A Crane Story

The Mysteries of Cranes

Written by Penelope Brook and Rebecca Miles

The Jacket of Destiny

                I was sleeping in bed when my sister shook me awake. “Cassandra! Wake up!” “What is it? Did Firestar and Thunderclan attack?” I mumbled. “Come on, Cassandra! Mom said we have to wait for you to wake up before we can have our surprises! But I can`t stand the suspense any longer! Ooh, maybe it`s a pet!” I was out of bed in a flash.  We shot through our daily morning routine, leaped down the stairs, and skidded into the massive dining room. “Cassie, Cassandra! I made you these wonderful jackets!” “Oh,” Cassie said, disappointed. I wasn`t too disappointed! “Mom, can we go outside and see exactly how warm they are?” “Sure.” My mom said, rummaging through the sewing box. I grabbed my shoes and raced outside.

The cold chill of a winter morning met me, but it quickly faded away. I reached for the zipper, but when my hand touched the center, I felt a weird wiggly sensation, and Cassie was gaping at me! I felt myself shrinking and shifting, changing a different color, arms extending. Her gaping face slowly transformed into a grin. “OMG!  Can I do that? Will I be a pink crane too? OMG, OMG, and more OMG! I can`t stand the suspense! Mom didn`t say anything like this would happen! She`s right! Best surprise EVER!” I barely heard her. Finally, I came to my senses. She pressed the same spot on her jacket-and shapeshifted into……. Another pink crane!

 Cassie was brimming with excitement! Thankfully, she could understand me now. “OMG! What if I can fly? Ooh, let`s just fly up a little bit? Oh pretty please?” “Okay.” We ran for takeoff, and spread our wings. We leapt off the ground and glided in a spiral, then swooped down. We landed and we tried to press the same spot. We expected to change back, and we did! We tiptoed back inside, brimming with our new secret. The next morning, we ran outside to play with our jackets on. We transformed again back into cranes.

 This time, we followed some migrating cranes, because somehow we knew we`d find our way back. We flew high above plains, mountains, and forests, soared over shimmering lakes, and glided over rivers filled with fish. Finally, we made it to the marsh. We saw millions of cranes there. Somehow we knew that this was the nesting place. We instinctively caught a fish or two, but that was barely a mouthful for us. We tried to catch a crab, but it skittered straight into its hole. Cranes were everywhere! We glimpsed eggs and even some chicks. The little, itty-bitty chicks were absolutely ADORABLE! Okay, getting back on topic now. Some were pecking at worms. Some independent chicks were flapping around. One of the cranes we flew with came up to me and said: “We were very lucky we didn`t see any golden eagles on the way here.” The sun was starting to set, so we laid on the ground. “What about Mom?” Emma exclaimed. “Don`t worry, I read this label on the jacket which said: ‘No time will pass while you are a crane.’” The next morning, the marsh was alive again! We finally caught a crab! We waded through the water, using our bills to dig through the mud for food. Finally, lots and lots of fiddler crabs came scrambling through the mud. Jackpot! I thought. I caught at least 14. Three other cranes caught some too.

I walked back to Cassie with some crabs. “Here, Cassie. Have some.” She devoured the whole batch of alive, wriggling crabs. Yuck! I washed mine off in freshwater. “Hey, Cassie, why didn`t you wash off your crabs before eating?” “What? You mean you didn`t wash these off first?!” “I thought you were going to.” She ignored me and splashed into the middle of the water and drank as much as she could. She splashed off, hunting for fish. I watched a fish hurry out of hiding, but first Cassie triumphantly snapped it up in her bill. I went to hunt on my own. I felt a bit of regret about what happened. I caught a few fish, got bored, and went to explore on land. I walked in the woods, weaving between trees, searching for berries. I saw a patch of sunlight ahead of me. When I emerged from the shady forest, I was momentarily blinded. As the brightness faded away, I saw loads of berries through a fence, which was cleverly designed to keep land animals out. I saw a sign that said: WELCOME BIRDS AND FLYING ANIMALS! I decided that, because I was bored, after I stuffed myself I would give the little children playing in the lawn of the little cottage nearby the surprise of their lives.

