The Eagle

          Once there was a mother eagle who laid an egg high up on a mountainside. The eagle left to get some food for herself. But the egg lay unattended. While the mother was out looking for food, a light breeze swept the mountain and the egg was released from the nest.
          The egg rolled down the mountainside for some time and then stopped near a gopher hole. The gopher didn’t want this near his hole, so he picked it up and carried it somewhere else. He carried it to a nearby meadow and left it there.
Now in the meadow there was a fox. The fox was looking for food when he spotted a round object. It was the eagle egg. Curious enough, the fox picked it up and looked at it. He assumed it wasn’t edible like rabbits were, so he threw it away, behind his back.
        Little did the fox know, it landed in a stream. It was a calm stream. The egg stayed afloat, bobbing here and there. Along came a turtle. The turtle looked as if he had never seen the strange, floating thing. He took a hold of the egg and brought it to an adjacent bank. He looked at it and saw what it was. He wanted to keep the egg but soon realized that he would never be able to keep the egg, being a turtle and all. He wistfully put it down and went on with his daily routine.
An hour later, a family was having a picnic alongside the stream. A child was having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when he saw the egg lying there. He picked it up and showed it to his mother.
        “Mommy, what is this?” he asked as he handed it to her.
        “I believe it’s an egg. I don’t know what kind, though.” She answered. She gave it back.
        “Let me see!” exclaimed the other child. The first child gave the egg to the other. She examined every bit of it.
        “Can we keep it?” The first child begged.
        “Please?” The children chorused.
        “What do you think?” The mother asked the father.
        “I see no reason not to,” reasoned the father.
        “Yay!” the children cheered.
        The family went straight back to their home, in the valley. The family lived on a farm in the country. They grew corn, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and of the most importance, wheat. They also owned live animals like cows, pigs, horses, and chickens. The father suggested to take the egg to the chickens and see what they would do with it, so the child went out to the back and took the eagle egg to the chicken coop. He put the egg down in the nest and then went back to the house.
The mother chicken had just laid eggs this morning and had now found an extra egg in her nest. She didn’t remember laying that many eggs but she told herself that it didn’t matter. She waddled off and left the coop.
        At night, she rested herself upon the eggs to keep them warm. It had been a life-changing day for the eagle egg. The egg had traveled a lot from where it started. And its life was about to be altered.
        Several days later, the eagle had started to peck its way out into the world. So did the others. When they all were hatched, the mother chicken introduced them into their normal life, but something was peculiar about this bird. It wasn’t colored light yellow like the other chicks. He was dark brown with white covering his whole head.
        Over the weeks, the “chick” learned to eat chicken feed and worms, but it didn’t feel right to him. It would always taste funny to him. What he really wanted was something like dead fish.
        “I’d like to ask something,” he said while the others were busy eating chicken feed.
        “Anything, dear.” Replied mother chicken.
        “Can we have something else to eat besides chicken feed and worms?” he entreated.
        She laughed, “Are you crazy? You’re a chicken, remember!”
        He put his head down, sullen. He certainly didn’t look like a chicken. He didn’t feel like one, either. But he was still considered a chicken because he was raised like one.
        The days continued to roll on. What would happen if he was expected to lay an egg? It would be a horror! One day, he considered trying to fly.
        “Are you kidding?” ridiculed the other chicks. “Chickens can’t fly!”
        He was discouraged. “One day I’m going to prove to them I can fly,” he mumbled to himself.
        Shortly after that, he saw a bald eagle fly gracefully high up above. It intrigued him even more about flying. He wasn’t much different than that eagle that just flew by. Actually, he was just like that eagle. He looked at himself and his wings. Then he compared himself to the others. He could tell he was a lot more different than the others. Then he had an idea. He started to flap his wings and charged. The other chicks tuned in and watched. He had never practiced his wings before. He fluttered for a few seconds and did a face plant. The others laughed and mocked his ridiculous idea.
        But he didn’t give up. Every day after that, he practiced his wings only to see himself on the ground again, in some weird position. The others just sat back and enjoyed his failure. He decided that he was to wait for a day when his technique was perfect.
          Then the day came.  When he was ready to start, he gently spread his wings, crouched down, and jumped and started immediately waving his wings. But this trial felt different. He remained airborne for a record ten seconds. The others suddenly leaned forward as in disbelief. He was amazed at himself. He continued to rise, using all his strength and willpower to fly. Mother chicken got out and noticed the disturbance. She and all the rest stood there in astonishment.
He ascended until he was over the treetops. This time, he decided to travel horizontally. Soon, he caught up with the wind and glided to join his fellow airborne friends. He sailed until he could see no more of where he came from. He climbed higher up, soaring above the clouds. He looked down and saw an astounding sight. When the wind died down, he steadily descended.
          He remarked, “And all that time, I thought I was a chicken.” How blessed he was to be able to fly freely.