Mon, February 06 2012
| TITLE: | Goose Feathers |
|---|---|
| AUTHOR: | Marielle d'Ablis |
| CATEGORY/TYPE: | Humor |
| RATING/WARNINGS: | G, Gen |
| MAIN CHARACTERS: | Jean Passepartout |
| DESCRIPTION: | Write story summary here. |
| STATUS: | Complete |
Passepartout would never look at Christmas dinner in the same way again. Cooked goose was a tradition of the Fogg Christmas feast and a favorite of his master’s palate, but Jean knew in his heart that he would never be able to prepare, cook or consume goose meat ever again. Not after Simone.
Their meeting had been an accident that had changed both of their lives. After his master, Miss Rebecca and Jules Verne had fought the evil Count in Canada, they were honored with a hero’s dinner at the governor’s mansion and Passepartout had been allowed some free time. He investigated the kitchen, smiled at a very pretty kitchen maid (who smiled back), before being introduced to the cook’s six-year-old son, Michael.
“Come with me, Mr. Passepartout! I have something special to show you!” the boy said, bursting with excitement.
In hindsight, Passepartout should have gently declined the child’s offer. He should have returned to the Aurora. He should never have ever set eyes on Simone – or rather, Simone should have =never= set eyes on him, because that was the core of the problem.
Michael took Passepartout’s hand and led him behind the mansion. Together, they crept behind the bushes and there, near a pond was a nest filled with three large eggs – a goose’s nest.
“Isn’t it wonderful? What do you think?” Michael asked.
“I am thinking that gooses can be very unhappy if they see we are here and they are not. It would be best, if we leave the eggs in peace.”
If only he had taken his own advice.
“We can’t leave! Look! See the one in the middle? It started to crack a little while ago. The momma is not here. What if it hatches, and one of the governor’s dogs comes along and eats it? We have to stay, Mr. Passepartout! It could die!”
The young boy’s lip quivered with emotion, and his logic made sense to Passepartout who was always in awe of new life regardless of the species. Jean released a small sigh and nodded. There were dogs about. He would stay – at least until the parent geese returned.
The egg continued to crack with no sign of parent geese in sight. Fascinated, Michael crept closer.
“Is not good, little boy, to be going so close. The bite of a big goose is hurtful,” Passepartout warned.
“There is no big goose and oh! It’s stuck! It can’t get out of the egg!”
Passepartout inched closer to see for himself. Young life was so fragile.
“We must help it!” Michael pleaded.
“No!” Passepartout’s warning sounded harsher than he wished. “We must not be touching it or the momma may not want to keep it.” He wasn’t sure if that was the case with geese, but it was the way with many other wild creatures, so it was best to take a conservative approach.
The pair watched as the gosling finally did break free of its shell. They watched as it turned into a fluffy ball of down and cheeped for parents who still had not appeared. Passepartout began to worry.
“What are we going to do?” Michael asked. “Maybe the momma is dead.”
“I will walk past the nest. If the momma is nearby, she will think I am trying to hurt her babies and come running…or flying…I think.”
It sounded like a good plan.
And so, Passepartout bravely walked up to the nest, confident that protective instinct would produce a momma goose at any moment. It was not to be, however, since at that precise moment, the gosling looked at Passepartout and his shoes. He tried to walk away and was immediately followed by the gosling. Then, he tried sneaking away slowly, but the gosling followed. Next, he tried briskly walking away – it followed yet again. He tried running away and the poor bird would follow as best as it could and then began to call piteously for its surrogate parent – Jean Passepartout.
There was nothing else to be done, so Passepartout named her Simone. A pretty name for a pretty gosling. He was not certain as to how precisely he was going to convince his master that Simone must return with them. He prayed that the governor had some very good brandy available.
Everyone agreed that the departure of the Fogg’s from Canada was an extraordinary. The beautiful airship, Aurora, was moored on the great lawn as the group said their farewells.
First, the beautiful Rebecca Fogg bid farewell and boarded. Next, it was the young Jules Verne who was then followed by the darkly elegant Phileas Fogg. On Fogg’s heel was the softhearted Passepartout and on =his= heel was Simone, the Canadian gosling soon to be of London, England.
Before entering the ship, Passepartout stopped and turned back to wave to little Michael. Simone stopped as well. Jean flapped his arms, which produced a similar response in the gosling. He smiled. With the Aurora’s help, he would teach Simone to fly like a good goose. He just needed to convince his master…and find the right brandy.
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