Time let me play and be

Kweekwee and the Geese

Kweekwee and the Geese

Everyone knows that geese fly south for the winter, but there was one year in which they did not do so. This was all because of a mouse named Kweekwee, and this is his story.

In those days, the geese lived out on the open plains in the land of many lakes. They never went into the forests that covered the higher land, but one night they had a visitor from that place. It was the mouse they came to know as Kweekwee.

He was tired, bedraggled and afraid, having only just evaded an attack from one of the owls that lived in the forest. Rather than become the owl’s dinner, he had run out of the forest and found himself in the goose camp.

The geese were kind to Kweekwee and allowed him to stay with them that summer. He spent the time feeding on the grass seeds so abundant in that area and entertaining his hosts with stories from his vast store of mouse lore. Everyone liked the little mouse and was glad that they had helped him in his hour of need.

One day Kweekwee heard that the geese were preparing to leave the plains and fly away. In the evening, when they were settling down to hear his stories, the mouse asked them why they were going.

“We do this every year,” explained the head goose. “We fly to other lands where the sun is hot and food plentiful.”

“Is it far?” asked the mouse. “Could I walk there?” He quite liked the idea of a place as bountiful as the geese described.

“Oh no,” they said. “It is many, many miles away and even we are exhausted at the end of our flight.”

“Then why go there? There is enough food here.”

“That is not what we have heard. The owls told us that a great cold falls on this land at the end of the year and we should escape it by flying south.”

Kweekwee thought about this. He knew it was true that the great cold would come but he wanted to stay in the protection of the geese.

“Why do you believe the owls?” he asked.

“It is well known that owls are the wisest of creatures,” answered the head goose.

The mouse saw his opportunity. “The owls are not what they seem,” he declared.

“They aren’t?”

“No,” replied Kweekwee. “While it is true that it will become much colder soon, there is much shelter in the forest and food if you know where to look for it.”

“But you did not want to go back to the forest.”

“It would be safe for me if you were there to protect me. And I could show you where to find food and dens to shelter from the cold.”

The geese discussed the idea and decided that they could not desert their little friend who knew so much about the forest. They would stay.

When winter came, they all moved into the forest as planned. They made little shelters from the branches and leaf litter and the mouse showed them where to find the secret food stores of the squirrels.

Unfortunately, this annoyed the squirrels and both groups found the winter a hungry time as the food grew scarce. The cold too bit hard at the geese and they soon wished that they had flown south.

The owls shook their heads and said things like, “We warned you.” And the geese learned the lesson. When spring came, they eagerly returned to the open plains.

Kweekwee, whose popularity had dwindled over the winter, stayed behind in the forest and went back to a furtive life, keeping out of the way of marauding owls. Out on the plains and lakes, the geese were happy again in the sunshine.

And that is why owls may be called wise, but geese are often deemed silly. Little is said of mice, however, perhaps because they are small enough to escape notice.


Word count: 663
For “13,” 10.28.24
Prompt: Day 10: “The owls are not what they seem.” —The Giant, Twin Peaks.