Gracie's Flights of Fancy
A Little Tale for Big People
Laurie Campbell
Copyright © 2014 Laurie Campbell
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Gracie's Flights of Fancy
A Little Tale for Big People
It is a sunny morning in May. Gracie and her family have arrived at their favourite place near the stream. The grass is high and lush. It is the Feast of the Dandelions, the height of spring when the dandelions are at their peak. Gracie sighs, "The sun is warm, the grass is tender, and the dandelion heads taste like cotton candy. Life is good. Wouldn't it be glorious to be as white as a swan, or to have green and yellow feathers just like the flowers and the grass? Or have black and white feathers and wear a saucy hat?" Gracie's sister Gloria loves to hear her sister's flights of fancy. But not Gertrude, Gladys, or Genie, who laugh at Gracie.
"Such a silly goose," says Gertrude looking down her beak at Gracie. "Doesn't she know that she will be turning grey like us?"
Gladys nods in agreement. "Why, she is going to turn into a grey, scrawny, flat footed goose. Go ask your father. He will tell you!"
"It's not true, but I will ask him and he will tell me that you are all lying to me. Nothing you say is going to spoil my perfect day." So Gracie looks for her father. But where is he?
Gracie finds her poppa down by the edge of the stream. "Poppa, why are my feathers turning grey, and why do geese get big feet and why ...." Before she can go further, her father cuts her off. "Stop, Gracie. Not now. I am on dog patrol."
Gracie thinks that Poppa used to be a lot more fun when she was little, and covered with soft, yellow, downy feathers. He would tell me great stories about the adventures he had when he was young. Now he has no time for me.
Dejected, Gracie wanders off.
"Why so blue?" asks Chickadee.
Gracie replies glumly, "I am not blue. I am grey and don't like it one little bit. My cousins are teasing me. They are telling me that I will become grey and scrawny. I want to be as white as a swan. Life would then be much better, and then I could be happy."
"Now, Gracie, grey is a beautiful colour and it has so many different shades. There is silver, green grey, blue grey and my favourite, French grey, which is the colour of my feathers. Not only is this colour flattering but it also allows me to blend in with the trees and I can feed without being seen."
"Ha, you just like to eavesdrop," says Red Winged Blackbird. "Gracie is right. Grey is ugly but white, bah! Why do you want to be like one of those uppity, Rideau swans? Do you know where they spend their winters? Not in some warm, heated home, but in an old, cold shed not fit for a dog. Black is the colour to be."
"Why, you are nothing but an undersized crow!" cries Chickadee. Black Squirrel, hearing the squabbling, pops his head out of his home in the tree.
"Red Wing is right. Black is the colour to be, and I really like your red bar. Is it real or did you dye your feathers? You must tell me where you got that shade."
Gracie furiously stamps her feet. "Stop. You are not helping. I wish I were a giant owl. Then I would scare everyone."
Red Squirrel says, "Oh, please don't say that. See what you have all done. Gracie, why don' you come to my nest for a visit? I have just made a fresh batch of trail mix." But Gracie is not listening. Nor is Chickadee, Red Wing, or Black Squirrel, who are all having a great ballyhoo over shades of black and grey.
Gracie quickly forgets the sparring squirrels and birds when she spies a butterfly. "Butterfly, you are so colourful. I wish I could fly as gracefully as you."
"I may be beautiful, but my beauty comes at a price. I must keep moving, so I will not be eaten. My life is short and full of stress and worry. It is not gentle or as peaceful as it looks. You will live longer than I and will travel to more places," says Butterfly.
"Will I? When do I get to fly?" But Butterfly does not answer for she has floated away. Gracie's wish comes truer sooner than she expects when she spies an abandoned umbrella.
She picks up the umbrella by the handle and a gentle breeze opens it up. Gracie parasails down the creek. "Now this is more like it. I feel like a graceful butterfly." The breeze dies and Gracie lands on a water lily.
She hears a strange drumming noise - wrap, tap, plop, splat. She looks around and cries, "Who are you?"
"I am a beaver. I am practising my drumming. I am starting a new rock band called Pond Scum. My dad wants me to be an engineer when I grow up, but I am going to be an anarchist and smash dams. I have been trying different plants to change the colour of my hair. What do you think of this blue shade?"
"It's really awesome. Maybe I could try some of that plant that you are eating. I want to keep my feathers from turning grey," Gracie replies.
Just then Gracie hears a loud ribbit followed by a deep croak. "What's that?"
"Who is it?" says Beaver correcting Gracie. "This is my partner, Frog. He is the bass vocalist in my band and he writes the lyrics. I send him the melody by beating my tail. We can be anywhere in the creek and still be able to work together. His most popular song is 'Hey Ladies.' It drives the female frogs crazy during spring."
Gracie is very impressed by Frog's vibrant, colourful, green and orange skin. Frog tells her that they're looking for a new female singer to sing duets with him and asks Gracie if she can sing. Gracie opens her mouth and out comes a loud honk followed by a moan that sounds like an out of tune bagpipe. "Oh dear, I am afraid that your voice would not harmonize with mine. Maybe you could be our agent instead and look after booking gigs for us." Beaver nods his head in agreement. Anything to get this goose moving, so they can get on with their work.
Gracie says, "Oh, that would be swell. This will be fun."
Damselfly is the first one Gracie spies once she sets out on her mission. "Oh, Damselfly, would you like to come and hear Beaver's group, Pond Scum, perform?"
Damselfly replies in a fine, high pitched voice, "I listen to the sounds of the creek all day long. There is the noise of the crickets, birds, and frogs. I need to listen when I'm flying, so I won't be eaten. So why should I go?"
