Tommy Turkey

Once upon a time, on an old country farm, a mother turkey laid a nest of lovely eggs! They were all beautifully round, and white with brown speckles. They were all perfect…

Except for one…

It was a little bit square-ish, and a little bit bluish, but the mother turkey loved it just the same.

Finally, hatching day came, and one by one the baby turkeys popped out of their eggs, until there was nothing left in the nest except a pile of egg shells…
… and one slightly square-ish, slightly bluish egg.
But the mother turkey loved it still, and kept it warm.
Until, finally, a few days later, the last egg hatched.

The small turkey looked up at his momma, and said "Where is this?"
His momma replied, "This is the farm."
"And who are you?"
"I'm your momma."
"And who am I?"
"I will name you Tommy"

After that, Tommy's questions never stopped:

• "Why is the sky blue?"
• "Why is water wet?"
• "Why do pigs like the mud?"

One day, Tommy had a real puzzler:

"Momma, how come sparrows can fly?"
"Because they are birds, Tommy." she explained.
"Momma, are turkeys birds?"
"Yes, Tommy." she patiently replied.
"Momma, how come turkeys can't fly?"

This struck Tommy to silence for a moment. You could almost see the gears turning in his head.
Then, he suddenly perked up and said, "I'm going to learn to fly!"

For the next several days, Tommy ran up and down the barnyard flapping his wings…
…with no success.
Finally, he started watching the other birds, and saw that they took off from trees, and that gave him a clue. He climbed up on a hay bale and jumped while flapping his wings. And he flew! Sure, it was only a few inches, but now he had a clue! So, he climbed up onto a fence, and tried again. This time, he went over a foot! Now he knew the secret! (Or so he thought.)

The next morning, before anybody got up, Tommy climbed up on the fence, then from there to the haystack. From the haystack he climbed up on top of the shed, and from there to the roof of the barn. And as the sun began to rise, Tommy stood perched on the edge of the barn, ready to show off.

The light woke up the rooster and he began to crow: "ERR-ER-ER-ERR-ERRR, ERR-ER-ER-ERR-- There's a turkey on the barn! There's a turkey on the barn!"
Everybody came out, to see what the excitement was about. Tommy had his audience and so he spread his wings to prepare everybody for what was about to happen. Somebody yelled, "Hey! He thinks he's a eagle! This is going to be hilarious!"

With his wings open wide, Tommy leapt from the roof, glided about a foot and a half…
…then plummeted into the pig pen, and ended up buried in mud.

Everybody thought this was the funniest thing they had ever seen… except the pig, who didn't like a turkey messing up his sleeping spot. There were calls of "Ha! He thinks he is a pig!" Sadly, Tommy picked himself up, and struggled down to the pond to wash off the mud. The animals continued to jeer, "Now he thinks he's a duck! Quack, Quack, Tommy!"

But Tommy had one friend. Tammy walked with him and tried to understand what Tommy was trying to do. Tommy explained and Tammy replied that it had been a great idea, but that she liked him even if he couldn't fly.

All of Tommy's life, he had been persistent. Nothing would get him to give up his questions. And now, nothing would get him to give up flying. But, he knew that he couldn't do it in the barnyard with everybody making fun of him.

Starting the very next day, Tommy went out to the woods to practice. He would climb up on rocks and flap hard, just to fly a few inches. He would climb up on logs and flap hard, just to get a few inches more. It took time, and lots of effort, but eventually Tommy could fly from one rock to another. And later he could start on the ground, and fly up to the rock. And after even more work, he could fly up to tall logs.
Eventually, Tommy could fly as good as any other bird.

Finally, the time came for Tommy to show everybody what he had accomplished. So, early one morning, he gently flew up to the roof of the barn to wait for the sun to rise.
When the rooster woke up, he began to crow: "ERR-ER-ER-ERR-ERRR, ERR-ER-ER-ERR-- There's a turkey on the barn! There's a turkey on the barn! Mr. Pig, you better get out of the way!"
Of course, everybody was ready for another show, and they all came out to see what would happen this time.

But, suddenly a shadow swept over the barnyard. Someone yelled, "The chicken-hawk!" And sure enough, it was the dreaded hawk that terrorized them whenever it was hungry.
Everyone scrambled for cover, but in the confusion, one baby chick got separated from its mother and was just running around in a circle crying. The chicken-hawk had its target, and dove for it.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the hawk was slammed out of the sky…
…right into the pig pen.
Everybody was stunned as Tommy then whirled around, and gently landed next to the lost chick, and helped it to its mother.

The mud-covered hawk looked up and said, "Turkeys can't fly. Turkeys can't fly."
The barn animals laughed and said, "Look! The chicken-hawk thinks he's a pig!"
The hawk struggled down to the pond to wash off, and said, "Turkeys can't fly. Turkeys can't fly."
The barn animals said, "Look! Now the chicken-hawk thinks he's a duck! Quack, Quack, Mr. Hawk."
The hawk finally flew away, just shaking his head and saying "Turkeys can't fly. Turkeys can't fly."

Meanwhile, Tammy found Tommy, and let him know how brave she thought he was.

Later on, Tommy and Tammy were married, and it wasn't long before Tammy laid a nest of lovely eggs! They were all beautifully round, and white with brown speckles. They were all perfect…

Except for one…