Axel the Angry Bull

“Axel the Angry Bull” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Shrey Mehta, Canada.

Axel the Angry Bull

Hi! My name is Angry Axel. I'm a tough bull and a rowdy cowboy. My favorite colour is red, just like my hair. Also, red is the colour of my barn. I live in a big, red barn in the Wild Wild West with my animal friends.

During the day I like to play tag outside in the green grass with Playful Patrick. Smiley Samantha and I have fun splashing in puddles together. Joyful Jennifer and Goofy Greg play hide and seek with me in the barn. They are really good at hiding under the hay.

But sometimes I get into fights with my friends because they make me angry.

Yesterday I got into a fight with Playful Patrick. We were taking turns on the swings. We would count to ten together while I swung really high, then I would jump off and let Playful Patrick have a turn.

But after a few turns he wouldn't jump off and let me have my turn. Playful Patrick counted to ten and kept swinging. Since he wasn't sharing, I got angry.

In my anger, I poked him with my large horns. He fell down from the swing into the dusty dirt and started crying. With that state of mind, it really didn’t bother me at that time.

This morning Goofy Greg and Joyful Jennifer were playing hide and seek with me in the barn.

Goofy Greg closed his eyes and counted to fifteen while Joyful Jennifer and I went to hide. Joyful Jennifer squeezed to hide under the tractor.

I found the perfect spot behind the ladders. As soon as Goofy Greg reached fifteen, he walked right over to me and found me.

I told him that he cheated because he found me too fast. I yelled at him, “You cheated! You opened your eyes while you were counting! You saw me hide!” It was no fun to play with him if he broke the rules.

While I was yelling, Joyful Jennifer came out of her hiding spot. “That's not nice, Angry Axel. I didn't see Goofy Greg open his eyes. I just think he saw you through the ladder.”

I was so mad that I screamed at him again, kicked a ladder, and ran out of the barn.

What do I do when I’m angry?

Once I feel angry, it is really hard for me to calm down.

Sometimes, I just have scream or stomp my feet on the ground until all of the mad feelings leave my body.

After I hurt Playful Patrick, I went to my bedroom so I could be by myself. When I get angry my face gets scrunched up and my shoulders squeeze tight. I breathe faster and don't say nice words to people when I'm mad.

I said mean words to Goofy Greg after our game of hide and seek. Sometimes I yell, throw things, hit someone, or stamp my feet on the ground. I might accidentally hurt my friends when I'm mad, too, like I did to PlayfulPatrick.

I feel like a real T-Rex when I get mad. Like a big, mean dinosaur. It's like there is a red fire burning inside of my belly that won't go away. It wants to be a bigger fire, so it yells and pushes and kicks.

Once I calm down, I realize that my anger hurts my friends. I don't like to hurt my friends.