Chapter 10…”I’M THE PROBLEM”

Howie was free but now I was on the menu for a poacher’s dinner. I don’t mind telling you that I was plenty scared. I couldn’t fly well or even run with my broken leg. I guess that you could say that I traded places with Howie. I was happy for Howie of course but getting caught myself was definitely not in my plan.
The meanest looking poacher put a rope on my good leg and just tied me to a stake in the sand. They were all angry about losing “The Monkey” but…”At least we got us dinner!” the ugliest one said as he sneered at me.
They built a fire and rigged up a tripod and pot and the meanest one of the poachers grabbed a machete and headed toward me. He grabbed my rope and pulled me up so that I was dangling upside down. He pulled back the machete and just as he was about to swing it into my neck…
“HEY…THAT’S MY PET GOOSE YOU GOT THERE!”
It was Juan, and he was yelling at the men…”You let him go…you shouldn’t be here…you should be helping the local people that were affected by the volcano. My Dad is head of the Police and if you don’t give me back my Goose and leave at once I’ll report you! ALL OF YOU!”
Those mean just froze where they were and then just looked at each other until one of them that I guessed was the leader said “Let’s get outta here boys.”
“Naw…I’m gonna get this kid and his Goose too!”…the meanest one said now holding me by the throat.
Then the leader pointed his rifle at him. “Drop the goose and let’s get outta here!”
I crashed to the ground landing on my good leg.
The three poachers high tailed it to the other end of the clearing and then pushed a small gray boat out into the surf and paddled out past the breaking waves.
Juan came over and picked me up into his arms.
“Did they hurt you much Stormy?” he asked as he looked at both of my legs.
“You were very brave Juan…you saved my life. That guy was going to…”
“I know…but you…WE…are safe for now I think.”
“I didn’t know that your Dad was a policeman.”
“I sorta lied about that…I always try to tell the truth but…”
“Thanks!” I said.
Then Toucie and Maggie and Theodore and Bandy all came onto the beach and asked about my ordeal.
Howie was peeking out from behind a Royal Palm tree and we waved him over assuring him that all was safe. That’s when I spotted Oscar over in the far corner of the beach with his head stuck in the sand.
Just then Cougie came out of the dense jungle area at the back of the clearing and everyone was acting very happy.
“LOOK…OVER THERE!” I said and pointed with my wing.
It was bigger and prettier and more lush that even the other Jacaranda tree on our old snacking grounds.
Then Theodore lifted his head and sniffed and said…”Does anybody else smell what I smell?”
“I can tell you…it didn’t smell like Jacaranda Cologne!”
We were all happily together once again at our new and improved snacking grounds.
THE END

Chapter 9…SUCCESS AND FAILURE

We grounded the raft beyond the far bend out of sight of the apparent poachers camp. We disembarked onto shore and gathered into a circle to plan our rescue.
“We need to find out how many poachers are there and then distract them so that we can save Howie.” Toucie said.
“I can make the sound of a Howler monkey…maybe not as loud but similar.” offered Juan.
“Good idea…then Maggie and I can fly in and bite the vines apart to free Howie and he can make a run for it!” suggested Toucie.
“I wish I could help but I’m not sure I can fly fast or well enough to help.” I explained.
“That’s OK Stormy…you stay on lookout and honk three times if you see extra danger.” Juan told me.
“I shall be delighted to offer my services if you feel that I could be of any assistance.” said Bandy.
“Not this mission Bandy thanks.” Juan told him.
Then Juan stood legs apart cupping his mouth and screamed a Howler scream at the top of his lungs.
Nothing.
Then he did it two more times. Suddenly out of the foliage and onto the edge of the beach, two men dressed in camouflage clothes and carrying rifles appeared.
Juan then screamed again as he backed away from the direction where Howie was trapped and drew the poachers toward him. As the men got to the edge of the open beach area Toucie and Maggie flew around to the back of them and straight to the bamboo cage.
It didn’t take them long to rip apart the vines and Howie used his feet to kick free of his imprisonment and he scampered toward the opposite end of the beach away from the poachers to freedom.
Then I saw him…one more man in camouflage appeared on the beach. I honked my loudest honk three times to warn everyone but just then I felt a hand grab my throat.
“I got him. I don’t know what kinda goose he is but he’s a fat one and is gonna make a mighty tasty dinner!”

