Gus

Gus
By Laura Ferris
August 2010

Gus looked up excitedly. He had heard something in the distance and suddenly he was able to see hundreds of little black specks flying from the south toward the lake. The wild geese were coming home! Gus was certain that this summer they would accept him into their flock.
Gus knew he wasn’t like the wild geese, but maybe, now that he was older, it wouldn’t matter so much. He was hopeful that this year would be better even though he still looked different and honked differently.
Gus waddled hurriedly over to the lake. He had spent his winter alone in the marsh area. And, even though it was a cold winter, Gus had found plenty of corn kernels left by the farmer in his field and there was always a little open water by the dam. But, he had been lonely.
When Gus arrived at the lake, sure enough, the wild geese were landing. Gus swam up to them, honking his strange honk and welcoming them home. The wild geese turned to Gus and honked angrily at him. He stopped just outside their circle on the lake and looked sadly at them. Nothing had changed! They still didn’t want to be his friend just because he was different.
For the next several weeks, Gus hung out around the wild geese, still hoping they would accept him. It did seem like they were tolerating him a little better, but he wasn’t allowed to fly in formation with them or swim too close to them. Whenever he tried to get a little closer to them, one of them would start honking with an angry tone and Gus would back away.
Early one morning a few weeks after the geese had returned, Gus noticed that the baby geese had been born. One of the newborn geese was injured! Something had happened to the baby goose’s wing.
As Gus watched over the next few weeks, he was amazed to see that the wild geese were trying to take care of the injured goose, even though it too was different. This made him wonder again, why wouldn’t they accept him into the flock? But, as the babies grew larger and were more able to take care of themselves, the flock seemed less interested in helping the injured goose. In time, the flock began to treat the injured goose the same as they treated Gus. They didn’t want it to fly near them or swim in their circle. It was too different.
Gus was sad for the young goose. He knew how hard it was to be on the outside with no friends. He was positive he could help the little goose if only he could just beable to get close. He spent the first few days getting to know the little goose. He followed the goose as it swam across the lake, trying to keep up with the flock. He waddled after the little goose as it went up on land and tried to peck at the grasses for food. The little goose seemed to be getting weaker and weaker as it tried and failed to take care of itself.
Finally one day, while Gus and the little goose were on the shore looking for food among the grasses, Gus took action! He honked at the goose and encouraged it to peck deeper and longer. After awhile the goose seemed to understand that Gus was trying to help. The little goose tried harder and was able to find enough grass to satisfy its hunger. This was the break through Gus had been waiting for! Over the next few weeks the little goose, with Gus encouraging him all the way, learned to forage for food and swim with strong legs. The goose grew stronger every day and began to grow into a full grown goose. But it never was able to learn to fly and was never accepted by the flock of wild geese.
The little goose and Gus became inseparable. They swam together across the lake and foraged for food together. At night they found shelter together in a safe place. And, as the summer slowly came to an end, they found themselves more and more alone. Strangely they were content. They were truly friends; helping each other when they needed help, encouraging each other when they needed support and standing together against the crowd.
Gus realized it was okay to be different; he didn’t need to be one of the crowd. As long as he had one true friend, he would never feel lonely again.