*Loony’s last stand and how he stoutly insisted he was the winner*
By Baba Galleh Jallow

As the deadline for Loony to step down drew nearer, the confused fox grew
more and more insistent that he was the true winner of the contest in which
he was smashed to the ground before the very eyes of all the animals of
Smiling Forest and the entire big wide world. He insisted that the referee
had stolen the match for his opponent and that he was never going to step
down unless there was a rematch in which he would appoint new, God-fearing
referees. He lodged a complaint with the Supreme Court whose judges he
would appoint from the neighboring forests of Sirali and Nigari to come
nullify the results of the match and declare him the winner. Every day
brought a new barrage of meaningless threats to never quit power from
Loony. And every day saw him more and more isolated as members of his inner
circle fled and members of his cabinet absconded to neighboring forests and
issued statements asking him to accept the reality of his defeat and step
down.

But Loony remained adamant. He increased the number of heavily armed foxes
on the streets of Smiling Forest and bragged that he would fight to the
death to safeguard the independence and territorial integrity of Smiling
Forest. Having trampled upon the rule of law and the constitution of
Smiling Forest for 22 years, Loony suddenly became an ardent advocate of
respect for the constitution and the rule of law. He suddenly became a
fanatic disciple of constitutionalism and frequently quoted constitutional
provisions that he tried to tweak to suit his purpose of abrogating his
opponent’s victory and staying on in power. But the majority of the animals
of Smiling Forest called his bluff. The victor insisted that come the end
of Loony’s term, he would be sworn in as the new president of Smiling
Forest. Movements cropped up everywhere with defiant and revolutionary
slogans like #SmilingForestHasDecided and #LoonyMustGo! A furious Loony
ordered the Mental Surveillance Unit to crack down and arrest any animals
seen wearing T-shirts with these slogans and to close down all radio
stations that dared to talk about his defeat or any of these movements.
Four radio stations were immediately shut down and several animals picked
up and sent to Loony’s notorious “five star hotel.” Armed foxes that were
thought to be sympathetic to the victor were also grabbed and taken to
unknown destinations. But nothing shook the animal’s determination to bring
Loony’s reign of terror to an end. The hashtags #NoRetreatNoSurrender and
#WeAreTakingOurForestBack mushroomed and multiplied around Smiling Forest,
encouraging the animals to stand their ground and show Loony that true
power belonged to them and not to Loony and his brutal government.

But many ordinary animals were scared of war and decided to leave Smiling
Forest. The once happy and peaceful animals of Smiling Forest suddenly
found themselves displaced and becoming refugees either in the rural areas
of Smiling Forest or in neighboring forests. They cursed Loony and
expressed their amazement that Loony could be so cruel and hard-hearted as
to want to hang on to power even if it meant bringing war to their peaceful
forest. Whole families fled Smiling Forest and often had to beg for food
and shelter in neighboring forests in an attempt to save their lives.
Curses rained down upon Loony like a violent hailstorm, but the mad fox
firmly shut his eyes and stuffed his ears with mud to make sure that he
neither saw nor heard the voice of reason and the world urging him to step
down, convincing him that his time was up and that the Great God Yallah had
indeed spoken.

Just nine days to the end of his term, Loony’s evil plot to hold the
animals of Smiling Forest suffered another devastating blow: The mercenary
judges he hired from the distant forests of Sirali and Nigari refused to
come to Smiling Forest. They declared that they were not ready to back up
his unjust claim to power. Loony was more furious and confused than ever
before, but there was little he could do as the lone mercenary judge in
Smiling Forest Chief Justice Fagbe da Log declared that the court could do
nothing unless it had a quorum in several months’ time. Fagbe da Log
suggested somehow that Loony should just negotiate his way out of the mess
he had created. But Loony, his teeth firmly clenched, decided to
immediately launch another attempt at hanging on to power. He declared that
he was going to make a law that would grant amnesty to any animal that had
committed a crime for the past two months and that he was in fact a
forgiving fox, a fox of peace and security and a fox who had the greatest
faith ever in the Great God Yallah. Opening his horse’s mouth big and wide,
he thus addressed the animals: “I know that some of you are running away
saying that Loony wants to bring war into this forest. That is not true. I
am a fox of peace and security. I assure all of you animals that peace will
prevail. But only my own personal Supreme Court can validate the results of
this match that that crooked referee stole for my opponent. The so-called
Association of Neighboring Forests is interfering in the internal affairs
of my personal forest, and they are declaring war on my personal forest.
But let them come here. I will show them who I am. I will face them and
fight them and defeat them so badly they will leave their shoes and flee
for their lives. I will rule this forest for a billion years and if any one
doesn’t like it they can go to hell.”

The truth was that by this time Loony was extremely rattled around both by
the approaching fierce armed foxes of the Association of Neighboring
Forests and especially by some strange stories making the rounds around
Smiling Forest about something called “Dragon Fire”. He was particularly
troubled that this so-called “Dragon Fire” was said to be ‘quasi invisible’
and had laser beams and other frightful capabilities for ferreting out its
targets and incinerating them. Loony heard the strange rumors but was both
mollified and petrified when he read about them from someone called “Winged
Scorpion.” What do they mean dragon fire and winged scorpion? Whoever heard
such frightful names? Loony shivered and his teeth clattered like plates as
he sat alone in his big private room pondering these strange things. He was
so shaken that several times, he got up and prowled around the room,
shaking from head to foot and wondering just what they mean by dragon fire
and winged scorpion. The latter name sounded particularly frightening; for
while he was certainly no stranger to scorpions, the idea of a winged
scorpion sounded too spooky for his rattled nerves.

Meanwhile, efforts by the association of neighboring forests to mediate the
impasse and convince Loony to step down peacefully continued. The
neighboring forest of Nigari, whose president was the chief mediator kindly
offered Loony asylum if he agreed to step down. Less than a week before
Loony’s term expired, Muhari the giraffe, president of Nigari Forest
traveled for a second time to Smiling Forest in a last bid to make the mad
fox see reason. But the animals of Smiling Forest were not optimistic. They
knew Loony was a psychopath and psychopaths never see reason, unless it is
reason that serves their own interest or reason backed by force or a very
credible threat of force. While his victorious opponent slated to become
the new leader of Smiling Forest in a few days sounded optimistic that the
impasse could end peacefully, and said Loony could stay in Smiling Forest,
many animals were skeptical and believed that Loony would only leave power
if he were to be physically grabbed and forcefully dragged or driven out of
power. Some of them reasoned that the Great God Yallah was a God of
miracles and would perhaps perform a miracle that would make Loony accept
his faith to become an ordinary fox again. Everywhere in Smiling Forest and
around the world, animals hoped and prayed for such a miracle as they
waited to see what became of Muhari the giraffe’s latest trip to Smiling
Forest. The animals were not surprised when they saw Muhari the giraffe
stomping angrily out of Loony’s palace, his mediation efforts having proved
futile. In fact, Loony had rudely told Muhari to his face that he should go
take care of the rebels in his own forest rather than meddle in the
internal affairs of Smiling Forest. He roundly told Muhari and everyone in
the Association of Neighboring Forests and the whole big wide world to go
to hell because he would never allow himself to be cheated of his
legitimate victory. “I will rule this forest for a billion years and if you
don’t like it you can go to hell Muhari!” he angrily ranted. “You say your
armed foxes will attack me. Let them attack. Bulay bulay bulay, I will show
them who Loony is!”


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