*****
Socks Without Matches
What’s Good for the Goose
In the little community of Pepper Ridge, nestled between the crossroads of Blackberry Lane and Opossum Road, was the little farm of Bubba B. Bubba. Now, on his farm he had some ducks, chickens, geese, a couple of swans, three old turkeys and four wild guineas that cried in the night atop the tall old oaks. Eeeeee-oo-ee, Eeeeee-oo-ee, they would cry.
Everyone was excited around the farm, especially Fannie Sue, Geraldine, Colleen and all the other geese including Thelma Jane, Ruby, Betty Lee and Carlean. They were all getting ready to practice for the Annual Pepper Ridge County Fair talent contest. This year they hoped to win first place. The old ganders, Gordon, Wesley, Odell and Virgil were also fired up. They, too, wanted to win first place.
The barnyard choir all gathered around. The Cluck-Cluck sisters and the Quackster brothers were all a part of the barnyard choir.
“Honk, honk,” honked the geese.
“Cluck, cluck,” clucked the hens.
“Quack, quack,” quacked the ducks with a squall here and there from the swans.
“Gobble, gobble,” went the turkeys.
Buddy Bob Gander, the choir director, stepped up in front of the choir.
“Shhh,” hushed the choir when they saw him.
Buddy Bob cleared his throat and flapped his wings to let them know it was time to start. Old Buddy Bob was quite a gander. If there was anything he knew it was music. If they were going to win, they needed a choir director like him.
“Shhh,” hushed the choir as a stray honk and cluck accidentally slipped out.
Buddy Bob waved his wings and gave them a hard look. The barnyard maestro began; the barnyard birds started warming up their voices.
“Me, me, me, me, me, me,” went Fannie Sue, the lead singer.
“Ah one, ah two and ah three,” yelled Buddy Bob.
They started singing ‘What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander.’
Fannie Sue stepped up and sang her lead. As she sang, the choir swayed back and forth.
Suddenly, Buddy Bob cried out, “Hold it, hold it, hold it! That’s not too bad, but it could be better. Let’s take it from the top, ah one, ah two and ah three.”
The choir started again.
“Not bad!” yelled Buddy Bob. “It still needs a little work though.”
As the choir sang, Fannie Sue was so energetic with her lead part. She even did a little jitterbug dance which got everyone fired up.
“Swing it, girl,” yelled Odell.
“Show us what you got,” cried Virgil.
“What a girl! What a girl!” screamed Wesley as he got up and started dancing.
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” sang the girls and the boys softly sang, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
As the days went by, Buddy Bob worked diligently with the group. He wanted to get them polished and ready for the big talent contest. Buddy Bob was so worked up about the group and so sure they would win. Then, something unexpectedly happened. A bad thought entered his mind. He wanted the prize money all for himself. Why not, he said to himself. I am the one who has helped them become so great. How can I get the prize money for myself is the question. Quietly, he thought. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to come to mind. He was deep in thought when Geraldine and Colleen rushed up to him.
“Buddy Bob, Buddy Bob, you won’t believe what has happened,” they cried. “The worst of the worse; the baddest of the bad has happened.”
“Now, girls, calm down,” he replied. “It can’t be that bad.”
“Oh, yes. Oh, yes, it is,” cried Colleen.
“It’s terrible,” yelled Geraldine. “It’s, it’s…”
“It’s what?” asked Buddy Bob.
“It’s Fannie Sue,” they cried. “She is sick; it’s her throat.”
“Oh, no,” cried Buddy Bob. “She can’t be sick. She’s our lead singer. Oh, no, what will we do?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” honked and squawked the geese.
“Come, let’s go and see how she’s doing,” said Buddy Bob. “Maybe she’ll be alright if she gets a little rest.”
When they got to Fannie Sue, she was in bed with a sore throat and fever. She tried to talk to Buddy Bob but she could hardly make a sound.
“I believe,” he said, “she has a raw goosle from singing early in the morning. I have warned her about singing when the air is damp.”
“What are we going to do?” asked the girls.
“I don’t know right off,” replied Buddy Bob. “Don’t worry. I’ll think of something.”
“Will we still get to participate in the talent show?” asked Geraldine.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” he replied.
What a lucky break, he thought as he walked away. Now that Fannie Sue is out of the way I can put Betty Lee, my cousin, as the lead singer and we can split the prize money. Later on that day, Buddy Bob talked to Betty Lee about his plan and she was all for it. She especially loved the part about being the lead singer.
For the next few days, they practiced over and over so Betty Lee could learn her part.
“I don’t know what it is,” said Gordon. “But, it’s just not the same without Fannie Sue.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” replied Wesley.
“Me, too,” spoke up Odell.
“Betty Lee just doesn’t have the spark Fannie Sue has,” said Virgil. “She doesn’t put as much feeling in to her singing.”
Back home, poor old Fannie Sue lay brokenhearted with tears in her eyes because she couldn’t be with her friends. Most of all, she missed singing in the choir.
After several days of rehearsal, Buddy Bob had gotten the choir as ready as he could under the circumstances.
