SAOLO THE VEGETARIAN TIGER

Once upon a time in jungle hour, live one happy tiger family called the Silverbones. They are Mr. Silverbones, Mrs. Silverbones, their eldest daughter Lara Lee, their mid son Hundred, and their last son Saolo.

Mr. Silverbones is one of the most respected tigers in the tigerhood. He's not just a smart tag (it's just a slank word for tigers. We call ourselves TAG. Yeah just like you people call yourself PEEPS), but Mr. Silverbones could also kill 10 buffalos in 1 hour.  Wait, not just that, but he's also a loyal tag. He never cheats on his wife.

Then one morning at breakfast time, Mrs. Silverbones is preparing some fresh buffalo meat on the grass for her family while Mr. Silverbones is sitting not very far checking out his territory area with his usual proud face, narrowing eyes with a one-side smile. At the same time Lara Lee is trying to catch a butterfly, Hundred is sleeping as the laziest and most ignorant family member, and Saolo is just like the way he used to do every time. Think, think, and think. If he's a human, he might be a philosopher.  Too bad tigers don't really care about philosophy. Still, he's such a psychedelic tag who always wanders around his mind all the time. He looks like dating some drugs or something. But of course he's not.  He's just a tag who loves to think and shows some indication that someday he could create a tiger revolution or something.

"Sweetheart! Tag kids! Buffalos are ready. Let's have some breakfast then you guys can go hunting," Mrs. Silverbones roared happily.

Mr. Silverbones, Lara Lee and Hundred ran eagerly toward the buffalo in a splash of seconds, while Saolo just stayed on his space. His face looked strange.

"Saolo! Come on, eat your buffalo before we finish it all up," Mrs. Silverbones roared once again.

Saolo walked slowly to the breakfast area with head facing down. "I need to roar you something," he roared slowly in a low volume.

Mr. Silverbones stopped chewing the buffalo meat and stared at his son. "What again this time, Saolo? Don't tell me you're going to sneak up on that farmer house again only to watch TV by the window. If you ever did that again, I wouldn't let you eat buffalo for 2 days."

Saolo took a deep breath. "I want to be a vegetarian, Dad."

Mr. Silverbones didn't move, Mrs. Silverbones just dropped 1 kilo of buffalo meat from her mouth, Lara Lee choked, and Hundred looked like he didn't hear anything cause he's still eating buffalo peacefully.

Mr. Silverbones almost roared to his highest pitch but Mrs. Silverbones quickly stopped him. "Be calm, Sweetheart. Don't let other tigers hear this or we're getting into trouble," she roared softly, but in a deeply madly worried face. Then she looked at Saolo. "What are you thinking, Saolo? A vegetarian? It's just the same as you want to do long-term suicide. Don't be a fool. We are tigers, we are carnivores. We are here to eat meat."

Saolo didn't change his mind that easy. "I watched a TV channel at that farmer house and--"

Mr. Silverbones roared angrily. "SEE I TOLD YOU NOT TO COME TO THAT FARMER HOUSE OR--"

Mrs. Silverbones stopped him again. "Sweetheart, please. Let me do this." Then she roared as soft as she could to Saolo. "Ok, tell us what you're thinking, Saolo. We are listening."

"Hey, whack hap pen nig?" Hundred suddenly roared confusedly with his mouth full of meat but no one bothered him.

Saolo cleared his throat to roar everything in his mind. "Few days ago I watched a TV channel, I think it's called Animal Magnet or Planet or something I'm not too sure. And I saw some tigers like us chasing a buffalo, grab that poor animal like we are devils and tear them apart as that buffalo is a piece of paper. And I feel sick, I feel like we're bad to kill them like that. Especially I saw that buffalo's family couldn't do anything. I mean, can you imagine if I'm in a middle of situation where my life is threatened but you guys are running away just like that because you know you are weaker and couldn't do anything? That's worse, half of your eyes are staring at your life enemy, and the other half are looking that somebody on your side is leaving you behind."

"Go on, let it all out, Saolo." Mrs. Silverbones roared softly. "I don't think your argument is strong and smart enough, so show us more what you think."

Saolo cleared his throat again. "I don't say all the tigers have to be vegetarian, but it's just my choice. I don't want to kill other animals. I know about that food chain thing, Mom, like you've taught me since I was a baby, but in this period I think I will find my way to survive just with vegetables and fruits."

"You are not a monkey, you are a tiger for old sake!" Lara Lee roared angrily.

"Silent, Lara Lee. Nobody roar you to roar something here," Mrs. Silverbones looked at her daughter tiredly, then turned her head back to Saolo, that poor son who's still crafting his life character with his wild thoughts. "So Saolo, what made you think you could save those animals life if you're a vegetarian?"

Saolo shook his head. "I didn't say I wanted to save their lives, I just don't want to kill them."

Mr. Silverbones stared at his son hopelessly. "Saolo, I just want to tell you few things. First, I wouldn't leave you behind if you're in trouble. Second, we are endangered creature and God must hope we eat those productive animals as much as we could as long as we still survive. Third, we kill those animals for our stomach, but human might kill us only for their house decoration. Life is never fair."

As a teenager tag, Saolo didn't want to change his mind just like that even though he knew his father told him the right thing. Because we all know, we don't want to change our mind not because we are truly right, but because we mostly prefer not to let other people who tell you something to feel right.

So Saolo is still in his strange decision. A vegetarian tiger.

He started to chew on grass, which taste like nails. Apples, bananas, even dried leaves. He felt terrible in taste wise, but he felt good in mind wise. He felt good for not killing other animals. He even started to act like he got limp legs, so he looked weak and didn't freak out other animals. Actually he started to feel weak in real, because he only ate those vegetables and fruits, but this fact even made him happier.

At the same time, there is this one teenage buffalo named Brody. He's just like Saolo, but buffalo version. He's a thinker. And yes, he started to think that life is not that fair. Why do buffalos only eat grass while tigers can eat fresh meat? A few days ago Brody just got a horn-slap by his father because Brody just made a strange decision. "I'm tired of being a lame herbivore vegetarian animal, Dad. I want to be a carnivore."

Then Brody walked along on the grassland still with his strange life decision. A carnivore buffalo.

Suddenly he saw this tiger walking alone on the other side of grassland. He wouldn't touch a tiger of course for his carnivore mission, but wait... that tiger looks weak enough! He walked like he only got two legs. Poor tiger, he could be my first victim, Brody thought to himself. I would make Dad proud if I could kill that poor tiger and eat him. I could make a scratch in buffalo world history.

So Brody started to snort, tap his right feet on the grass, and lowered his horn right at that tiger's direction. He's so ready to eat that tiger alive, not because he likes the taste of tiger's meat. Meat taste like shit. But this time only because Brody couldn't accept that life is never fair.


ps: RIP Saolo Silverbones