Chapter 8…IN SEARCH OF A NEW HOME AND HOWIE

“Ready to Launch!” Juan proudly exclaimed. Which way should we go?” he asked.
“May I interject a notion based upon tidal knowledge, earthly rotation, seasonal information and other pertinent meteorological data?” Bandy quizzed in his own inimitable manner.
“Huh?” Juan asked.
“Distribute a moderate amount of flower petals upon the breakwater to ascertain the current current’s direction. Then plan to sail in the compass heading of that directional flow and keep nearest to the natural shoreline as may be achievable to avoid being swept beyond the extent of incoming waves.”
Toucie grabbed a bunch of flowers and threw them into the water…”You mean that way?” she asked pointing in the direction that the floating flowers were heading.
“Precisely!” affirmed Bandy.
Everyone did manage to climb aboard the raft and although it was barely staying above the shallow sea waves it not only held all of us but began to slowly move in the direction of the current as predicted by the flowers….Oh, and by Bandy.
As we skirted the shoreline we looked for likely spots to replace the beloved Snacking Grounds when nearly all of us at the same time saw a ghastly sight. It was a cage made out of bamboo and twisted vines and imprisoned within was none other than our Dear friend Howie!
We waved but kept quiet since we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves by Howie’s captors.
“Keep going around that next bend Juan and then head for shore …we’ve got to save Howie…we just have to!” Toucie announced with total agreement by the rest of us. But I knew right then that we needed a truly great plan that not only rescued Howie but kept us safe too.

Chapter 7…ONE OF US IS MISSING

We stopped, looked and listened for Howie for the next three days while everyone was regaining their strength from the ordeal.
Nothing!
In the meantime we all devised a plan to relocate our “Snack Grounds” and find a new Jacaranda tree. Juan suggested building a raft from fallen trees and vines and mud so that we could drift around the shoreline to find a new home.
“How is this looking guys?” asked Juan as he was patting mud in between the logs and around the square knotted vines that bound them all together.
“Looks don’t matter much if it sinks!” said Theodore who had taken two and a half days to climb up to the crest of the hill where we all (except poor Howie) sought refuge.
“You’re right. It must be bueno in the water too. Let’s test it!” replied Juan.
“Ah…excuse me but how are we going to get that big raft all the way down there?…Ah…where the water is?” I hated to throw water on the project in a manner of speaking but that’s exactly what the problem was.
“Hmm…good point Stormy! I was concentrating on building the raft so much I didn’t even think about getting it to the shore!” Juan apologized.
“Don’t worry Juan. We are friends and together we can do ANYTHING! Well…almost anything.” Toucie said.
“Let’s all think about this problem and I’m sure that one of us will come up with a solution.” suggested Maggie.
“What a great and smart idea Maggie!” we all exclaimed.
“Really? I actually thought of something?” she said in a surprised voice.
“We all are smart in our way and at times. Well this is your time Maggie.” Toucie remarked.
Maggie was fluffing her brightly colored feathers and chucking to herself.
“How about …if…we….just throw the raft off of the edge and let gravity deliver it to the shore for us?” Maggie proudly suggested in her new found position of intelligent suggesterer!
“Ah…it would crash into a million pieces Maggie.” Juan said.
“Just let us think awhile Maggie…please.” Toucie instructed.
Maggie’s moment of sparkling bright ideas was very short lived. But Maggie just shrugged it off and quietly waited for someone else to think of a solution…as usual.
“May I interject a notion that could have an excelarating effect on our problematical situation.” said Bandy with perfect enunciation of every syllable.
“You mean an idea?” quipped Toucie.
“Precisely!” responded Bandy.
“Since the Tortoise has such a large and ponderous shell and enormous flat feet with long curving clawed phalanges, Theodore could position his largesse directly ahead of the leading edge of the raft and in a controlled and slowly steady manner, descend the precipice and restrict the kinetic nature of gravity upon said raft.” sniffed Theodore.
“You mean get in front of it down the hill.” said Maggie.
“Precisely!” Theodore responded.
I could tell you all of the details of our project that delivered the raft down the hill to the shore but I’ll just say…”It worked!… and save us both a lot of time.

