Short Story: The elephant rope
Description: Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
Submitted by: M.MOHAMMED ASIF
As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?
Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
Did you enjoy this story? Click to vote for it!
You might also like to share this story on social media or link to it on your website to help the writer.
More Stories
- The Light Purple Door - A Short Story about the Human Mind
- The river that carried my childhood to the oceans - An autobiography of an endangered animal
- ADA HAS PASSION FOR EDUCATION - A short story about living on a dollar a day, and education as the best way to change Ada's life, her parents lives, and the community.
- Childhood ruined by war - Life of an ordinary family that changed after Russia started a war with Georgia
- Water Sentinels: The Captivating Story coming from Bokito in Cameroon - A Ray of Hope for Waterborne Diseases. By Dr. Emmanuel Ngaha.
- At the end - A short story about reminiscing
- Serendipity - a short story about love and Vegas
- The elephant rope - Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
- THE FOG MAN - An abstract representation of of synesthesia. The fog man is everything we cannot be, being individuals. We are prisoners of oblivion. He, instead, is the very essence of it.
- Outcasts - Aria Solace, your everyday teenage girl. Until one day, when Aria accidentally transfers Eli Tuffin into another dimension.
- Free - A poem about mental illness and feeling stuck in your head (ADULT THEMES)
- Her Escape - A little girl in the slums of Mumbai finds her own outlet to escape her crammed existence by using her imagination.
- Two extraordinary friends - A beautiful short story about friendship
- LOST AND FOUND - A story about loss and how not to grieve about that which is gone forever
- I AM DATA - A short story about how data emerged from infancy to become a world revolution.
About This Website
This website is for people to share their stories.
It’s all about exploring your creativity, practicing the art of story telling, and gaining some exposure for your words.
If you choose, you don’t have to write under your own name. Feel free to make up apseudonym if you prefer.
All that matters is that you express yourself through story.
If you want to write as “Donald Duck”, go for it.
CLICK HERE TO SHARE YOUR STORY
Resources
- Writing Tips
- Writing prompts for love stories
- Writing prompts for adventure stories
- Story Writing Themes