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Dylan’s bill was full of fish. They
squirmed about, trying to get out, but he kept his bill shut tight. He
stood on a wooden pole, watching the waves swirl around it as the tide
rolled in. The sky was filled with gray clouds and the sun peaked through
now and then, sending its golden rays down, warming Dylan’s feathers. He
flapped his wings and flew off towards a pile of rocks that were jutting
out of the water. There, he gobbled down his fish. They tasted delicious.
After he’d finished his last fish,
he heard a noise. He looked up and saw a stork flying overhead. It carried
a bundle in its bill. Dylan flew up to the stork and flew along beside it.
"What’s in the bundle?" he asked. "It’s making a lot of noise!"
Though it was difficult for the
stork to answer, he mumbled, "It’s a baby!"
"A baby? Is that what you said?" the
pelican asked.
"I’m delivering a baby!" the stork
replied.
Dylan looked at the stork’s long,
golden, and very sharp bill. A white cloth was tied around it and inside
there was indeed a wee baby. Its skin was pink and looked soft and it had
a golden curl on top of its head with a pink ribbon in it. Dylan watched
it squirming around. "Where are you taking that baby? It’s a wee lass,
isn’t it?" he asked.
"To her mum and dad. Now, enough
questions, I’ve got a delivery to make. Cheerio," the stork called and
flew off to the right.
Dylan flapped his wings and watched
the bird and the baby disappear behind a hill. "I want to be a stork! I
want to deliver babies. I’ve got a nice pouch here to carry it; much safer
than the cloth." He flew down to the rocks and waited until he saw the
stork flying back. He called, "Hey, stork! Where do you go to get the
babies?"
The stork looked at Dylan and
scoffed, "You can’t deliver babies. You’re a pelican. Only storks deliver
babies! Your bill has pieces of fish in it and it smells horrible. It’s
not a place for a baby."
"I can clean my pouch," he frowned.
"Absolutely not. Who has ever heard
of a pelican delivering babies? Everyone knows that storks deliver
babies!" it answered and flew away.
Dylan was determined to be a stork,
so he followed the bird. It seemed to fly for hours. Finally it landed on
a distant island. "Wow! Look at all those cabbages," Dylan said, looking
down. He watched the stork land at the end of the cabbage patch. There
were hundreds of huge green cabbages.
Several storks were standing nearby
and saw Dylan land. They walked towards him. "What are you doing here?
Pelicans aren’t allowed. This island is for storks only! I suggest you
leave," one of them said.
"I want to deliver babies. I have a
pouch and a baby will fit in here nicely." Dylan opened his bill to show
them.
"Whew! That smells horrid in there.
We can’t put a baby in that bill. Be off with you!" the stork shouted and
walked away.
Dylan sat on the ground pouting. He
wiped tears from his eyes. "I want to be a stork," he sniffled.
The stork that had flown by earlier,
heard Dylan’s sobs. He whispered something to the head stork and walked
over to the pelican. "I’ve talked to my boss," he coughed, letting Dylan
know he was standing there.
Dylan looked up. "Yes?"
"He said that we could probably let
you help, but only with animal babies. I don’t imagine raccoons and
beavers and foxes would mind the fishy smell in your bill. Come with me,"
the stork said. He took Dylan to another part of the island. The cabbages
there were reddish-purple, instead of light green. "This is our animal
baby cabbage patch. Watch," he pointed. Just then a baby raccoon burst
from a cabbage. The stork picked it up. "Hello, little lad. Are you ready
to meet your mum?"
The raccoon looked at the stork. Its
big brown eyes seemed to smile. "I get to take the baby raccoon?" Dylan
asked.
"We’ll give you a chance and see how
you do. Take him to his mum and dad in Rose Petal Glen, up in the
Cairngorms. Can you do that?" the stork asked.
"Oh yes, let me try, please," Dylan
begged.
The stork laid the baby raccoon
carefully inside Dylan’s bill. "Be careful with him. He’s a bonny wee lad,
isn’t he? His mum and dad will be pleased. Off you go then, Dylan. When
you deliver him, come back and report to me. If you’ve done your job
correctly, we’ll let you deliver other baby animals."
Dylan made sure the baby raccoon was
safe, shut his bill and flew off. He flapped his wings and headed for Rose
Petal Glen. He circled high above and saw the raccoons anxiously awaiting
their baby. He flew down and delivered the baby to his mum’s arms and then
flew back to the island. "Well, you did a great job!" the stork said.
Dylan felt so happy and so proud. From that day on he was the official
baby animal deliverer for the whole of Scotland. Some days he carried
lambs, puppies, kittens, bear cubs and chicks to their mums and dads. One
day he had to carry a baby highland calf. He had to flap extra hard as it
was very big and heavy, but did his job well.
So the next time you see a pelican
flying across the top of the waves, it might just be Dylan on his way to
northern Scotland with a wee highland cow in his bill! |