Chapter 6…AFTERMATH

As I opened my eyes the bright sun made me blink. There was a smoky smell in the air and then I heard Bandy ask…”Are you OK?”
It was then that I noticed a very severe pain in my left leg and as I tried to get up …I couldn’t, and the pain got worse as I tried to put weight onto it.
“Don’t try to arise…I…I believe that your leg is fractured Stormy.” Bandy said.
I laid back down and tried to relax and asked…”Are you OK Bandy?”
“Yes…my undying gracious gratitude for your herculean efforts on my behalf. You saved my life whilst endangering your own Stormy my friend. Even if I could have attained my goal to reach my burrow…well…LOOK!”
Bandy pointed to the spot on the beach where the snacking spot and the Jacaranda Tree and his burrow were and the whole area was burned black with a smoldering lava layer still sizzling at the edge of the beach as each wave came to shore.
“Wow!”…was all I could say and then I think that I must have blacked out again.
The second time that I awoke it was nearly sunset and my bleary eyes saw Bandy crouching right next to me and a tall verticle figure blocking the setting sun from my view. As I regained consciousness I realized that the figure was Juan.
“Hola! ‘Bout time you woke up Stormy. We thought that we might have to change your name to “Sleepy”. Juan was trying to seem unconcerned but I could detect a seriousness in his dark brown eyes.
When I looked down at my injury, I was surprised to see lots of bandages wound around two sticks, one on either side of my broken left leg.
“Don’t try to get up…not for a while, maybe a long while Stormy. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.” Juan smiled and patted my wing.
“You did a very heroic deed saving Bandy’s life and you deserve all that we can do to care for you until you are totally well again…friend.” Juan was nodding and patting my wing again.
“And it looks like you lost quite a few tail feathers too!” Juan added.
“I had a tough time controlling my landing because of it…but luckily Bandy didn’t get hurt!” I said thankfully.
“I guess you couldn’t achieve the suggested “Tuck and Roll” Stormy.” Bandy surmised
“Guess not…I think I hit a “Rock” and “Rolled”…huh Bandy.”
We all had the first good laugh…well…since before the volcano.
Then I propped myself up on my right wing and asked Juan… “Are you and your family Ok?”
“Yeah…we’ve been through volcanoes before and our home wasn’t in the direct path this time.” Juan answered.
“What about the rest of the group? Are they all right?” I asked.
“We…don’t know. We’re pretty sure the birds flew to safety except for Oscar who can outrun any silly lava flow and probably has his head stuck in fresh sand waiting for it all to be over. I’m sure that the others made it to the sea but we really don’t know yet. We do know that we are going to have to find a new living area…the snacking ground and our Jacaranda are gone!” Juan said sadly.
Then I noticed up in the sky above us that a few very large very black birds were circling….VULTURES!
As the next few days went by I was beginning to get some feeling back in my broken leg. And I noticed that a few of my tail feathers had begun to grow back also.
Juan had found a very wet and exhausted Cougie washed up on the western shore. A long nap restored him to almost normal but there was a rather large spot of fur missing from his left rear haunch for which he had no recollection or explanation.
Toucie was flying about scanning the shoreline and found Bandy and me rather easily and since Maggie almost never went anywhere without Toucie, she had joined us also.
Theodore knew where we were but didn’t want to climb the steep hill to get to the crest so we communicated with him by wing signals from the edge.
We hadn’t heard Howie or smelled Flora in days and we were getting worried about them, especially since the vultures had stopped circling above.
And just as we were talking about who was missing from our close little group of friends, Toucie who has a very large beak lifted her head and sniffed…then sniffed again… “FLORA!” she exclaimed and went to the edge of the hill trying to trace that telltale aroma.
But wait…out of the grasses emerged an entirely black skunk, not at all like Flora who has a large white furry back. Then the skunk tried to speak but then just collapsed.
Juan took water over to the stranger and helped it drink and then after looking closely he turned and yelled “It IS her! She’s just covered in soot…ashes from the Volcano…but it’s Flora all right.”
As Flora regained her strength and looked around she said…”Sorry that I didn’t wear my Jacaranda cologne again!”

