Once upon a time there was a little leopard named Fern who was four years old. It was Thanksgiving day and Fern was exploring her cousin Flower’s Field when something caught her eye. It was a huge, dark brown and black feather, and it was kind of shiny. Next to the feather were some claw prints that looked like arrows.
Fern told herself it was nothing, and went on with the rest of her day. It was Thanksgiving and she had to get ready for the big feast. At the big feast all of the animals get together at a special place in the middle of the jungle and eat as much as they can.
Soon it began to get late and Fern went to the feast. To get to the feast Fern had to get her parents help because she wasn’t allowed to go there without their supervision. Her mom was worried about her getting lost in the thick jungle. Fern got her parents and they went to the feast. At the feast they ate all sorts of delicious things like sixteen different types of pie, mango pudding and peach palm fruit cookies. They got back home super late and went to bed.
But the next morning, Fern woke up to lots of loud squawking. It was very weird squawking because Fern knew all the bird languages, but not one of them sounded like this.
Fern got up to investigate. She snuck quietly down the stairs and quickly opened the door. She tiptoed outside and started to follow the noise.
“I wonder what this noise can be coming from,” Fern thought to herself. “It certainly must be a new species, because I have never heard it before!”
The noise led her to where she had been the prior day in Flower’s Field. And there, before her very eyes, was a huge bird. It had a really round body with black on top and brown on the bottom. Its legs were very thin and it also had white speckles on some of the bottom feathers. The tail feathers were on its back, sort of, going from black to dark brown. It had lots of tiny orange iridescent things on its belly and a blue circle around its eye. The head was bald. There was a red thing that seemed to be hanging down from the bird’s chin, and it was really bright.
“Hi” purred Fern. “What is your name and why haven’t I seen you around here before? I thought I knew all of the birds of the jungle.”
“Where am I?” Squawked the bird. “Am I really in the jungle?”
“Yup! But what type of bird are you? I’ve never seen you before.”
“I” said the bird importantly, “am a Turkey.”
“What’s a turkey?” Fern asked.
“I am a turkey” said the bird. “You can tell by my wattle.”
“What’s a wattle?” Fern asked.
“This” clucked the turkey “is a wattle.” And he pointed with his foot at the red thing hanging down from his chin.”
“Ohh” meowed Fern. “That’s good to know. What’s your name?”
“My name” gobbled the turkey “is Trot.”
“Nice name” Fern meowed. “My name is Fern. Where did you come from?”
The turkey kept gobbling. “I just ran away from my owners, the humans, because they were gonna eat me for Thanksgiving. But I didn’t want to be eaten so I decided to run away. So I waited until the middle of the night and then snuck out of my pen through a hole in the fence. It was yesterday night so I’ve been wandering about for over a day now and I’m very lost. Do you know the way to the pyramids of the Maya in Guatemala? I have some relatives there in the rainforest and it is one of the only places I might be safe from humans.”
“Yes you have to go a long way north from here. It is a different rainforest. But how do you know you have relatives there? What do you know about them?” Fern asked.
“Well,” said Trot, “we turkeys have been telling stories for a long time and it just so happens that I heard a story about the rainbow turkeys that live in the rainforest by the Mayan pyramids in Guatemala. It said that they were happy there because nobody ever tries to eat them.”
“That sounds wonderful,” purred Fern. “And I think Guatemala is that way.” She pointed north. “You have to cross the human highway and then go through the cloud forest beyond. But before you leave, do you want to come to my house? You’ll love it.”
So Fern and Trot went over to Fern’s house and Trot asked “Do you have any acorns?”
“No” said Fern.
“What do you have to eat?” Asked Trot.
“Well we have mangoes and I think we have some leftover banana pie.”
“What are mangoes?” Trot asked.
“Mangos are orange fruit that taste sweet and sometimes a little sour. And they have a big pit and you have to peel them to eat them. And they are really yummy!”
“Oh” said Trot. “I’ll try some mango.”
Trot liked the mango and so they both ate until their tummies were full. Then Trot said he had to start on his journey. So Fern’s dad gave Trot a leaf phone and told him if he ever needed help to call him through it but it would only work in the Amazon rainforest because that was where the magic worked. Fern said goodbye to Trot and Trot went off onto his journey.
A couple of days later Fern heard a ringing coming from her father’s office. “Maybe it’s Trot” Fern thought excitedly and rushed to pick up the phone.
“Hey Fern, it’s Trot” he said. “I’m at the edge of the Amazon rainforest and so far nothing has tried to eat me, which is great. Anyways now I have to say goodbye because soon I am not going to be able to use the leaf. So bye Fern and thank you for helping me.”
So Trot the turkey stepped out of the rainforest and the connection between the leaf stopped working. But something special had stayed in the rainforest: Fern’s friendship with Trot.
The end.