The Scrambler:
Part 3
It
was a sad time for the rest of the family the day the Scrambler realized his
ability to take off and soar through the air on his own. Not long after, he
decided to leave his loving family and experience the world in his way. It wasn’t that he didn’t love or respect his
parents but “adventure” was calling and it seemed like his family and the
establishment didn’t understand his longing or share his desire to explore new
adventures.
After
a time of being on his own he discovered many wonderful and wild experiences. He met interesting characters; some just like
himself with “free spirits”, some snobs who turned up their noses at him and
his life style and others who were searching for satisfaction.
One day as he was soaring and
experimenting with new dips and dives in the air enjoying himself and his
freedom, he met a very beautiful Young Lady Goose, who greatly attracted him. She was a
shy little goose standing by some tall bulrushes. As he approached her, she quickly moved behind
some thick grass clumps in order to hide but he slowly continued to pursue
her. Soon she became quite comfortable
with him and even enjoyed the attention. As they became involved in
conversation they realized they were both lonely and attracted to each other.
She
related how her family had disappeared when she was very young and had survived
by staying hidden and being most cautious. She had taught herself to fly but
always with extreme caution, even being fearful to venture out into unknown
territory. Scrambler was surprised at how small her world was. He realized he was quite attracted to this
shy female and his feelings for her grew as he spent time with her. He took it
upon himself to show her “the world”. Before very long her confidence increased
as she improved in her skills. It wasn’t long before they realized their
feelings had grown into love and they decided to become partners for life.
She was so happy to be part of
his life and knew that if it wasn’t for him her abilities would have remained
small compared to what he encouraged her to be. As her skills increased, she
often wondered why they weren’t part of the magnificent flocks of birds that
soared overhead in perfect V formations. When she tried to discuss this with
Scrambler, he would always reply that he was a “free” spirit and had no
interest in conforming to what everyone else did. She learned to accept his answer but deep
down she wished she could be part of the families who flew overhead so
beautifully.
After
some time she thought it would be wonderful to have their own family. Scrambler wasn’t at all sure this was
what he wanted but when he realized how important it was to his lovely “bride”,
he agreed.
It
seemed like forever before the eggs were incubated and another forever before
they hatched. She knew she must endure
and be patient. For him it was difficult and often he left to escape and seek
adventure while she diligently remained on the eggs, keeping them warm until
the very end.
The
day finally came when the shells started cracking, first one, then two then three perfect little
goslings appeared. Scrambler was indeed very proud of his new family and his
beautiful Partner. He walked around with
his head held high and his chest puffed out.
He loved the attention of being a new father and this elation lasted for
quite a while. Mama was excellent at her new job and all too soon Scrambler
thought she was spending too much time with the little ones and he was being
neglected.
Every
day he would leave and continue his quest for adventure but he tried to return
every night. As time went on, Mama realized the need to start teaching the
offspring how to survive and prepare for their future. When she approached the
subject with Scrambler, he seemed to completely ignore her and his
responsibility as a Father.
The
truth of the matter was that he didn’t know how or what to teach his little
goslings because his training in these areas were a part of his life that he
missed. Instead of admitting his lack of knowledge, he just flew away and
looked for further adventure.
One
evening when he returned home there was no one around. He was quite concerned and started searching
in all the favorite places. Despite his
irresponsible attitude towards her concerns for teaching the goslings, he still
loved her and his offspring very much.
As
he proceeded to search he thought he heard his little ones laughing and
playing. He tried to sneak up on them
but much to his surprise and disappointment, as he was about to jump in on
them, he could see they were not alone.
There on the pond he loved was another gander, patiently teaching his
offspring to swim with precision and dive for cover. They were having so much
fun laughing and splashing water on each other, he sadly walked away and
returned to his hide out and escape.
After several weeks of being
alone, he looked up and heard a familiar honking. High above him, flying in a
perfect V formation were his young goslings led by the other gander and his
beautiful Bride following close behind.
Pangs of hurt filled his entire being and he mustered enough energy to
fly the opposite way, out of sight. He
knew he had lost his beautiful family to another gander who obviously knew how
to teach and instruct the goslings.
It
was then he realized that all his life he had wanted to be free and “do” his
own thing. He never wanted to listen to
lessons that his Father had tried to teach him and he didn’t think his siblings
were important. He had shown very little respect towards his parents and now he
had lost everything he really cared for. He realized the loss he was
experiencing was because of his irresponsible attitude. He had been a rebel and
now he was paying for being a selfish Goose, putting himself first at all costs
and never thinking about others how it affected others.
He knew he was too late to win back his first love and
wonderful family but perhaps he could change himself. He decided to change his
attitude that very minute and become what he should have been a long time ago.
Upon making this important decision, he already felt better about life and
himself. He knew his life was going to
be difficult but at least he would try his best to be the responsible goose he
was meant to be.
There was hope for Scrambler because he was still
young enough to start over but he
regretted the time he had wasted and the wonderful
family he knew he had lost forever.
The End
