THE KIWI WHO COULD FLY

An egg sat waiting,

It waited quietly in the moon light.

It suddenly began to jump.

And it jumped so high,
That it toppled out of the nest,

And into the night.

It hurtled through the air.

And sped toward the ground.
Where it landed with an oomph!
A winded kind of sound.

The egg cracked open.

And a scrawny chick popped out.
His brothers could only stare,  
As it brazenly strutted all about.

They’d never seen such a thing.

You're scrawny and skinny, they said,
And your feathers!
You haven't any feathers on your head!

The little chick jumped up.

He didn’t like what they said.

He did have feathers.

It's just they were smaller than theirs.

They laughed at him and ran off into the night.
"We're off to search for food," they cried,
"You can come along if you like".

He followed and watched in horror,

As they hunted for grubs and worms.
Squishy and big or crunchy and small.
They greedily scoffed them all.

A noise suddenly broke the silence,

And his brothers rushed off in fright,
For something was lurking there,
Waiting in the night.

Now he was frightened too.

And when two glistening eyes appeared,
He ran and flapped his wings,
And before he knew it  ...

His feet were in the air.

He soared into the sky.   
And realised with surprise,
That he wasn't just a kiwi.
He was a kiwi ... that could FLY!

A little tui had been watching.

And she called to out to him,
"Go down to the lake kiwi,
There's something you should see."

He flew to the waters edge.

Just as she'd said.
And when he looked in ...
A bird stared back at him instead.

He looked once more,

But that bird continued to stare.
And suddenly he understood,
What that bird was doing there.


He laughed his warbly laugh,
And looked over at the little tui with a grin.
For he knew who it was,
That stared back at him.

He left the waters edge,

And joined the little tui in the tree.
You're not a kiwi, she said.
You're a tui.

A magnificent tui! ...  
Just like me.