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Popy sat still on her chair, slowly surveilling the surrounding sand. The searing sun shined off the arid wasteland before her, frying any slow specimen who couldn’t find the sweet serenity of shade. And this is supposed to be an Oasis , the fox thought to herself. Still, she couldn’t complain too much. At least this place was somewhat survivable, unlike the rest of the hellish, barren landscape humans called the desert.
After an eternity of boredom, Popy finally saw what she had been waiting for: a shabby pickup truck traveling down the desert’s lone road. On the back of that pickup truck lay sweet salvation, in the form of hundreds upon hundreds of corn cobs. With this corn, she and her groupmates could eat like kings for months. If they wanted to, they could even use the corn as chicken bait, giving them limitless access to the juicy meat. All they needed to do was get it off the truck and into their hands.
Normally, this would be where the plan failed. They would try to steal the corn, only to be beaten back by the rabid guard dog, Rosco. That annoying reptile Oscar would often make an appearance too, usually faring no better than them when he tried to steal the goods for himself. Their three-way battle typically had no winners, and when a victor did emerge from the ashes it was almost always Rosco. But not today.
The moment of truth was at hand. Popy gave the signal: a short, yet piercing whistle that echoed through the desert. A bit down the road, a hyena named Harchi crouched behind a rock. Buck the vulture took to the skies, keeping a close watch on the truck while staying just out of Rosco’s sight. As the truck moved closer to Harchi’s hiding spot, Buck swooped lower and lower. Lower. Lower….
BAM! Rosco jolted and looked around. Something had just hit his car, but he was on an empty road. The only explanation was ….
Oh no.
OH NO.
For the first time in his driving career, Rosco had hit a pedestrian.
Rosco slammed on the brakes and jumped out of his car as soon as it stopped. He ran to the hyena lying on the road, hoping against hope that he was somehow unhurt. He was so distraught at the sight of Harchi spread out on the pave0ment that he didn’t even notice the bird and lizard perched atop his truck.
Harchi had the easiest job of all, except for Popy sitting back at base. He simply had to distract Rosco by writhing in the agony of his “injury”. Of course, this was all just an act – the only thing that hit Rosco’s car was Buck when he landed on it. But Rosco didn’t know that, so when he rushed over to check on the “wounded” hyena, Harchi made sure to play it up for all it was worth. Yelping and yowling, screeching and snarling, he put on an Oscar-worthy performance for the panicking guard dog.
On the one hand, Rosco was happy he hadn't killed the hyena. On the other hand, having him survive with such severe injuries was almost worse. Rosco hesitated, unsure what to do next. Out of the corner of his eye, Harchi spotted the truck bed shaking. The finish line was in sight. If he could just keep Rosco focused on him, and not the noise from the truck, just a little longer….
On the truck, Oscar and Buck moved with ruthless efficiency. Oscar untied the ropes holding the corn to the truck, while Buck set about unlocking the tailgate. After a bit of fiddling, they did it; the door flipped out, and thousands of corn cobs came tumbling out of the truck bed. Oscar and Buck exchanged a quick high five as they watched the corn tumble down the hill (they chose this spot beforehand specifically because it was on a steep hill) and into a well-placed net. It was a flawless execution with only one more step - escaping with the bounty.
This was not a trivial problem. Buck could fly, and Oscar could hide between rocks, so there was no danger to their persons. But carrying hundreds of pounds worth of corn was a hefty undertaking, and flying it out of there was not an option. Luckily, they had a better plan.
Of course, Rosco couldn’t have possibly missed the sound of thousands of corn cobs rolling down a hill. He turned around and stared in shock, watching his cargo disappear into a net. When he turned back to the hyena, teeth bared, he found that there was no hyena there anymore. Harchi had bolted as soon as Rosco’s back was turned, and was now safely helping Buck load the corn onto a cart, brought to the scene by a very out-of-breath Popy. As Popy lifted her end of the bag onto the cart, she made a note to give Harchi an extra share of the food. After all, if just bringing the empty cart here from its hiding spot a few hundred feet away was such a Herculean task for her, how must Harchi feel pushing the cart with them on it every day for miles?
By now, of course, Rosco was dead set on reclaiming his loot and punishing these foolish thieves. He hopped in his car and floored the gas pedal. After all, his car could easily outpace the trio’s cart, especially bogged down with all that corn. Sweet revenge was inevitable, and it was his.
Except … Oscar had left one parting gift, in the form of a broken car key. Without the key, the engine wouldn't start, and by the time Rosco had finally hotwired the car, the gang had long sped off down the hill, throwing corn to the animals they passed like they were in a parade.
Back at the trio’s hideout, the gang divvied up their prize and feasted. As Popy, Buck, Harchi, and Oscar all stuffed their faces with corn, the lizard reflected on this fragile friendship he had found. Ever since he had stopped fighting the trio and started pooling his talents with theirs, he had been eating much better. Not to mention, it was nice not having to constantly look over your shoulder every time you heard the clanking of a cart or the flap of a wing. Of course, friendships like these were momentary at best, and to that end he had made sure to fill his share of the corn slightly higher than he agreed to. He never knew when that extra food might come in handy. But until then, he contented himself with being full, relaxed, and surrounded by his “friends”, as he watched the sun set over the Oasis.