Who Stole Tui's Ruffle?

Tui stared with horror and his fear began to grow.

Someone had stolen his beautiful, lacy ruffle.
And without his ruffle ... would that make him a .... CROW??

He took off in a panic and frantically began to circle and swoop,
"My ruffle has to be here." He cried, as he twirled another loop.
Suddenly he saw it bouncing and bobbing in the grass below,
And in a flash, he zoomed towards it and swooped in very low.

He zoomed in fast and aimed for that thieving chap.

That ruffle was HIS and he was taking it back!
But when he got close and tried to grab it firmly in his beak,
That thief lashed out angrily and he fell in an awkward, tumbling heap.

Clinging on, he yanked once more, but that ruffle was stuck!

It did not budge at all. It was glued firmly to that bunny’s butt.
The bunny squawked loudly and angrily shot down a nearby hole,
The tui tried to follow but he tripped and stumbled into a skidding roll.

Feathers flew everywhere and he quickly scurried away,
For that bunny had made an awful din.

He wanted to slip away before the other animals could make fun of him.
He zigzagged through the sky and swooped frantically once more,
Could his beautiful ruffle be lying trampled on the forest floor?

Then he saw them. The hikers camping at the river side.

They were COOKING his ruffle ... it was about to be fried!
He zoomed right in. His heart pounded loudly in his chest
And in one swoop, he scooped it up and clasped that ruffle to his breast.

They waved their fists at him and he heard their angry cries.

As he held on tight and began to swoop up into the sky,
But the ruffle was sticky and it clung stubbornly to his beak
It just wouldn't budge, so he used his wings, and then he used his feet.

Now his feet AND his wings were glued together,

And he couldn’t make a sound.
He was terribly stuck,
And he began to thrash wildly upon on the ground.

He stumbled blindly toward the lake, things were getting very hazy,

He couldn't breathe and the trees began spinning around him crazily.
Sniggering could be heard when he fell for the very third time,
And there high above him, sat a grinning crow watching his drunken climb.

He did not stop, for he could not open his mouth to speak,

He needed water to clear the goo that trickled from his beak.
Slipping and sliding, he finally made his way to the lake,
Where he threw himself in and he swam until his legs began to ache.

Finally when he could swim no more,
He dragged himself out of the water.

Where he lay panting in the hot summer sun.
And he lay there for the longest time wondering,
Without his ruffle, just WHAT had he become?

Suddenly he caught his reflection,

And he began to smile.
A lacy ruffle sat proudly at his throat.
Dazzlingly bright .. where it had been all the while.

He smiled happily to himself in the hot, summer sun,
And he remembered what the old owl had said when he was only young.

"Sometimes sonny" he said importantly.
"The things we cannot see for ourselves,
Are the things that can be so plainly seen by everyone else.

And what you may have been looking for, for so very long,
May have been right there  … plain to see all along."