, if it isn't my favorite field mouse. Brave of you to speak up and show yourself.

MOUSE: (whiskers twitching) Maybe I'm tired of living in fear. Besides, you've clearly just eaten, I can see the bulge in your belly.

HAWK: Observant little thing, aren't you? Yes, your cousin wasn't quite as quick as he thought he was this morning.

MOUSE: (edging closer but staying near an escape route) That's exactly what I want to talk about. Why us? Why can't you eat more grasshoppers or beetles instead?

HAWK: (adjusts wings) Ah, observant and a philosopher! Do you question the

grasshopper about why it eats grass?

MOUSE: (sits upright) That's different. Grass doesn't run in fear. Grass doesn't have family.

HAWK: (peers down intently) Everything has its place in this meadow, little one. The grass feeds you and the insects. You feed me. (looks out to the risen sun, thoughtfully) And I'll feed the earth when my time comes.

MOUSE: (scratching ear thoughtfully) But you're so... powerful. You could choose a different path.

HAWK: Could I? Tell me, what did you have for breakfast?

MOUSE: (hesitates) Some seeds, a few tender roots, and... well, a grasshopper.

HAWK: (nods knowingly) And did you consider the grasshopper's family?

MOUSE: (whiskers drooping) That's...that's different.

HAWK: Is it? You took life to sustain your own. Just as I do.

MOUSE: (angrily) But I don't terrorize the grasshoppers! I don't make them live in constant fear!

HAWK: Fear keeps you sharp, keeps you clever. Without me, your kind would strip this meadow bare. Too many mice, not enough grass. Then what? There must be balance.

MOUSE: (considering) I hadn't thought of it that way.

HAWK: Of course not. You see through mouse eyes. I see the bigger picture from above. I watch the delicate balance of life in this meadow. Watch is ebb and flow. Take and give.

MOUSE: (moving to sit beneath a protective bramble near the log) So you're saying you help us by hunting us?

HAWK: (chuckling) In a way. I take the slow, the sick, the unwary. The strong survive still, have stronger babies. Your children are quicker because of me.

MOUSE: (thoughtfully) Evolution through predation...

HAWK: (surprised) My, my, you are a scholarly mouse!

MOUSE: We're not all just frightened little prey animals. We think, we feel, we understand things.

HAWK: (nodding) Which is precisely why this conversation is possible. We're both part of something larger than ourselves.

MOUSE: (sighs) Still doesn't make it any easier being your lunch.

HAWK: (spreads wings) Would it help if I told you I respect your kind? Your cleverness, your resilience?

MOUSE: (sarcastically) Oh yes, makes me feel much better about being eaten alive.

HAWK: (laughing) There's that mouse wit! You know, you remind me of another mouse I spoke with last season. With a similarly sharp mind.

MOUSE: (quietly) My mother...

HAWK: (solemnly) She was very brave. And very quick. Lived a long life for a mouse.

MOUSE: Until...

HAWK: Until the owl got her. Not me. I respected her far too much.

MOUSE: (surprised) You...you let her be?

HAWK: Sometimes, little one, even predators can choose differently, just as you said. Just... don't go spreading that around. Bad for my reputation, you see.

MOUSE: (standing straighter) Thank you for this talk. I still don't like being prey, but I understand better now.

HAWK: (preparing to take flight) Understanding is all any of us can really ask for. Stay clever, little mouse. (flies off)

MOUSE: (watching the hawk soar away against the bright sun) Stay full, mighty hawk.

[End Scene]