Stork's Underwater Adventure

Stork is convinced he needs to live underwater.

Once there was a stork. Well, you know him. He’s tall and sometimes clumsy. He’s got an ailment of sorts that when he gets stressed out, his wings start flapping and he can’t stop them. He likes when ladybugs walk on his beak. Oh, and he takes a long time making decisions.

Maybe it’s because he wants to be sure to make the right decision, or maybe he’s afraid of making the wrong one. Either way, it takes him a long time.

Well, everyone who knows Stork has heard his crazy idea about going underwater.

“I’ve been practicing,” he says. “I know I can do it.”

He’s been saying that for years now. The fact is, that at first, everyone who heard it tried to convince him not to.

“It’s dangerous!” said one.

“Storks aren’t supposed to go underwater!” warned another.

But after a while, everyone got the idea that he wasn’t going to be doing anything anytime soon.

This week, though, he started again.

“I think I’m ready,” he said to squirrel. “I’m going to the pond today.”

“You go there every week,” said Squirrel.

“Why don’t you come with me!” asked Stork.

“OK,” said Squirrel.

So they walked together toward the lake.

Mouse was at the edge of the pond looking into the water. When Stork and Squirrel walked up, they startled him.

“Hey,” yelped Mouse. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Oh,” said Stork. “I was just coming over to maybe think about possibly later going underwater.”

“I’m just along for the company,” said Squirrel. “What were you doing?”

“I was just talking to the…” Mouse stopped himself. “..to myself. I do that sometimes.”

They all laughed.

“I do that all the time,” said Stork.

“Well,” said Mouse. “I gotta go.”

Squirrel and Stork said goodbye.

“Well,” said Squirrel. “Is today the day?”

“Um,” mumbled Stork. “I’m not sure yet. I have to look at the pond for a little while.”

“OK,” said Squirrel. “You do that. I’m gonna go over here and take a little nap. Wake me up when you’re done.”

Squirrel snuggled up to a large root and closed his eyes.

Who knows how long he was asleep, but suddenly, he was awakened by small splashing sounds.

He opened one of his eyes and he thought he say Stork leaning really close to the water and a fish sticking his head out, whispering something to Stork.

He rubbed his eye and opened them again, and Stork was searching for something in the pond, but the fish was gone.

Squirrel shook his head and dismissed it as a dream.

“Stork,” he called out. “You ready to go?”

Stork took another look into the pond.

“Uh, sure,” said Stork hastily.

Stork was not so talkative on the way back, but neither was Squirrel.

The next day, Squirrel decided to pay a visit to Mouse.

Squirrel knocked on Mouse’s door, but no one answered. He was sure Mouse was home. Squirrel decided to go to the back yard.

When he rounded the corner, he saw something that surprised him, shocked him really. Mouse had filled up a large barrel with water and had stuck his head into it. His feet were kicking around.

Squirrel quickly ran to rescue Mouse, but when he grabbed Mouse’s arm, he noticed apples floating around in the barrel.

Mouse came out of the water with an apple in his mouth. He pulled it out.

“I almost didn’t get this one,” he said to Squirrel. “I just had my teeth on it when you pulled me up.”

Squirrel blew out a large breath. He had forgotten that the county fair was coming up and Mouse was the best apple bobber around.

“You’re practicing!” he said to Mouse.

“I’ve got to practice to be the best,” he said to Squirrel.

“That’s true,” said Squirrel. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” said Mouse. “What’s up?”

“Well,” said Squirrel. “This is gonna sound strange, but have you ever seen a fish poking it’s head out of the water?”

Mouse suddenly stiffened up.

“Why would you ask such a thing?” asked Mouse nervously.

“Well,” said Squirrel. “I thought it was a dream, but I thought I saw a fish talking to Stork the other day.”

“Oh,” said Mouse relieved. “That’s just silly.”

Squirrel was relieved.

“Maybe it was a dream after all,” said Squirrel. Hey, I’ve got to go, I’ll leave you to your apples. Looking good my friend. You’ll get first place this year again.”

They said goodbye. Mouse watched him leave. He shook his head. Something was wrong.

The next few days were filled with excitement. The county fair was in a couple of days and everyone in town was preparing for it.

Frog and toad had a Lilly pad toss for the kids, Hedgehog and Momma Chicken put together some fresh tortillas filled with all sorts of spicy goodies. Raccoon and Rabbit were in charge of the stage this year and they had a great show in store. Everyone in town had something, and everyone in town was going to be there.

The day of the county fair, the forest looked great. Flowers and dried leaves were strung from high branches, flags and balloons were flying high, and the smell of fresh baked pies was in the air.

Raccoon started the fair in his traditional way by singing a song. He wasn’t a great singer, but his heart was in the right place. Everyone loved it, and applauded him loudly.

