Not long ago, there was this one farm, only one among many, but it had a uniqueness about it. Many of the other farms only had one type of animal, but this farm had many different kinds. Some lived mostly outside and had a lot of free reign. Others were kept mostly inside, in smaller confined areas. What made this farm so special was that all the animals seemed to get along, each animal contributed to the success of the farm. Outside the barn the horses provided riding experiences, the cows gave milk, the sheep provided wool, and the goats kept the grasses and shrubs under control. Inside the barn, the chickens laid their eggs, the rabbits provided fur, and the peacocks provided beautiful feathers. The mice in the barn provided nothing for the benefit of the farm. They often ate the food of all the other animals, and left their droppings wherever they pleased, such was the nature of mice. The one trait that mice excelled in was that they were very cunning and devious. They usually worked under the cloak of darkness. The mice considered themselves to be the preeminent animal. They often spent their time watching over their realm from high above in the barn’s rafters. It would seem they had the best of everything . . . . . but they were not satisfied. They viewed the outside animals with disdain, and deplored their ability to roam outside in the free range, and wanted to look down on them from their lofty barn beams.
There had always been a structure set up, an organized process, to maintain a functioning, productive farm. All the animals got to choose who would be in the lead for a certain period of time. Things seemed to be going the way the mice preferred. They made sure that certain animals were demeaned by whispering and spreading falsehoods, and this allowed the mice to ensure those leading would always favor the mice. But something unexpected happened during one of the choosing processes. The animal favored by the mice to lead, was not chosen, but in fact, the worst of all animals was chosen to lead, a horse from the free-range pasture. The mice vowed that this would not stand, so a plan was hatched so the mice could reclaim their dominance. Before the horse could even begin to lead, the mice gathered together important animals from each of the barn groups. A plan to regain the leadership role was initiated that included eight layers, each layer following the one before. This would surely hamper the horse’s ability to lead, but it was hoped this would bring about a replacement leader even before the next choosing process.
The first step was to question the horse’s loyalty to the farm, claiming collusion with dangerous bears outside the farm’s fencing. For each of the first 100 days of the horse’s lead, falsehoods would be leaked each day by well-placed sources, claiming the horse had no loyalty to the farm, but was in fact a threat to the well-being of the farm and all farm animals. Drip by drip, the wildly concocted lies were leaked. Even though the horse continued to lead, the leadership effectiveness was greatly hampered. The second step was to take everything the horse whinnied and twist it around so that it would appear the horse was in cahoots with the wolves outside the farm fencing. Many began to doubt the leadership ability of the horse. The mice only smiled. The third step was for the mice to contact the gophers and moles under the cover of darkness. It was agreed that the gophers and moles would create many holes in the free range pasture. This cause a number of the free range animals to be injured when stepping into these holes. Fence posts were also brought down which allowed attacks by many bears and wolves. Because of the surge in holes and fence failures, animal leaders in the barn, and even some from the free-range, were able to convince all free-range animals to be brought into the barn, and be isolated in their own stalls. Once this happened, the weeds and thorny bushes took over the free-range areas, and much of the areas outside the barn came into disrepair. Almost all of the farm animals became discouraged . . . . . except for the mice. This was their fourth layer of the plan, to create discontent. The fifth layer of the plan was put in place to add to the discontent. The peacocks were tasked by the mice to scream about all the unfairness. This was extremely effective and it added to the stress of all the animals, as the peacocks honked and trumpeted. Fighting among the animals on the barn floor areas intensified, and some were even killed. Damage to the inside of the barn became evident, and only increased.
Soon, it was nearing time to choose a new leader, and so the sixth layer of the plan was put into motion. Without most of the farm animals knowing, with only a few aware of the plan, strange animals from outside the farm fences were secretly given the right to choose, and sometimes their choices were counted multiple times. Even animals who had already lived out their lives, somehow were enabled to choose, and not surprisingly, all of these choices were made in favor of, you guessed it, the chief mouse. Following the chief mouse being made leader, it was necessary to put into practice the seventh layer of the plan. That plan was to hide from all the farm animals all of the methods and procedures the mice, along with their cohorts, had used to swing the choice to their favor. No one would ever know what really happened, for the power of the mice, and those in league with them, had now achieved just what they wanted.
The freedom of all the animals to roam in the free-range, as they once had, was now gone. The mice were in control and they could not care less about the condition of the farm, as the areas outside the barn were nearly unrecoverable, and even the interior of the barn was falling apart. There was still discontent with what had occurred, mostly from within the free-range animals, and an extensive search was begun to find out what was causing so much destruction at the farm. However, there was one final layer of the plan hatched by the mice. As part of the eighth layer of the plan, many false tales, accusations, and processes were inspired by the mice to counter the search for truth. Fighting again flared up, as had not been seen before. The destruction of the farm and its valuable products continued. The mice firmly believed this will surely now convince all animals to understand that only the mice can resolve their conflicts, and bring prosperity to the farm. This is what the mice reasoned as they viewed from the rafters above the destruction spiraling out of control beneath them. They only pondered where they would get their next meal, stolen from any animal below.
This story will have an ending, but it will be up to the animals to decide. Will they choose FREEDOM and LIBERTY, or tyranny and subjugation?
The story is yours to finish. WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE?