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"Pssst. Poke!" whispered Beans, the
rooster. "I heard Farmer Roy talking about his cornfield. He says its ten
feet high. Do you feel like having a corn supper?"
Poke opened his eyes. He was lying
deep in the mud behind the barn. "Did you say corn?" he said, suddenly
getting excited. "Ten feet tall? Corn?"
"Shhhh. We don’t want any of the
other animals on the farm to hear. Let’s keep it our secret and then we
won’t have to share," the rooster said.
Poke climbed out of the mud. It
dripped in big globs to the ground. Beans jumped backwards so it wouldn’t
splash on him. "Now I know why they call you beans. You jump around a lot,
like a Mexican jumping bean," Poke yawned. "Now, which way to the
cornfield?"
"Follow me," Beans said softly. The
two animals headed for the corn. "There it is up ahead. Wow, it does look
like it’s ten feet tall."
Poke stopped and looked. "There’s
enough corn for us to eat for a month," he smiled.
"You’re right. I didn’t realize
there would be so much. That means all the more for us. Why don’t you
start over there and I’ll start over here. We can meet up in the middle,
when we’ve had our fill," Beans suggested.
Without answering, Poke headed for
the tall corn. "Those are the biggest corn cobs I’ve ever seen," he said,
ripping one from the stalk and munching it quickly. "Oh my. They taste
even better than they look. I think I’ll just have another." He ate one
and then another and another. Soon he found himself in the middle of the
cornfield. By the time he finally felt full, there wasn’t one corncob left
on any of the stalks. "Time to go and find Beans," he said. His tummy was
full and fat and hung clear to the ground. He walked a little way and
stopped. "Hey, where am I? Do I go this way or that way?" He turned his
head to the left and then he turned his head to the right. It looked the
same. All he could see were corn stalks and dirt. He began to shout,
"Beans. Where are you, Beans?"
Beans had eaten so much corn that it
was stuck to his feathers, his beak, his comb and his feet. His tummy was
so fat that he could barely even waddle like a duck. He couldn’t crow if
he wanted to. He heard his name being called. "I’m here, Poke. Where are
you?" he shouted back, which isn’t easy to do with a fat tummy.
"I’m lost, Beans, I can’t find my
way out of the corn field. Why don’t you cock-a-doodle-doo and I’ll find
your voice?" Poke shouted.
Beans wasn’t in the mood to shout
and he certainly couldn’t crow. He looked around. All he could see were
cornstalks too. "I think I’m lost, just like Poke is and I’m too full to
fly. Oh dear!" Beans mumbled.
"Beans! Beans! I don’t hear you
crowing," Poke called.
Beans took a deep breath and tried
to crow. "Cock-a….." He could say no more. He started feeling sick. He sat
down on a clump of dirt and sighed.
"Beans! Where are you?" Poke called
again. Poke had started to walk through the corn. He bumped into and
trampled down many of the cornstalks. "I don’t want to be lost. I want to
find Beans," he whined. "I feel like crying," he said. He sat down on the
dirt and began to sob.
Beans heard Poke crying. With great
effort, he stood up and started walking through the cornstalks, heading
for Poke’s sobs. "Keep crying," Beans muttered.
Poke wiped the tears from his eyes.
Just then he heard a noise. "What was that?" he wondered. He heard the
noise again. "Who’s there?" he yelled.
Beans came walking through the corn.
"It’s only me. I’m glad I found you. I’ve got to sit down now. I’m so
tired and so full." Beans looked at Poke’s tummy. "I see you’re full too,"
he laughed.
The two animals sat there, both too
full to move. After several hours and three naps each, they felt like
there were able to move. "Time to head back to the barn," Poke said. The
two animals were feeling better but were still fat from all the corn.
"Next time you think of mentioning coming to the cornfields, please,
change your mind. I don’t want to eat corn for a long, long, long time."
Beans didn’t say a word. He agreed.
He knew it would be a long, long, long, long time before he ever ate corn
again. "Come on, Poke. Let’s get you back to the mud," Beans said and the
two walked through the tall corn towards the barn. |
