Geronimo And The Hungry Heron

Next door to our Geronimo,

There is a lovely pond,

Filled up with friendly goldfish,

Of whom he is so fond.

Bear thinks that they are wonderful,

And feeds them every day,

Then happy and contented,

They start gurgling away!

But one day in the summer,

He had a big surprise,

His scaly friends had vanished,

Before his very eyes.

Poor Teddy was un-nerved by this,

And shouted "My oh my,

There’s something very fishy here,

And that I can’t deny!"

"These pretty little creatures,

Are as helpless as can be,

The last thing that they’d ever do,

Is hide away from me.

If I don’t find them quickly,

Then they will surely die,

But I don’t know where they’ve got to,

So in a fix am I."

As Our Hero went indoors again,

He scratched his worried head,

"I love those fish so dearly,

But I’ve let them down!" he said.

When he went to bed that evening,

He didn’t sleep a wink,

He simply kept on groaning,

"They’ve gone for good I think!"

"I should have been more watchful,

But sadly it’s too late,

I’ve foolishly consigned them,

To a very nasty fate."

Geronimo felt tired,

When he woke up the next day,

But he went about his business,

In much the usual way.

He got his porridge ready,

And then settled down to eat,

And in spite of all his worries,

It went down like a treat.

However as he washed his bowl,

So carefully in the sink,

Bear saw the darkest shadow,

Which made him want to blink!

"Good heavens!" he yelled loudly,

"Harry Heron’s on my fence,

I reckon he’s responsible,

For yesterday’s events.

He’s been eating all the little fish,

Without a second thought,

So I’ll go outside this minute,

And tell him he’s been caught!"

In seconds he was yelling at,

The very greedy bird,

"I saw you out the window,

So I had to have a word!"

"You’ve no right whatsoever,

To eat these lovely fish,

And someone had to stop you,

From doing as you wish!"

"Now go away this minute,

Before I blow a fuse,

Because I’m not too fond of,

The tactics that you use!"

But instead of disappearing,

Hungry Harry simply laughed,

"Oh get a life!" he chuckled,

"It’s you whose being daft!"

"I am a natural hunter,

But the river’s full of muck,

So when I saw these goldfish,

I had to try my luck."

"That’s not the point!" cried Teddy,

"These fish are friends of mine,

And until you terrorised them,

They were getting on just fine."

"I realise you get hungry.

But to eat them is plain cruel,

And worst of all you treated me,

As though I was a fool.

You are a living creature,

So I do not want to moan,

But go and find some other fish,

And leave all mine alone."

The Heron gave the biggest sigh,

"Oh don’t go on," groaned he,

"I’m heading off right now because,

You’re really boring me!"

"You resemble an old woman,

And I’ve had quite enough,

You see, I just can’t handle,

This sentimental stuff."

He flapped his most enormous wings,

Then quickly flew away,

"Thank goodness!" smiled our Furry Chum,

"I think I’ve won the day.

I’m glad I had the courage,

To come and stand my ground,"

And even to this very day,

The fish are safe and sound!

THE END.