Celebration of Spring

The crowd had gathered and was getting quite restless.
"Ahem, if you all would quiet down a bit." the rabbit shyly stepped upon the long table set within the clearing, tapping the gravel timidly, officially beginning the festivities. "We would like to start the annual Celebration of Sprin..."
"I think introductions are unnecessary. Shall we start?" the fox said.
"I gu... guess we should." the rabbit said eyeing the fox warily as he leaned back and propped his leather shoes up on the table, looking rather bored. The four others sat around the table as the crowd looked on. The cow sat munching on the grass, oblivious to the creatures that had gathered, having only eyes for the green. The groundhog and the bird glared at each other from across the table, and the fish swam miserable circles in a fishbowl, a size too small.
"I must say, it is too early for spring to come! There will be another six weeks of spring!" the groundhog shouted, stepping upon the table.
"Of course. No one knows better than you Mr.Groundhog." the bird mocked. "If my predictions are right, as they always are, there shall be a storm soon. It is in the air!" the bird declared, in a grand voice. All the birds flapped their wings and shouted their agreements.
"So a storm shall come, but I must say knowing when spring comes may be a bit more valuable than your storm that may or may not come." the groundhog said.
The bird emitted menace as the glare cut across the table. "Why I think knowing when a storm comes may, in fact, be one of the most relevant facts uttered today!" Another round of welcome cawing, chirping, crying and clucking erupted from the mob as the groundhog bristled.
"You couldn't be madder! It is called the Celebration of Spring for a reason!"
"Please!" the rabbit squeaked. "I think both facts are surely accurate and important. No need to ..."
"Oh please. Stop your rambling. It was getting to the best part, and now you ruined it! What a pity. Maybe you aren't fit for the job. I can certainly fix that. A fire and some spices, a knife or two maybe, would do it! Don't you think?" the fox mused as he drummed his finger on the table.
"Now that I think about it I feel that Mr. Groundho... Ahem. Mr. Bir... What I meant to say is that one of the members seem to have a rather significant forecast to share with us, a more important one than the rest. Please do go on." With a desperate smile to the fox the rabbit bounded down the table and huddled in the shadows of the tree.
The talk continued as usual, with the bird insulting the groundhog and the groundhog insulting the bird right back. It was pretty dull, to say the least. As the sun set lower and lower, casting longer shadows by the minute, the cow mooed its complaint of lack of grass. The place where the cow had sat was now completely bare, and the fish was still swimming the mindless circles.
Finally, having enough of the nonsense the fox whistled a single note. A goose took flight and swooped down straight towards the rabbit. The rabbit was grounded to the place with fear and was ready to be skewered when the goose skewed slightly to the left, nearly missing the rabbit.
When the goose came up with the gravel within its beak, the rest of the flock took flight, each with a piece of branch in its mouth. The fox chuckled to himself. The gravel, the only thing that could officially end the celebration, was in the mouth of the goose that winked down at the fox and careened to the right and was soon out of sight.
The gravel will be left at the rabbit's house in a few minutes, will be found in a few days time, but until then the fox could enjoy himself watching the animals going on a wild goose chase.
         As the humans watch all the birds and animals scurry this way and that, they board up their house and get ready for a storm that won't come.