The Geese and the Cranes

The meadow was wet and green, and the geese and the cranes were feeding side by side. Nobody looked up. There was too much good grass.

A man came over the hill with a net rolled on his shoulder. He walked softly, softly, through the reeds. He was a birdcatcher, and he had come for them all.

A crane lifted her long neck. "Man!" she cried. "Man with a net! Fly!"

The cranes were thin and light. They opened their wide wings, and the wind took them. Up they went, over the reeds, over the trees, up into the empty sky.

"Wait for us!" honked the geese. They ran across the grass with their necks stretched out, flapping and flapping. But the geese were slow and heavy. Their big bodies rose a little way, and sank. They rose, and sank.

Down came the net.