|
|
Fox smirked at his own reflection in the pond. He had met with the vultures the week before, and they agreed to buy over the jungle's debts and to pay him an introduction fee. In fact, right after the meeting, they had gone to meet the goats and haggled the principal of 5 billion bird's seeds debt down to 2 billion. Rat was up the whole night preparing a parliament resolution to pass the sale, the result of which was now being scrutinized by the other ministers. Whispers and mumbles popped up like bubbles in the clearing as the animal representatives discussed the proposal amongst themselves. Owl landed on the jutting branch of a log just behind Fox. "Mr. President, what have you done!" "I just saved the jungle from the goats." "But the vultures are worse. The goats only charge an annual interest of 8% on the original principal, but the vultures charges 30% and any unpaid interest is added back into the principal." "It does not matter. Anyway many animals supported my move. Imagine the gall of those goats, threatening to sue us in the animal courts just because they think we can afford to pay them back but are not." But we can, Owl almost shouted. He tried approaching the matter from another angle. "Well it is quite a problem though. Now we have to pay an annual interest rates of 30% on the 5 billion seeds loan. That amounts to 1.5 billion seeds a year." "The vultures promised that we don't have to pay that much if we couldn't afford to. We can put the extra back into the original principal." "But that IS the problem Mr. President. Our annual revenue only comes up to 1.8 billion. By paying the interest alone we will have to sacrifice all future developments, and cut back on health care and education. On the other hand, if we don't pay the full interest in the year, the difference will be accumulated in the principal, which will mean that we have to pay a larger amount of seeds the following year." Owl pulled on a string and a table of calculations unfurled down a branch.
"This is our situation now as it stands. If we cancel all future projects, we can still make a payment amount of 700 million seeds per year. Now let me show you a comparison between the interest charged by both Vultures and Goats and explain the impacts to our budgets." He pulled down another tabulation.
The mumblings grew louder as animal after animal peered at the presentations. Fox growled deep in his chest, "Are you questioning my actions? Didn't you hear what I just said. The goats are threatening to sue us. Us, the jungle occupants. Us the creatures who have every right to live as we see fit. They are threatening to treat us like criminals." "I understand what you are saying," Owl stammered, "but the vultures' interest rate is far too high, and far more than what we can afford." "Enough of this nonsense," Rat called out from the Advisor's seat. We are a sovereign state. If we don't try to maintain our own face, who is to do it for us? You think the goats will care either which way we go?" Shouts of Hear! Hear! coupled with thumps echoed about the clearing. Owl was forced to swallow down his next words, and as the animal representatives continued to discuss the matter, those same words turned into acid in his stomach. They were so focused on the fact that the goats were going to sue them, no one cared about the high interest that the vultures would charge. Damn the Goats. Hooray Vultures. Each time he tried to steer their discussion back to a new term that the goats were willing to consider, Rat would drown his protests with high pitch squeals, which was too often picked up by other rodents. All too soon Fox called for a vote and as Owl expected, his and a very small minority were the only voice that voted against it. After the meeting, Owl was too dejected to fly; so he walked home. The goats were willing to reduce the current annual interest rate to 5%, and to cancel all interests that had accumulated over the past five years, which amounted to a generous 2 billion seeds. He worried about healthcare, he worried about education and he wondered what would happen if the jungle could never ever again build on its future. Every seed would be used to pay the vultures, and once they could no longer pay, the animals might all be sold off as pets or slaves. Face, Owl scoffed as he crossed the field towards his barn. What good is face when your children go hungry? What good is it when young adults are not given opportunities to better themselves? Will they all then opt to be spayed, because they can see no future for their descendants? The shadow of a wolf cast over him.
|
Interested in Bookkeeping? Search in the WWW.
