This Is How World Wars Start

[Avaree]

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This is an allegory about escalation, paranoia, and the consequences of unchecked power — told through a fable.
It’s rooted in current events, yes, but it’s more about how cycles of violence repeat.

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The Tale of the Three Beasts​

There once lived an aggressive beast who ruled a distant corner of the desert. He bared his teeth and raged nightly, declaring:

“My neighbor seeks to end me — so I must end him first.”

He struck down the smaller beasts in the alleys around him, claiming they were messengers of the great danger next door.
The other beasts watched in silence as he triumphed, twitching with nervous admiration — or fear.


Then, inflated by his victories, the aggressive beast turned his red eyes to the biggest beast of them all — the old, battle-scarred creature known only as the Big Daddy Beast, who lived deep in a fortified tunnel across the valley.

“He must be easy,” the aggressive beast sneered. “I’ll burn his tunnel and be done with him.”

But when the flames licked the tunnel’s edge, the Big Daddy Beast roared out, teeth bared. He charged across the land and torched the aggressive beast’s lawn with furious precision.


The aggressive beast shrieked:

“I am a victim! Help me, fellow beasts! This monster seeks to end us all!”

From across the ocean, an elderly beast with flaming orange fur — known by all as the Big Orange Yeller — howled with glee:

“Why didn’t you ask sooner? I’ve wanted to fight that Daddy Beast forever.”

And so, the Yeller crossed the waters, puffed up and snarling. But before he could bite, the other beasts — large and small — rose up and cried:

“This isn’t right! You’re too big to be biting tunnels not your own. And that beast has fleas — dangerous, hidden fleas that could leap onto us all!”

Cornered, the Yeller backed off.

“If I hear one more squeak,” he hissed to the Daddy Beast, “I’ll return to hurt you in ways you won’t forget.”

To which the Daddy Beast, calm and growling, replied:

“Try it, and I’ll scorch your whiskers.”

On his return home, the Yeller was met with glares.
His own brother beasts hissed:

“Why’d you cross the pond? Now the fleas are stirred — they’ll jump our way!”

Meanwhile, the Big Daddy Beast, fuming, announced:

“As revenge, I will spit in your river.”

The other beasts panicked.

“Not the river! We all drink from it!” they pleaded.
“Make peace with the aggressive beast instead — just leave the river alone.”

And so, all the beasts waited to see if the two could live in peace as brothers.


Closing Reflection


In this tale, the beasts are more than just creatures of the desert and valley. They are shadows of nations—each driven by fear, pride, and the need to protect their place in a fragile world. The aggressive beast, the Big Daddy Beast, and the Big Orange Yeller represent the great powers whose histories are marked by rivalry, suspicion, and cycles of retaliation.


As they lash out, accuse, and defend, smaller voices and innocent watchers bear the cost. Fleas spread quietly beneath the surface—ideas, weapons, and alliances that threaten to engulf us all.


This is how world wars start: not with a single strike, but with a chain of actions and reactions that no one truly controls once set in motion.


May this fable remind us to look beyond the noise, to question the stories we tell ourselves about enemies and victims, and to choose peace before it is too late.