Chapter 5…THE CONFLAGRATION

There was a rumble that I felt in the ground with my webbed feet and heard in the air with my ears and then there was a strange burnt aroma in the air.
At first I thought that it was a storm, but the sky was blue and since I’m an expert of sorts regarding storms I knew it wasn’t that.
Then all of a sudden the sound of an explosion and the sky turned reddish and Toucie yelled…”VOLCANO” everybody take cover!”
Then I heard it! A crackling sound getting louder and louder!
“Everybody into the water…or the air…CLEAR OUT…NOW!!!” Toucie was screaming as loudly as she could and everyone was scrambling for safety.
I could fly away of course but as the air started getting hotter and hotter I just started thinking about my new friends…like Cougie, Bandy, Oscar and Howie that couldn’t fly and couldn’t stay on ground that was soon to be engulfed in a fireball.
I had experienced a forest fire on migration one Autumn and remembered seing the animals running for their lives. It was scary but this was even scarier!
I saw Theodore slowly scrambling toward the beach and then watched Cougie and Howie jump into the surf but I was trying to find Bandy through the smoke which was getting thicker and thicker as the fire’s edge grew closer to our Jacaranda tree.
I knew Bandy couldn’t go into his burrow because the fire was started due to the volcano shooting out molten lava which then ran downhill across the ground and would surely find Bandy in his borrow.
Then…I saw him with his nose in the air wobbling around looking a bit lost. I flew down and landed almost on top of him.”Climb on my back and hold on!” I told him.
With great difficulty he tried to claw his way onto me and although I felt a few piercing claws go into my flesh I nudged him up with my beak. “HURRY…we are running out of time!”
Then just as the red hot firestorm swept into our beautiful Jacaranda tree I lifted off into the air above our snacking grounds and flew away from the path of the lava and fire with an armadillo on my back!
Then unexpectedly I felt a burning hot pain and when I looked my tail feathers were on fire. I swooped down and tried to time a perfect dive to the top of a small surf wave that was headed for shore.
“Hang on tightly Bandy!”
I swooped and dipped my burning feathers into the top of the surf and then I climbed back up into the sky flapping as hard as I ever have because of the extra weight and loss of a few of my controlling tail feathers. I was having a difficult time maintaining my altitude.
“We’ve got to look for a landing spot Bandy…I don’t think I can make it much farther!”
By this time the fire and lava were spilling over our wonderful beach and sizzling into the surf.
“THERE! OVER THERE… to the right. There’s a spot of high ground away from the lava flow.”
Bandy was yelling in my ear and as I turned I saw what he was describing and leaned to the right into the wind and circled lower and lower and as I was about to land I realized that I didn’t have control of the tail feathers that I always used to help to guide and slow my speed and as we were about to crash Bandy yelled “TUCK AND ROLL…TUCK AND ROLL!”
The last thing I remember was hitting the ground crashing, tumbling into the sand and rocks on the edge of the hard but safe high ground. Then everything went black!

Chapter 4…AN UNUSUAL NEW FRIEND

Even though I could never have imagined having such a diverse group of animals that actually liked me and called me “Friend” I must admit that I missed both my summer and winter homes and my geese friends that I knew and grew up with.
But that first day I met an animal that I NEVER EVER would have guessed that I could be actually friends with…an eight year old human boy!
How I met him was rather odd also. You see…just like Howie (the Howler Monkey) he sort of…fell out of a tree!

