The Saga of the Littlest Turkey

Hello! The Littlest Turkey here. Mother said I should come and tell you my story, since I’ve not had a chance to chat with you lovely people before.

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It all started a really long time ago, a whole week and a half, when I was just a wee baby Bourbon Red. Mother came to the Amish community where I was born and decided to adopt me and one of my siblings, as well as two of our friends, the Royal Palms. I was scared because I didn’t know Mother yet, but I was also excited: all the Big Turkeys talked about the great adventure that awaited little turkeys when they went to their new homes.

Mother brought us to our new home and introduced us to our bunk-mates, 5 little chickies, and to our new home, which was a lovely pen in the yard. I was so excited to investigate and nibble some grass (for the very first time!) and get to know everyone. At first, the little chickies kept to themselves, unsure if we were going to be friends or not. The first night was a little scary. All us turkeys huddled together and tried to be brave.

Over the next few days, we got to know the little chickies and started having a lot of fun, chasing each other around the pen and playing King of the Waterer. We started to get to know Mother, too, but she was still a bit scary because she was SO BIG- a little turkey, especially the Littlest, is a whole lot smaller than a big person. But she brought us our breakfast every morning and even some treats, so we knew she had to be a good mother.

The one thing that was still really scary was when Mother moved the pen so that we could get fresh grass. We just didn’t know what to do when that pen started moving! Many many days ago, way back last Saturday, Mother was moving the pen as usual. I tried to stay out of the way of the boards but my sibling ran next to me and I got confused.

All of a sudden, my foot was caught under the board! I panicked and tried to pull it loose, but I couldn’t. Something was hurting me! I cried out in alarm and pain and here came Mother to my rescue. She lifted the board off my foot and I made a run for it to the far end of the pen. My foot really hurt and there was all this red stuff coming out of it. Mother climbed in the pen (not an easy task for a big person) and scooped me up. I was afraid and hurting and I just didn’t know what to do.

Mother took me in the Big House and talked to me softly, explaining that she needed to clean my wound and put a bandage on it. I had no idea what a bandage was, but she was so gentle with me and so calming that I decided I would trust her. She rinsed the blood off my foot and then we could see that a whole bunch of skin had been ripped off! I didn’t know if Mother could fix me, but I sure hoped she could.

After cleaning the wound really well and putting some medicine on it, Mother wrapped my foot in a bandage (which wasn’t all that scary after all) and made me a little home in what she called the bathtub. I wasn’t sure if I liked being in the Big House all by myself- I was used to always having my siblings and friends around to keep my company and keep me warm.

Mother came in often to check on me and to clean my foot. She talked to me and snuggled me, and I started to realize that she was a really good mother- I was happy that she had picked me to adopt. But it was lonely in the bathtub all by myself and sometimes I couldn’t help crying a little bit. Mother would come and sit with me when she heard me cry, but she has a lot of other babies to look after so she couldn’t be there all the time. She brought me a fuzzy puppy to cuddle with. He was rather boring, since he never moved or peeped or anything, but he was good to cuddle with, so that was alright.

Mother would also bring me to cuddle in her lap when she watched tv. It was nice to sit with her- she would rub my back and wrap me up in a warm towel and I would nap, happy to be with Mother. I was always sad when it was time for bed and I had to go back to my boring puppy.

This morning, Mother checked my foot again and said that it was healing really well. I agreed, since it had mostly stopped hurting and I was hardly limping at all. So Mother said it was time to go back to the pen with my sibling and my friends. I was excited to see them all again, but a little nervous about the pen and sad about not getting to spend so much time cuddling with Mother.

After Mother put the last little bit of medicine on my foot, she snuggled me close and took me back outside to the pen. She gave me a little kiss and then set me down. All my bunk-mates came running over to see me. I was so happy to see them again! They asked lots of questions about Mother and the Big House and said that they’d been really worried that I wouldn’t ever come back- I had been gone a really long time.

I set out to investigate the pen and make sure everything was safe. I played a bit of tag with my friends, but I still was limping a bit and couldn’t really keep up. It didn’t matter, though, since they were much better company than the boring puppy. I hoped Mother would come and spend some time with me still.

After a while of settling back in, it started to rain. It wasn’t bad at first, and I wiggled my way into the pile of chickies and turkeys to stay warm and dry under the pen cover. But then it started to rain REALLY hard! Water was coming in the sides of the pen from every direction. There wasn’t anyplace to go to stay away from it! I wanted to be back in the Big House with Mother, safe and dry.

Just then, here she came, Mother to the rescue! She brought the big red cover and threw it over our pen. It was a lot darker in there with the cover on, but the water couldn’t get to us anymore. We all snuggled up together to get dry and I regaled the others with stories of Mother’s bravery against the rain and her talent for cuddling.

Needless to say, they are all jealous of the time I spent in the Big House now. I hope I never get hurt again, but I wouldn’t mind having Mother all to myself for a little while longer!