He began to announce where everyone could get their slice of pie, when Rabbit interrupted him.

“It’s Stork,” yelled Rabbit. “He’s in the pond. I think he’s gonna do it.”

A gasp filled the air. Some gasped because they couldn’t believe the day had actually come. Most gasped because they knew it was dangerous.

Everyone left their booths at the fair and ran to the pond.

Squirrel was the first one there.

Stork was in the middle of the pond, with his beak very close to the water.

“Stork, no!” yelled Squirrel. “Don’t do it!”

Stork almost fell in backwards because of Squirrels interruption.

“Well, why shouldn’t I?” asked Stork as everyone started arriving. “I’ve been practicing for years. I think I’m ready.”

“What do you mean, “practicing”?” chuckled someone from the crowd.

“I’ve been holding my breath every day,” said Stork proudly. “I’ve gotten to four minutes.”

There were “Oohs” and “Aahs” from the crowd.

“What is it exactly that you want to do?” asked Raccoon.

“Well,” said Stork. “I am going to live underwater.”

“That’s impossible!” said squirrel.

“It’s crazy!” said Rabbit.

“It’s not crazy!” yelled Stork. “I can do this. I’ve been preparing myself for this moment for a long time, and no one’s going to stop me.”

“Stork,” pleaded Frog. “You can’t live underwater. You need air.”

“No I don’t!” said Stork.

Another gasp.

“Is that what the fish told you?” said Mouse.

Squirrel was surprised. No, shocked is more like it.

“You’ve been talking to the fish, haven’t you Stork,” said Mouse.

“I…I guess I have,” said Stork. “There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

“No, there isn’t anything wrong with talking to him,” said Mouse. “It’s the matter of what he’s telling you that’s the issue.”

“But he’s right,” pleaded Stork. “He’s so smart, and he makes me feel so good about being his friend.”

“Did he tell you that the air above water is dirty and full of germs?” asked Mouse.

“Well, yeah,” said Stork. “He did.”

“Did he tell you that you can breathe under water?” asked Mouse.

“How do you know that?” asked Stork.

“Yes,” said Squirrel. “How do you know that?”

“How do you think it is that I win the apple bobbing contest every year?” said Mouse. “It’s because I was fooled by the fish too.”

Yet another gasp.

“I’m sorry Squirrel,” said Mouse. “I meant to tell you the day you came over, but I just feel so silly. The fish spoke to me one day too, and I believed what he said. He said there was a wonderful world just under the surface. He said there were many others waiting underwater for me. He said that the friends I had up here weren’t real friends. I believed him.”

Squirrel put his hand on Mouse’s shoulder.

“The truth is,” Said Mouse. “I haven’t been a real friend to all of you. I have not been honest with you, but I’m going to change that right now.”

Then he turned to the pond.

“Stork!” he called out, meaning to tell him to come out of the water, but Stork was gone.

No one had noticed that he had dove in to the deep end of the pond. All there was left were some ripples. No one knew how long he had been gone.

“It’s too late!” cried Rabbit.

“No it isn’t! said Mouse, and he dove in after him.

The ripples from Mouse had smoothed out before anyone even breathed.

“How long did he say he could hold his breath?” said Raccoon. But no one answered. They just looked into the pond. Waiting.

Suddenly, out popped Mouse.

He spit out some water and pounded his head to get some water out of his ear.

“I thought I saw him,” said Mouse. “But I couldn’t catch up to him. It may be too late.”

Frog started crying. Squirrel sat down in the water.

Some of the animals started to go back to the fair. There would be no fair this year. Everyone was too sad.

Suddenly, out of the water popped Stork, and to everyone’s surprise, he had the fish in his mouth.

He threw the fish in the air with a snap of his neck, opened his mouth wide and swallowed the fish whole.

Everyone cheered. They all rushed into the pond to hug Stork.

“What happened?” said Mouse. “I lost you around the sunken tree.”

“Well,” said Stork. “Along with all that other stuff he told me, the fish also told me that there was all sorts of food down there too, but when I got there, there was nothing. So I ate him.”

“Good for you!” said Mouse.

“You know,” said Stork to Mouse. “I’m starting to think that I was imagining the whole thing. I mean, who ever heard of a talking Fish?”

Rabbit almost convinced himself he heard the fish say something just before he went into Stork’s stomach, but he dismissed the thought.

“Stork,” said Squirrel. “We are glad you’re back.”

“Yes,” said Mouse. “Welcome back home.”

Stork was so happy to be so loved by all his friends. More than friends, really. More like family.

They all started back to the fair. This was going to be the best fair ever.

It was the year that Mouse came in second at apple bobbing.

The End