"Well, he has a frog for a singer. You might enjoy him." Damselfly was thinking, silly goose, hasn't she been listening? The frog would want to eat her. But not wanting to be rude to the young goose, she explains that the singing voice of a frog gives her goose bumps.
Gracie is confused. "What do you mean? Geese don't get goose bumps unless they get hurt."
Damselfly, becoming impatient, replies, "Never mind. Let's say that a frog's voice is not music to me. Now, good day. I really must go."
Next Gracie meets Otter, who is enjoying the warm afternoon sun. "Hello, Otter," says Gracie timidly. After Damselfly, she was not sure how Otter would respond. But Otter gazes at her with his big, brown eyes and gives her a shy smile. Thinking that beginning her pitch with Pond Scum was confusing, Gracie decides to come straight to the point and asks Otter if he would like to hear Beaver and Frog perform. Otter's eyes grow wide and bright. He thinks if there is one frog, then surely there will be others to dine on. "I would be delighted to attend. Please tell me where I can find these two virtuoso performers." Once Gracie gives Otter directions as to where to find Beaver and Frog, he slips away.
Now, that's better, thinks Gracie. I hope the next one is as receptive as Otter.
Gracie's wishes come true when she meets Heron.
Heron is even more enthusiastic than Otter. "I adore frogs!" exclaims Heron. "I love everything about frogs especially their legs."
Gracie is puzzled and says, "Their legs? What do frog's legs have to do
with singing?"
Heron, without missing a beat, replies, "I'm surprised that you do not know the frogs love to hop and dance when they sing. It's such a joy to see, it brings tears to my eyes."
"Gee, this is great. Now Beaver will have you and Otter to hear them and cheer them on."
"You told Otter?" Heron was thinking that Otter was up to his old tricks, but there was no way he was going to cheat him out of a dinner of frog's legs.
"Did I do something wrong?" asks Gracie.
Heron quickly replied, "Oh no, Otter is a dear friend of mine. Now I must fly if I want to beat him... no, I mean to meet him."
Meanwhile, at home, no one notices that Gracie has gone until it's time for the family swim.
Her parents are busy searching the grass looking to see if it is safe to go in to the water. Gloria, craning her neck to see if she can see Gracie, asks, "Where is Gracie? I can't see her." Father Goose looks at Mother Goose with a look of panic. "Oh no, what if Gracie has been taken by a dog? Gracie, where are you?"
The hue and cry goes up and down the creek. Red Robin takes to the air to search for Gracie.
Mrs. Red Robin is left alone with her fledglings.
"What does this mean?" cry the little birds.
"It means that your father will not be bringing supper home tonight," Mrs. Red Robin replies.
"Oh, not regurgitated worms again, yuck. Can't we order delivery?" the little birds respond sadly.
Red Robin spies a mother duck with her ducklings.
He asks if she has seen Gracie. "No, I haven't seen Gracie. These geese are so scatterbrained. If they were as good as parents as ducks, they would not let Gracie wander off to be eaten by a dog. This is why I hide my little ones in the reeds."
The family's fears are realized when Gracie encounters a Labrador dog sleeping beside the creek.
Now Gracie has been warned about dogs chasing geese, but being curious Gracie comes closer to the dog. The dog slowly opens his eyes, but he does not move. "Why are you not chasing me?" asks Gracie.
"I would if I were younger, but my dog chasing days are over. I have retired from chasing. You are perfectly safe with me. What are you doing here?"
So Gracie tells Dog all about her adventures including Beaver's group, Pond Scum. He smiles when she tells him about Otter's and Heron's enthusiasm in wanting to hear Beaver and Frog perform. Dog chuckles to himself thinking that this gives dinner theatre a whole new meaning. Gracie by now is thinking that Dog is a good listener. Much better than Poppa, and she tells Dog why she has left home because no one understands her fear about turning grey.
"Why, Gracie, there's nothing to fear about turning grey. It is a sign of maturity. You can try new things no matter how old you are. I am thinking about taking lessons on how to dog paddle. Maybe I will join a dog pack, and volunteer as a leader. I could share my experiences with the young pups. Now, Gracie, it is getting late and time for you to go home." Gracie thanks Dog for his advice, and bids him farewell. Walking home, Gracie thinks to herself that dogs are not so bad after all.
As Gracie is walking home, a young wolf is travelling on the same path. She sees him and thinks that this is her lucky day because she gets to talk to another dog. But when she hears him say, "I'll huff and puff and blow your house down," Gracie panics and she lets out a loud honk!
The poor wolf is startled and says, "I'm just a starving wolf hoping to get a part in the play 'The Three Little Pigs.' How did I end up here with a neurotic goose?" And the wolf turns around and runs off in the opposite direction.
Gracie's honk is so loud that it rings through the forest. It is so terrifying that Eagle is frozen to his perch and cannot fly.
And it is so loud that it cracks Turtle's shell.
Unfortunately, Mallard Duck does not have any duct tape under his wing to repair his shell.
News quickly spreads about Gracie's adventure with the wolf. Everyone is surprised except for her poppa, who says, "That's my girl, Gracie. She always has had a loud honk, and she has proven that she can take care of herself."
Her father has given Gracie the honour of swimming behind him, leading her siblings and cousins. With her loud voice, they can always hear the directions, and can stay in formation when swimming down the stream. Other families of Canada geese are very impressed by their swimming formations. Gracie is quite proud and happy with her new responsibilities. She thinks that Dog was right; turning grey can lead to new adventures and opportunities.
The end.