Saturday, October 22, 2011

Success Story


              SAID THE
                LITTLE
            RED ROOSTER
      “MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!             
     THE THINGS ARE TOUGH.                 
   SEEMS THAT WORMS ARE GET-                          0
 TING SCARCE. AND I CANNOT FIND                      00
       ENOUGH. WHAT’S BECOME                        000
           OF ALL THOSE FAT ONES                   0000
            IS A MYSTERY TO ME:                   00000
       THERE WERE THOUSANDS THRU                 0000000
      THAT RAINY SPELL – BUT NOW                000000000000
     WHERE CAN THEY BE?” THE OLD               0000000000000000
    BLACK HEN THAT HEARD HIM DIDN’T           000000000000000000
   GRUMBLE AND COMPLAIN. SHE HAD GONE        00000000000000000000
  THROUGH LOTS OF DRY SPELLS. SHE HAD LIVED 000000000000000000000
   THROUGH FLOODS OF RAIN. SHE FLEW UP TO THE GRINDSTONE AND SHE
  GAVE HER CLAWS A WHET, AS SHE SAID, “I’VE NEVER SEEN THE TIME
  WHEN THERE WEREN’T WORMS TO GET.” SHE PICKED A NEW AND UNDUG
 SPOT. THE EARTH WAS HARD AND FIRM. THE LITTLE ROOSTER JEERED:
“NEW GROUND! THAT’S NO PLACE FOR A WORM.” THE OLD BLAK HEN JUST
SPREAD HER FEET, AS SHE DUG BOTH FAST AND FREE.  “I MUST GO TO
THE WORMS,” SHE SAID, “THE WORMS WON’T COME TO ME.” THE ROOSTER
VAINLY SPENT HIS DAY, THROUGH HABIT, BY THE WAYS WHERE FAT ROUND
WORMS HAD PASSED IN SQUADS BACK IN THE RAINY DAYS. WHEN NIGHT-
FALL FOUND HIM SUPPERLESS,  HE GROWLED IN ACCENT ROUGH,  “I’M
 HUNGRY AS A FOWL CAN BE.  CONDITIONS SURE ARE TOUGH.” HE TURNED
  THEN TO THE BLACK HEN AND SAID, “IT’S WORSE WITH YOU,
   FOR YOU’RE NOT ONLY HUNGRY, BUT YOU MUST BE TIRED, TOO. I
    RESTED WHILE I LOOKED FOR WORMS SO I FEEL FAIRLY PERK: BUT
     HOW ARE YOU? WITHOUT WORMS, TOO, AND AFTER ALL
       THE WORK.”  THE OLD BLACK HEN HOPPED
         TO HER PERCH AND DROOPED HER
            EYES TO SLEEP, AND MUR-
              MERED IN A DROWSY
              TONE: “YOUNG MAN,
               HEAR THIS AND
                  WEEP:
                  0000
                  0000
                  0000
                  0000
         I’M FULL OF WORMS AND HAPPY, FOR I’VE
         DINED BOTH LONG AND WELL. THE WORMS ARE
      THERE AS ALWAYS. BUT I HAD TO DIG LIKE CRAZY.”

No comments: