A Little Feather-Brained

She was supposed to be raking leaves.But you know how an assigned job can beforgotten. An assigned worker…sidetracked.It happens to me. Once…Never mind.Chicken Little Feathers (of theMerrywoods Feathers) was supposed to be working.
C. Little, as she preferred to becalled, had been asked to rake the leaves in the front yard.Now admittedly, the front yard couldonly be considered enormous, taking in, as it did, most of the Hinderley forest.
But C. Little, full of energy and goodintentions started in with a will.A full hour later, with severalenormous piles of well-raked leaves behind her and several thousand more ahead,she decided to take a well-deserved break.
Any of us would have done it.She flopped down into one of her heapsof crunchy, brightly-coloured leaves.For a few seconds, she lay therehappily, totally relaxed.A small breeze sprang up, cooling herslightly over-heated self.
But this breeze, unbeknownst to her,also twirled cheerfully around the giant tree just over her head.An oak tree.With dozens of baby oaks—AKA:acorns—nestled snugly against their stalwart parent.Well most of them were snug.
One or two, not so much.You can probably guess what happenednext.One of them lost its grip and droppedstraight down (Not far from the tree!) onto the head of the little would-begardener thirty feet below.
Now I know there are often pithycomparisons made between mighty oaks and their tiny, little acorns.And acorns are comparativelytiny.But drop one from thirty feet ontoyour head and see how you feel.Am I right?
C. Little gasped and straightened, onewing over the rapidly-swelling bruise on her little head. She looked up intothe tree and came to the only conclusion possible. A piece of the sky, hadsomehow become detached and fallen.
That sky barely glimpsed between thethick branches of the towering oak. Okay, yes, there are other conclusions.Each of which would have been vastly superior to the one jumped to.But we’re talking about a little,feather-headed chicken.
C. Little leaped to her feet andscreamed.Loud enough for one of her nearbyfriends, Goosy Loosy (don’t look at me. I didn’t name these people) to hearher. She hurried over.“What is it, Lit? What’s wrong?”
“Loos! The sky is falling! The sky isfalling!” C. Little pointed in the general direction of up.Goosy Loosy tipped her feathery head,peered basically along the trajectory of the pointing feather and frowned arather goosy frown.
She then looked back at C. Little. “Idon’t see...”It was at that precise moment thesecond of the not-so-snug acorns lost its not-so-powerful hold on its parent.Hitting Miss Loosy on top of that aforementionedgoosy head.
“Gahhh!” she screamed. “It’s true!It’s true!”Okay, say what you will about panic.It has been known to motivate people to do amazing things.Most of them bad.“We must go and warn the king!” C.Little screamed.
“The entire kingdom is at risk!” sheadded.Just like that, the two of them wereoff.I won’t bore you with the details oftheir encounters with several other members of the feather-headed variety that ‘peopled’the forest.
Suffice it to say their hysteria wascontagious and leave it there.Soon there was a panicky, but determinedgroup of would-be saviours on their way to warn the king of the imminent dangerto/probable destruction of, his kingdom.
Partway there, they stumbled upon arather shifty, conniving fellow by the name of Loxy. First name Foxy.Who, quite notably (and unlike theothers) wasn’t panicking.“Wooah, Ladies and gentlemen,” hesaid. “What seems to be the problem?”
Now, normally, when one has a mobsituation, the individuals in it have ceased to think as individuals.This was far from a normal situation.But part of it, notably the not-thinking-for-themselvespart, was still very much in effect.
Moving on…“You might not have noticed it yet,”C. Little started out…“BUT THE SKY IS FALLING!” The rest ofthe group chimed in.Mr. Loxy looked up at the cloudless,blue sky, then back to them. “Seriously?”
Several feathered heads nodded.He raised a rather foxy eyebrow.“Huh!”“We’re on our way to warn the king!”C. Little said importantly.“I bow to your selflessness andindustry,” Mr. Loxy said. Again he looked at the sky.
“It’s funny how serene everythinglooks,” he added. “You’d never know there was a problem.”“Hah! Remember the Titanic! And howserene everything appeared in the early minutes after striking the iceberg!”Everyone turned to look at Miss Loosy.
“Say what?” Mr. Loxy said. “Ti-…”Goosy Loosy’s eyes shifted away. Thenback. “…-tanic. It was a ship. That…you know what? Never mind.”Mr. Loxy stared. “Ahem. Back to ourdiscussion. You’re on your way to warn the king?”
C. Little nodded. “Yes. It’s our civicduty.”“It’s a long way to the palace fromhere,” Mr. Loxy said. “Look. Why don’t you come to my apartment and just postthings on Forestbook. Everyone will get the message.”
He went on, “And of course they will believe it. And share it millions of times. The king is sure to hear.”“Oooh! That sounds so much easier,”Ducky Lucky said. He held out one of his little, duck feet.
“All this walking ismaking my arches fall,” he added tearfully. Everyone looked and nodded. Indeedthose arches had fallen.The feather-headed group thought Mr. Loxymade sense (see above vis-à-vis mob mentality) and followed him toward hisapartment/lair.
It will probably not come as asurprise to learn that Mr. Loxy, contrary to what he said and what the othersbelieved, had absolutely no intention of helping them out.Admit it. Are any of you surprisedhere?
In fact, he was more concerned withwhat was going into his stomach than what may be falling outof the sky.I’m sure you’ve guessed that none ofthe good-hearted but woefully-ignorant citizens emerged from Mr. Loxy’s lair.
There are several lessons here.1.                Whenthe world around you is panicking, don’t.2.                Seekcredible sources.3.                Noteveryone has your best interests at heart.4.                Troublesbring out the good/bad in people.5.                Beone of the good..
Today’s post is a word challenge! Each month one of us chooses a number between 12 and 50 and the rest craft a post using that number of words one or multiple times.
This month’s number is: 39It was chosen by Karen of Baking in a Tornado!

Now go and see what my friends have created!Baking In ATornadoMessymimi’sMeanderings