Review of story for Woodie

Oscar’s Egg Rescue
By: Frankie Furter Price
April 2009
Oscar and his family live in the country. He can run and play in his yard, but is never supposed to go to the thicket without his people because other animals make that area their home. Oscar’s people don’t want him to frighten them away.
One day Oscar was digging a delightful new hole when he caught a strange scent in the air. He knew he shouldn’t leave the yard but he couldn’t resist the urge to follow his nose.
He was very careful about where he walked. He made his way into the thicket and down to the edge of the brook. Normally Oscar would be running and splashing in the tummy deep water. Not this time. He was looking for whatever was making that strange smell.
It didn’t take long for his mighty dachshund nose to find the source. Lying right out in the open was the largest egg he had ever seen. Oscar moved closer and was shocked to detect the egg’s warmth. All the eggs that he had ever been around had come out of the refrigerator and were quite cold.
Oscar could sense fear in the air. He took several steps back. That was when he saw the largest bird he could imagine. He knew it was a bird but it wasn’t doing any of the things birds normally do. It was sitting down. It wasn’t moving a muscle. The poor thing was looking right into Oscar’s eyes and it was terrified.
It took several minutes for Oscar to think the situation through. He finally realized that what he was seeing was a mother goose whose egg had rolled away from her nest. She was truly frightened, but not for herself. She was afraid for her egg. Oscar gradually came to realize that the egg was warm because it had been in its nest until he had startled its mother. She must have moved just enough to cause the egg to roll away. Oscar recognized the situation and took responsibility for it. This was his blunder and he had to do something to fix the situation.
Oscar didn’t know anything about hatching eggs, but he did remember how his own mother had taken care of him when he was a pup. She would curl up around him and his brothers and sisters and keep them warm.
Oscar slowly moved toward the egg then lay down and curled around it as he remembered his mother doing. He would keep the egg warm and safe until he could return it to the nest.
Oscar’s people didn’t see him and began calling. They called and called but Oscar didn’t move. The miserable mother goose didn’t move either. Oscar needed for her to fly away so that he could return the egg to its nest. He hoped that his people would come looking for him and that they would cause the goose to fly.
He hated not answering his people’s calls and whistles. Oscar knew they would be worried about him. Their calls were getting louder. That meant that they were getting closer. His heart was beating very fast. He watched the mother goose. She was beginning to stir.
Oscar’s frustrated people were getting closer. One of them suddenly clapped their hands very loud. That startled the goose enough to cause her to fly.
Oscar didn’t waste a second, he got up and began pushing the egg with his nose. He didn’t have far to go, but needed to work carefully. He had seen how easily an egg could be broken and ruined. Oscar saw that there were two other eggs in the nest. He only needed one more push to make it three once more. He gave it his best effort. That was all that was needed.
Oscar jumped away from the nest and ran as fast as he could toward the sound of his people’s voices. He wanted to look back to be sure the egg had not rolled away again, but felt that he had to get as far away as possible so that the mother would return to her nest.
Oscar’s people were so relieved to see him that they didn’t notice the goose as it flew to her nest. Oscar saw it though, and he was thrilled.
Oscar thought of the goose and her eggs every day. He wondered how they were doing. He resisted the urge to go to the thicket and check on them. What he did instead, was spend almost every day sitting on top of the hill that overlooked the area. He watched and he hoped that his efforts had been enough.
After days and days of keeping his vigil Oscar finally gave up. He went back to his long abandoned hole and began digging once again. Oscar made some progress, he was finally down far enough to be in damp earth making his frantic clawing easier, when he was startled by loud wing beats. He dropped to the bottom of the hole just as a large goose and three smaller ones flew directly over him. As they began to climb higher in the sky he could have sworn that their honking sounded as though they were calling his name.

This is a work of fiction based on a real life experience. In the spring of 2008 the author did find a goose on her nest. She had actually lost one of her eggs. The author scampered back to his people and led them to the sad scene. He was quite interested in the unfortunate egg but did not go close to it. The author watched as his people quickly took a couple of pictures then left the nesting area undisturbed.
The actual event took place along the shore of Burr Oak Lake. The author’s people had beached his pontoon boat so they could fish, while he enjoyed some, on shore, exploration. Beachcombing is one way the author relaxes when he isn’t writing.
When the sculptor, Mr. Alan Cottrill, chose his goose for the author to base a story around, it seemed natural to meld a bit of reality with a touch of fiction. As with the text, some of the photos are authentic and some show the author in a staged setting.
To learn more about the author visit his blog at:
Frankiefurterprice.blogspot.com
To learn more about the sculptor visit his website at:
www.alancottrill.com