Percy

PERCY

Even though the sun was brightly shining, it was still a freezy day at Antartica.

Along the coast, a great procession of walrus, seals and penguins (to name only a few,) came and went in and out of the frigid offshore waters to find their particular types of food.

Although there was a varied assortment of penguins types...one particular emperor penguin stood out in the crowd. His name was Percy.

Now, it wasn't that Percy was significantly bigger or smaller than the other emperor penguins in the colony. Nor, were his feathered markings much different than the other members of the colony. The only thing which made Percy stand out so alarmingly, was that his feet were three times larger than any other penguin ever born. And if that wasn't bad enough, his unfortunate malformed feet also stuck out weirdly to the sides.

His unusual feet however, were a great help to Percy when he was in the water. He could swim quicker than any other penguin alive, and maneuver in the water better and faster than any and all aquatic creatures. However, on land, Percy was a walking catastrophe. He was dubbed by all who knew or even heard stories of him as:The Supreme Klutz.

Now everyone knows that Penguins have a natural waddle about them as they go along.. If you are ever lucky enough to see one yourself, it will look something like: waddle-waddle, waddle-waddle, and of course more waddle. Rather predictable but perfectly acceptable and effective for going about here and/or there.

Percy, on the other hand was sadly not so graceful when moving in any direction. Instead of the sure footed penguin waddle, it was more like: waddle-waddle TRIP{/i}, waddle-waddle-CRASH,and of course...waddle-waddle KLIUNK!

Amongst the penguin community, Percy was the butt of every joke, as he daily trooped to the water's edge to go fishing.

All the other penguins would laugh and say, "Look out! Here comes 'ol limber legs,.." and "There goes twinkle toes! HAR! HAR! HAR

There was however, one penguin who never laughed at or made fun of Percy. Her name was Penelope.

Penelope was sweet on Percy and she tried to help him to grow in self-confidence.

Percy liked Penelope very much as well, but was to shy to tell her..

Penrod however, was not shy at all. He would became very jealous whenever Penelope showed even the slightest interest in the clumsy oaf Percy. So, whenever Penrod had the chance, he always did his best to make Percy look bad to Penelope

One day, as Percy was galumphing his way to the water's edge, Penrod deliberately stuck out a flipper and tripped Percy, who fell flat on his face, right in front of Penelope!

Percy was so embarrassed he hung his head and continued toward the water. Meanwhile, behind him all the other penguins were pointing and laughing, "HAR!...HAR!...HAR!"

It was then Percy decided to leave his colony forever and find a different place to live. He would go somewhere no one could ever make fun of him again.

No matter how hard Penelope tried to talk Percy out of leaving the colony forever, Percy had already made up his mind about it. He sadly said goodbye to Penelope and then disappeared beneath the chilly southern ocean waters.

* * *

.Penelope however, was so upset by Percy's leaving, she found Penrod and gave him a piece of her mind, "YOU BEAST! You are the reason why Percy left!"

"Well, I say good riddance to bad rubbish!" Penrod answered with a shrug.

"It is your fault he left, so it is your responsibility to bring him back!" Penelope stated.

"What?" Penrod returned with surprise, "Why would I want to do that?"

"Because if you don't find Percy and bring him back...I will never speak to you again!" Penelope said in a huff and angrily waddled away.

Penrod was certainly happy Percy had headed out for parts unknown. However, if it meant that Penelope would never speak to him again...well, he had no choice but to find the pest, and bring him back.

Penelope insisted on going with Penrod to search for Percy. The two of them set off on their quest.

* * *

As they went along the coast, they asked everybody if Percy had come by their way:

""Yes," the chinstrap penguins said, and pointed to the nearest gathering of ice floes, "He went that way."

On the largest of the ice floes rested a very large Harper Seal. He was enjoying a nap in the sun, but he did take a moment to point the two searchers in the right direction, "He went that way," he said pointing to the next group of ice patches and began to snore again.

Finally the two searchers saw a black and white spec ahead standing on a large iceberg . It was Percy! So, Penrod and Penelope dove into the frigid water and began quickly swimming toward him.

A nearby Orca spotted the two penguins as he breached the water. The fearsome hunter went down under the water again and headed straight for them. Penguins were on his favorite tasty treat list.

"Help Percy!" Penelope cried aloud.

As the two penguins were doing their best to make it to the next patch of floating ice, they just managed to get to safety. The orca came to the surface long enough to eye his next meal once more and returned back under water again.

For a moment, it seemed quiet above the surface. Penelope looked over to where she had glimpsed Percy and realized with a sinking heart, he wasn't there anymore.

Suddenly, under their feet, they felt a bump. The ice cracked a little. There it was again! Another bump from beneath and the ice cracked even more. For the third time the Orca hit the ice floe and it broke into two pieces.

Penelope managed to just barely stay on one side of the separated ice. Penrod however, was not so lucky and fell into the icy water. He was desperately attempting to get back onto the ice.

Just barely beneath the water's surface, Penelope saw a small dark shadow zip past her and heading toward Penrod.

Percy could see Penrod trying to dodge the Orca. But the killer was getting the best of the terrified and slower penguin. Penrod was exhausted from trying to stay ahead of the hunter. He was just about to get chomped, when Percy zoomed in on the scene.

Percy zipped quickly between Penrod and the Orca. The killer whale's attention on Penrod was broken. The Orca quickly turned and chased after the offender who disrupted his easy lunch.

Once the killer whale was distracted, Penrod managed to get back onto the ice where Penelope was waiting.

"Where is Percy?" Penelope asked.

"He's down there with the Orca!" Penrod gasped.

"He is lost... " Penelope cried, "He doesn't have a chance!"

However, Penelope was wrong.

Percy was so fast in the water, he swam rings around the killer whale. While Percy was easily able to continue dodging the Orca's snapping teeth, the hunter was getting dizzy and tired out. Finally, the Orca simply gave up, and swam away to find a less aggravating meal to hunt.

"You saved my life Percy!" Penrod said gratefully, "If you hadn't come when you did, I would have been eaten!"

"My hero!" Penelope said, and kissed Percy on his cheek.

If it were possible for penguins to blush, Percy would have. "Let's go home." he said.

Back at the colony, the story of Percy's feats of bravery was sung by all the other penguins, and his story of defeating the Orca would be told for many generations to come.

Percy and Penelope got married and they had three baby penguins; two boys and one pretty little girl...Their names were: Peety, Pauli. and Patsy.

Pauli and Patsy looked just like their mother. Peety however, inherited his father's funny feet.

Both father and son, daily tripped their was through the penguin community. However, no one laughed or made jokes about it.
In fact, Percy was named the Hero King of the emperor penguins. He and his family lived a very long and happy life.