I was sitting with my new friends eating the afternoon snack when all of a sudden (lots of things happened suddenly in Argentina)I heard and actually felt a great “thump” on the ground.
“My…what was that I exclaimed! (and also asked)
“That was Juan…he thinks he’s a monkey…and he thinks he’s a cougar and sometimes he’s an armadillo…well you get the idea but really he’s just a boy!” Toucie explained.
“HOLA…everyone. I sure wish I had a prehensile tail like Howie…wouldn’t have fallen.” said the boy.
“Thanks for dropping in.” said Maggie and everybody chuckled.
“What…did I do it again? I never know when I say these things that you all think are so funny.”said the befuddled Macaw.
“That’s OK Maggie…it’s fun to laugh and we are laughing WITH you not AT you!” Juan said.
After Toucie introduced me to Juan and I told him the brief version of my story we all just sat around relaxing and enjoying our snacks and friends and life in general. I was thinking that Argentina just might be the best place ever and I grew happier with every new “friend” that I met. But that was soon to change abruptly and become the most freightening experience of my life!

Chapter 3…SNACK TIME

My newly found group of friends all gathered under the Jacaranda tree at precisely(more or less…animals don’t wear watches)four PM. There were nuts and seeds and fruits and also some creepy crawly things like worms and insects and over in the corner I saw a large clump of bright green grass which made my beak water!
We were all merrily chatting and I was telling migrating stories, when all of a sudden the loudest noise I have ever heard (except for the time when that jet plane flew past me)
pierced my ears and then again and again so loudly that I had to cover my head with my wings.
“Howie…KNOCK IT OFF!…you’re scaring our new friend Stormy.” Toucie yelled back at the yeller.
“Hey…whatchagot ta eat? Any bananas?” This rather large, brown, monkey looking animal swung down from the lowest Jacaranda limb and plopped right in front of me!
“Hi I’m Howie…and you must be Stormy.”
He stuck out his paw and I sort of put one of my webbed feet out and he grabbed it and shook it up and down, almost knocking me over….”Glad ta meet cha!”
“I’m a Howler Monkey and proud of it….sorry if I busted your eardrums, that is if you got eardrums. Don’t know too much about Ducks like you.” Howie said as he put a hairy arm around my shoulder and squeezed me toward him.
“Ah…I’m a Gander…a Canada Gander…many say Goose.”
“Oh….well…don’t matter none what you are really as long as you’re friendly.” Howie said as he rummaged through the snacks looking for bananas.
Then I noticed a strange and I must say rather unpleasant odor coming from the other side of the Jacaranda.
All the animals put their noses into the air. Then Toucie yelled “Flora…did you forget to use the Jacaranda Cologne that we made for you?”
Then I saw what looked like a pig’s nose poke out of the high grasses, but behind that nose wasn’t a hog but what I was later told was a Hog Nosed Skunk.
“Oh….my….sorry Miss Toucie….I guess I forgot….again.” said Flora.
I thought to myself that a skunk with such a big nose would surely notice what aroma that they were perfuming into the air. But Flora told me later that she didn’t think she was a skunk that stunk. She was the only animal in our group with that opinion however.
“Well…how do you like it here so far Stormy?”…Maggie asked me.
“Oh I’ve never had friends other than geese before. I always was with a gaggle, either flying in a “V” or eating on a grassy hill or a cornfield or swimming in a pond and everyone there were always Canada Geese.”
“So do you miss your geese friends?” she asked.
“….Yes.”

