Born to Thrive

By Ana S Gad, Anish Kanjilal and Sanjeew Kumar Chowdhary

What if animals took over the city?

What if animals replaced all humans?

What if the labrador takes his human for a walk?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ukiyoto Publishing
• Release date: May 3, 2024
• ISBN: 9789362697080

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Ukiyoto Publishing

Published in 2024

Content Copyright © Ukiyoto

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Contents

A Lion's Tale: Behind the Bars of the Human World

By Ana S. Gad

Poems

By Anish Kanjilal

Doomsday Not Far Away

By Sanjeew Kumar Chowdhary

The Divine Justice-Utterance of Animal Souls

By Siddhartha Kaushik

Jumble Fumble

By Riddhima Sen

The City of Fangs

By Saugata Chakraborty

Animal Arcadia

By Kajari Guha

Rise of Sumo

By Manmohan Sadana

From Destruction to Harmony

By Yogesh Gupta

Short Story

Purnima Dixit

The Fantastic Fido

By Aryan Majumder

Coco and the Semiconductor Silicon Chip

By Devajit Bhuyan

Poems

By Rhodesia

Raven & Ari: Beacons of Hope

By Nupur Vora Mankad

Poems

By Vinita Rk

Dominion of the Wise: When Power Becomes the Master

By Ajay Rawat

About the Authors

A Lion's Tale: Behind the Bars of the Human World

By Ana S. Gad

I

n the heart of the bustling city of Eastern Hills, amidst the towering buildings and bustling streets, lived a majestic lion named Leo. He was the revered king of the African savanna, known for his strength and wisdom. Beside him trotted his curious cub, Leah, her golden fur gleaming in the urban sunlight.

One day, Leo and Leah ventured beyond the outskirts of the city, drawn by the sounds of laughter and excitement. They stumbled upon a place they had never seen before - a zoo. Intrigued, they padded closer, their curiosity piqued by the strange sights and scents that filled the air.

As they entered the zoo, Leo and Leah were met with gasps of awe and wonder. But it wasn't the humans in cages that captured their attention - it was the humans. Rows upon rows of them, confined behind bars and glass walls, their faces pressed against the cold metal, their eyes filled with longing and sadness.

Unbeknownst to Leo and Leah, the zoo was owned by a cunning and ruthless snake named Slithers. Slithers cared little for the well-being of the beings under his care, viewing them merely as commodities to be exploited for profit. He revealed in the power he held over these creatures, relishing in their captivity and the revenue it brought him. With a cold heart and a calculating mind, Slithers had no qualms about subjecting humans to lives of confinement and misery, all in the pursuit of his insatiable greed.

Leo's heart sank as he watched the humans, their once-proud spirits broken by a life in captivity. He felt a surge of empathy for these creatures, trapped in a world not meant for them. He couldn't help but wonder - was this how they saw him and his kind, when they peered into the lion enclosure?

Determined to understand, Leo and Leah approached one of the human cages. Inside, a young girl sat huddled in a corner, her eyes filled with tears. Leo reached out with his paw, gently tapping on the glass. The girl looked up, her expression one of shock and wonder.

Through a series of gestures and sounds, Leo and Leah conveyed their message to the girl. They told her of the vast savannas and sweeping plains, where lions roamed free under the open sky. They spoke of the thrill of the hunt and the warmth of the sun on their backs. And they shared their sorrow at seeing humans confined in cages, their wild spirits stifled by the confines of the human world.

As the girl listened, her tears gave way to a sense of understanding. She reached out tentatively, pressing her hand against the glass in a gesture of solidarity. And in that moment, Leo knew that he had made a connection - one that transcended the boundaries of species and spoke to the universal longing for freedom and belonging.

As the sun began to set on the city skyline, Leo and Leah left the zoo behind, their hearts heavy with the weight of the injustices they had witnessed. But they also carried with them a newfound sense of purpose - a determination to fight for the rights of all creatures, both big and small, in a world where the lines between predator and prey were blurred, and the true meaning of freedom was yet to be discovered.

Leo knew that the path ahead would not be easy. Slithers, the owner of the zoo, was a formidable adversary, and his grip on the city's zoological gardens was tight. But Leo was not one to back down from a challenge.

With Leah by his side, Leo began to rally the humans of the zoo to his cause. Among them were people of diverse backgrounds, each with their own story and struggles.

There was Marcus, a towering man with a rugged beard and weathered hands, who had once been a skilled hunter in the wild before being captured and confined to the zoo. Despite his imposing appearance, Marcus possessed a gentle heart and a fierce loyalty to Leo and Leah's cause.

Next to him stood Maria, a young woman with fiery red hair and a determination that burned as bright as the sun. Maria had been a wildlife conservationist before Slithers' greed had landed her in captivity. Now, she channelled her passion into fighting for the rights of all beings, both human and animal alike.

Among their ranks was also Jamal, a wiry teenager with a mischievous grin and a quick wit. Jamal had grown up on the streets of the Eastern Hills, his life a constant struggle for survival. But in Leo and Leah, he found a sense of purpose and belonging that he had never known before.

And then there was Sofia, a middle-aged woman with kind eyes and a gentle smile. Sofia had spent her life caring for the humans of the zoo, her compassion extending to all creatures great and small. But when she witnessed the cruelty of Slithers firsthand, she knew that she could no longer stand idly by.

Together, these humans joined forces with Leo and Leah, united in their desire for freedom and justice. They worked tirelessly to gather evidence of Slithers' wrongdoing, documenting the cramped cages, the lack of proper care, and the sheer disregard for their well-being.

And as they fought for their cause, they began to see signs of progress. Public opinion began to turn against Slithers, sparking outrage among the citizens of the Eastern Hills. And as pressure mounted from all sides, Slithers found himself backed into a corner, his once-untouchable empire crumbling around him.

In the end, it was not violence or aggression that brought about Slithers' downfall, but the power of empathy and compassion. Leo and Leah had shown that true strength lay not in domination, but in the ability to understand and care for those around you.

As the last of the cages were opened and the humans were set free, Leo and Leah stood together, their heads held high in triumph. And as they looked out over the now-empty zoo, they knew that their journey was far from over.

For though they had won the battle, the fight for justice and equality was ongoing. But with Leo's courage and Leah's determination, they knew that they would face whatever challenges lay ahead, united in their quest to make the world a better place for all beings, both big and small.

Together, they devised a plan to expose Slithers' cruelty to the world. They would gather evidence of his mistreatment of the humans, documenting the cramped cages, the lack of proper care, and the sheer disregard for their well-being.

But as they set their plan into motion, they soon realized that they were not the only ones who opposed Slithers' tyranny. A group of brave humans, led by the girl Leo