Although Betty Lee didn’t have the spark that Fannie Sue had, Buddy Bob was pretty sure he had the prize money in his pocket. However, the night before the big day, something strange happened. There was a hacking sound coming from across the barnyard. Time and time again it was heard. Sometimes it was loud and sometimes it was a low, soft groan.
“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,” went the sound.
In unison, the lights clicked on in the henhouse and everywhere else about the farm.
“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,” went the horrible sound again.
Everyone rushed outside to see what it was.
“It’s coming from Buddy Bob’s place,” yelled one of the geese.
Hurriedly, they all rushed over to his house. He was in bed sick and unable to move.
“What is it?” asked Odell.
“I’m sick,” replied Buddy Bob.
“Now, what are we going to do?” asked Thelma. “We have no choir director and a backup lead singer.”
“What are we going to do?” yelled Ruby.
“Now, girls,” said Virgil. “Calm down; we’ll think of something. We still have Betty Lee, don’t we?”
About that time, Betty Lee walked in and tried to speak. However, she couldn’t say a word.
“She’s got laryngitis,” cried Gordon.
“Oh, no, we are done for!” screamed Wesley.
“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,” moaned Buddy Bob.
“For weeks we have practiced and practiced,” said Ruby, “all for nothing.”
“I knew it was too good to be true,” said Gordon.
“But…but,” said Geraldine.
“But…but…but, nothing,” replied Odell. “We’re finished, washed up.”
“Hey, girl, slow down,” said Geraldine as Fannie Sue ran in.
“It’s Fannie Sue!” exclaimed Odell. “She’s all better.”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you, Odell, before you interrupted me. Fannie Sue has her voice back.”
“Hooray!” they all cried.
“We’re back in the spotlight again,” laughed Colleen.
“We can do it!” yelled
Odell. “We’ll take what Buddy Bob taught us, work together and win that talent show.”
“Ah one, ah two and ah three,” went Virgil.
The choir sang in harmony and Fannie Sue strutted about the room singing lead.
“Sing it, girl. Sing it,” screamed out the girls.
The boys chimed in with their four-part harmony.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” and, “Oh, oh, oh,” went Buddy Bob.
“We still got it,” cried Thelma. “Sing it, girl! Sing it!”
Finally, the big day came and the choir was at the fair riding rides and games to ease their nerves about the talent show. Back home, Buddy Bob lay in bed so sick he couldn’t move and Betty Lee sat beside him in a chair unable to speak. The time finally came for the choir to see what they were made of. They were the last choir to be called up on stage.
“Now, our next choir is not one of those fly by night gigs. It is one of the best around Pepper Ridge. Let’s give a big hand for the Honks, Quacks and Cluck Clucks.”
About that time, the drummer stirred up the beat and the guitarist smoothed out the rhythm. Fannie Sue slid out on the floor with the microphone in her hand.
“Get down, girl! Get down!” yelled one in the crowd.
Gordon, Wesley, Odell and Virgil stepped in formation and started moving about and the quail followed right behind them. They sang ‘What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander.’ As the choir sang, the beat of the drummer had every toe tapping in the audience. The guitarist flowed with the rhythm and they all twisted and turned to the beat. Fannie Sue hit the high notes with no problem and sent the crowd in to a frenzy.
“Sing it, girl! Sing it!” the crowd screamed.
It was a riot. Everyone started dancing and singing along with them. There was no question about it; they were sensational.
“We love you, girl,” cried one in the crowd after they had finished singing.
They all waited patiently for the winner to be announced.
“I wish Buddy Bob and Betty Lee could have been here with us,” Fannie Sue said as they waited backstage.
“Yeah, me too,” the others replied.
“Do you think we won?” asked Thelma.
“I don’t know,” said Geraldine. “We should.”
“Those other singing groups were good too.”
“Really good,” replied Colleen.
“Where’s your confidence, girls?” asked Geraldine.
“Yeah,” replied Odell. “We were as good as or better than all the others. Plus, there’s no one like Fannie Sue.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” said Virgil. “That’s right!”
After receiving the winner’s name from the judges, the announcer stepped up to the microphone.
“The winner of this year’s Pepper Ridge County Fair talent contest is the Honks, Quacks and Cluck Clucks,” he announced.
“Whoopee,” they all cried and jumped up and down. “We did it. Buddy Bob and Betty Lee are going to be so proud of us.”
As the choir walked back out on stage, the crowd cheered them on. Fannie Sue took the microphone and spoke on their behalf.
“We want to thank the judges for selecting us today. We also want to say a special thanks to Buddy Bob and Betty Lee who are sick and couldn’t be here with us today; they worked just as hard as we did. Thank you. Thank you all.”
“We want more. We want more. We want more,” chanted the crowd.
About that time, the guitar player and drummer got the rhythm going. Fannie Sue turned and started singing ‘On a Wing and a Prayer.’ A hush fell over the crowd as she put all of her heart and soul in to it. There was not a dry eye in the house when she finished.
“Goodbye,” she said as she blew the crowd a kiss. “We love you.”