Modern Day Hare and Tortoise

Ages and ages after the Hare and the Tortoise had long gone to their heavenly abodes,  the next of kin met. Both had encashed in from all the popularity of the story. Both solidly rich on the royalties earned. But they were bored. They remained sore. Scores had to be settled. The Hare, with its ego hurt at the epic defeat. The Tortoise at still being called slow, inspite of the victory. They decided, maybe it was time for repeating history and having a race. Both shook on it.

They decided to meet again after a week to decide the nuances of the race. Both had meetings with their advisory and legal staff to understand the nitty-gritties. Strategists from the best B-Schools were called to understand the risks and how to mitigate them. After all the preparations, the meeting happened. Both sides decided on a 3-day long race. It was for a long distance. The Hare believed the tortoise would not be able to cover it, and the tortoise thought, it would set the record straight once and for all. PR agencies started rolling. The best trainers were flown in for both. A month long preparation ensued.

The D-Day came. Both Hare and Tortoise came prepared for the race, with a 100-member team of every known speciality in the world. The crowds were excited and sitting on the edge of their seats. Millions glued to their TVs and Phones (We watch multiple 5-day test matches too, so don’t be surprised). The media abuzz with analysts and ads. Memorabilia and souvenirs sold out like crazy.

The gun fired and the race began. The Hare trying to redeem its reputation, shot off at top speed. All the training helping all the way. The Tortoise, taking advantage of a loophole in the race rules, was on skates, this time. Day 1 saw them finishing within a few minutes of each other, cutting it too close.

There was a long jump over a valley on day 2, which the Hare planned to use to its advantage. He had planned special jet packs from Space-X to cover this chasm. The Tortoise on its side, had tied up with a Drone Start-up in to travel across the valley. The Hare on knowing this deployed another tech Start-up to disable the drones mid-air. The Tortoise, had started on the drones, but the drones stopped whirring mid-air, and he was about to crash. The Hare relaxed on day 2 and attended several fund-raising galas in the evening, assured of a victory the next day. The Tortoise had his own twist. He was about to crash, but was saved by a logistics company carrier, that helped him to reach the other end. The Hare was unaware of this. Day 3 was going to be fun!

On day 3, the Hare started after noon, to walk to the finish line, but was surprised to hear the cheering crowd a few miles ahead. His team, caught sleeping, realised that the Tortoise had sneaked past them in the morning. The Hare ran as fast as the wind to the finish line. But the sun was setting soon. The Tortoise was too close to the finish line. The chequered flag waved and the Tortoise won again. The crowd cheered uproariously. Their under-dog had won.

In the aftermath, it was learnt that, both the Drone and the Drone-disarming company had won millions of dollars in their fundings. The racers were seen in even swankier cars and bigger houses, wealth beyond anyone’s imagination. The sales of the old and new tales, had peaked to unprecedented levels. There was a fight for movie rights. All was well and order was restored in the world. Only one question lingers on - What exactly happened in that meeting before the race? Your guess is as good as mine.