Chapter One…NEW EVERYTHING

“What is it Maggie?”
“I don’t know Toucie…it’s a bird of course…a BIG BIRD but I’ve never seen another one like it”
“Nudge it…is it dead?” Maggie the Macaw asked.
“Naw…it’s breathin'” replied Toucie the Toucan.
“I hope it’s not like one of those “you know what” birds that do the unthinkable.” Maggie’s voice was trembling.
“No…it doesn’t have talons…or a beak like those raptors.”
“What you got there? Did it wash up on shore or somethin’?” Theodore the tortoise was lumbering over to the amazed and growing group of onlookers surrounding the strange bird from another land.
“Wait…LOOK it’s wakin’ up!” Maggie warned as she hid behind Toucie.
As I slowly woke up bleary eyed, I was scared at first by the many pairs of eyes staring down at me.
“Where am I eh?” I asked no one in particular while trying to hide my sudden fear.
Theodore grumbled…”Humans call it Argentino.”
“AH!…teenAH…Theodore!” Toucie corrected.
“WHATEVER!” snapped Theodore, although he was NOT a snapping turtle in the true zoological sense.
“What’s your name…where are you from…what ARE you anyway???” All of the small croud were shouting out at once.
“Give him….or ah…her…a chance will you?” Toucie held up her right wing to silence the inquisitive group.
“I…I’m from the North and I got off course during my migration….ah….I’m a Canada Gander, and my name is …well… Oscar.”
“WELL OSCAR…that’s a funny name!” Theodore laughed.
Toucie, shaking her head at the tortoise, said to me…”We already have an Oscar…the Ostrich…he’s over there with his head stuck into the sand. You scared him when you woke up.
How about if we call you…STORMY?”
Toucie seemed to be the friendliest one there and was definately in charge…in my humble opinion.
“That’s fine…I never liked Oscar very much anyhow.” I replied, repeating STORMY over and over in my mind and liking it very much indeed.
“Yeah….Oscar doesn’t like his name either but his Mom would be disappointed if we all didn’t call him that. Maggie said…becoming more relaxed now since Oscar…ah…”Stormy” awoke.
“What have we here, might I inquire of this erudite gathering?” A banded Armadillo waddled to a stop near the edge of the group.
“He’s a Canada…ah….oh yeah…GANDER….Bandy. We named him Stormy. He just blew in from somewhere up North.” Toucie explained.
“Are you planning to take up residence Mr. Stormy?” Bandy asked with his sniffing nose high up in the air. But before I could answer he continued.
“You know…all of this needless commotion has interrupted my nap! I’m just not “Me” if I don’t get my 16 hours of sleep each day. Good Day to you all! Stormy, we’ll talk later. I’ll bring you up to speed. Ta Ta ALL!”
The armadillo wheeled around and wobbled back off to his burrow.
“Bandy’s OK once you get to know him Stormy. So…are you?”
Toucie asked.
“Are I what?” I inquired, rather confused.
“Staying. Taking up residence with us?” Maggie asked excitedly.
“Well…I could never fly all the way back to Canadian Lake or even Gastonia from here. So if you all are inviting me…then…YEAH…I’m stayin'”
“Good!” said Toucie… “Now for the bad news!”

(Introduction)

Hi…my real original name is Oscar (my Mom liked to watch the Movie Awards through the window of a house near Canadian Lakes, Michigan)and since this story isn’t illustrated you don’t yet know that I’m a Canada Gander…that’s a male Canada Goose.
I hope you have a little time to spend with me because mine is a rather long story about a rather long journey. Go ahead and get a glass of milk (I like chocolate in mine)and a sandwich or something tasty and healthy…I’ll wait.

OK…shall we begin?

I’m located below 23 degrees 26 minutes 22 seconds South (that’s in the Tropic of Capricorn)but you don’t need to remember all of that …let’s just say it’s VERY FAR SOUTH…where they have NEVER even seen a picture of a Canada Gander like me.
You see it all started about a year ago when Hurricane Sophie surprised me by being so powerful and caught me trying to migrate from Canadian Lakes to my winter home in Gastonia, North Carolina.
I kept watching for the sun and moon to get my bearings but it was so stormy and cloudy (and windy of course) that by the time I was able to fly out of that storm I was way down below the Caribbean Sea!
Well I landed on some Island and ate the prettiest fruit, but the natives kept chasing me yelling something about “Slow Roasted Goose…YUM!” and I’m sure that you’ve heard the term “Your Goose Is Cooked” so I flew out of there as quickly as my wings could flap.
And…continuing with my bad luck, a Tropical storm named Verna swept me in the opposite direction of Gastonia way down here where I am now.
I want to tell you about the afternoon I landed here in a country called Argentina. I was very very tired from flying and when I finally saw the shoreline I just flop-landed and fell right asleep.

(to be continued tomorrow)