LIFE: The Unfortunate Goose

Hello readers,

Today I would like to write about my early years in Kelantan. This one involved barn animals. One particular swan-like creature. I was almost 3.

Born a Nature Lover, I love life. Nature is so beautiful and carefree. A gift from God Almighty.

The wind, air, trees, rivers, land, creatures, beings.

For a start, since I love animals, my mother introduced me to cats.

O yes we had plenty.

Love to cuddle and sleep with them.

And then came the chickens,

the ducks ,

goats

and

geese.

Also there were many flower pots and a few flower beds all over the house and garden.

Mom and Grandma used to say there’s nothing more precious than to see the glow on my face and my chuckles when I played with the cats, collected chickens’ eggs, fed the ducks, and hugged the goats.

I wasn’t afraid of them at all. And they in turn tend to be at ease and love to be in close proximity to me. Of course mom and grandma were close by watching me like a hawk.

I can still remember how the little ducklings followed me around the compound. When I ran, they ran too, towing a line behind me. Its like a centipede dance.

And Nelly the goat would often pushed her face onto my back, nudging me to inch forward. I would in turn pat on Nelly’s ruffled, rough, furred forehead to calm her down. She would then continue nudging my palms.

One fine day I saw new animals in our compound!!
Mom said "they are called goose or geese".

O my...they were huge. As big as Nelly, I thought.

They looked majestic to me, as I was standing at just about 2ft high. (yes I was petite). These Geese were kept in an enclosure with wire netting.

I love to see them flap their big white fluffy feathered wings. So Grand....

Whenever I held out my hands high, some of them would waddle towards me. As they came nearer they would lower their heads, as if waiting to be patted. I like to touch the top of their heads. They have these interesting crest / tuft on their heads which felt like soft, spongy-like balls (later I call this, head sponge) – well at least that was how I understood it at that age.

Some crests were black / dark brown in colour but there were a couple of geese with reddish / orange-ish tufts. Obviously I was attracted to the red ones.. but the geese with the red tufts don’t seem to want to come near me.

Finally one fateful day, my wish came true!! One of the red ones did. I was so very happy I quickly held out my hands.

I didn’t realize the gate of the enclosure was ajar. The goose came straight at me and lowered its head. As the head made its way out of the gate, I reached out and touched the crest.

However, because I was too happy and excited I didn’t realize that I had not just only patted, but I had actually squeezed the poor goose’s crest.

So....Can you guess what happened next?

Immidiately I heard this awfully loud, deafening, squeal coming from this majestic creature. It flapped its wings vigorously. I was startled. I let go of my grip and ran as fast as I could, as the goose chased after me, pecking at my butt, many times all the way to our kitchen door.

My heart was racing like a train. I screamed and cried. My butt was red and it hurt. And was terribly upset because I didn’t understand what I did wrong.

That night I was scolded by my mom, I was strictly warned, not to touch any goose again. "Goose is bad"… She said that it was lucky my dad did not see what happened or else, these goose would be gone.

That night, my grandma on the other hand, set my heart at ease as she put me to sleep though I was still sobbing.

She said with a long sighing breath and shook her head as usual, as she looked at me and spoke soft but teasingly...

“that poor goose must still have a splitting headache since you had squeezed his head so hard just now…”

and she laughed.

I.... giggled myself to sleep.

Next morning, I woke up, butt still sore. I quickly went to look for the goose. (I am sure readers must think I am indeed stubborn and just wont learn from my mistakes)

I totally forgot my mom’s warning. Not because I purposely want to disobey. But after what my grandma said, I felt bad for the goose and I wanted to see if it was ok. ( I just cant help but to see things differently then and still do now)

The goose was standing in a distance. As usual I put up my hands. Other geese came instead. Not him. While I pat the others, I kept my eyes fixed on him as if calling out to him. It met my gaze and I immediately said in my heart, as if talking to him, that I am truly sorry for what I did yesterday. For a moment, time froze.... and finally he bowed down.

It was not long after, I woke up in the morning and found all geese gone... its sad.... I didn't even ask, coz deep inside I knew, Dad must have already known.

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