I flew over the fence and landed in an open spot. I chomped up the nearest berries. I must have spent at least ten minutes stuffing myself, because when I came out, I felt like I couldn`t eat any more food for the rest of my life.

I pushed through the foliage, but I hesitated for a moment to plan what I was going to do. I couldn`t scare them, but I also wanted them to see me. I finally made a decision and emerged. I got up in the sky and flew over them. Then I alighted where they could see me.  They were playing ball when they saw us. They whispered and slowly backed away. Then one of them said excitedly: “I can`t believe it! A real whooping crane! We`ve got to take some pictures and get Mom and Dad!” They scurried inside. In a bit, they can out. They had cameras with them. I strutted back and forth, showing off. Afterwards, I flew back to Cassie. “Cassie! I saw tons of berries! They`re put there for us and other birds!” “Okay, sure!” This time, we flew back. We landed in the berry patch and ate lots of berries. We saw the little children peeking over the fence. We finally were full and we went to amaze the children some more.

I heard one whisper: “Look! She brought another one! I wonder if they`ll bring any more!” I said to Cassie: “Wouldn`t it be so cool if we transformed back into humans for one second?” So we landed right in front of them and transformed back into humans. They stared at us, openmouthed, for a small eternity. How did you do that?” one exclaimed. “Well……. I guess these are magical jackets.” I said. “Oh pretty please can we have some too?” “Well, we don`t know how it turns us into cranes, but we`ll give you two a turn. Anyways, they`ll probably fit you, because we`re all about the same si- ““EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!” The kids interrupted. So we took ours off and gave them to the kids. “How do we turn them on?” “You press down on the center.” Cassie replied. “One thing: Can we fly up a bit?” “Sure.” I replied. They shapeshifted into two pink cranes and flew around, ate some berries, and shapeshifted back into humans. They gave back our jackets and we put them back on. “That was the best moment of my life!” One exclaimed. “Mine too!” Said the other. “One last thing: Our names are Sophie and-“ “SOPHIA!” The other one interrupted. “Well, we`ll come back and play with you again soon, but we`re very busy.” Cassie said. “Yeah, we have to go hunt some and more stuff. See you soon! Bye!” We flew back to the marsh. We caught some fish. I got bored of eating fish so I went hunting for crabs.

I found one occupied with its food. I snapped it up before it had time to react. I went to sleep. I blinked sleepily at the morning light. “Rrrggggggbbrrrmmmmm. Nnnngggmmmmhhggggmmmm. Uuuurrrrrrmmmmmmbbbbb. GALRPD!” I was instantly blinded by the first rays of the sun. “That`s right, time to get up.” Cassie said. She poked me until I slowly arose from my cozy grass bed. “Why do I have to get up right now?” I complained. “In my dream, I was about to get a jacket that could turn me into any animal I wanted.” “Well, that might come true.” Cassie said, smiling mysteriously. Every trace of sleepiness I had vanished instantly. “What do you mean? WHATWHATWHAT?” I exclaimed excitedly. “Oh look, some eggs are hatching.” Cassie said. My attention was drawn to the newborn chicks for the rest of the day.

The next morning, I reminded Cassie about the thing she said yesterday. “Oh, right, that.” She said. “Press the button two times fast.” She leaned forward in excitement. I pressed it two times fast, and I felt the weird wiggly sensation again. I was so excited that I almost didn`t notice it. I changed into………………. Ooh, the suspense!

Into a…………. The unbearable suspense! A……. Buffalo!  I snorted and stamped my hooves. Even though I knew that I just shapeshifted into a buffalo from a crane, something still made me uneasy. The cranes flapped around in alarm, but their instincts eventually told them that the weird-looking buffalo would not hurt them.

Buffaloes don`t belong in the marsh! Any predator could sneak up on them, anytime!  I turned back into a crane. I pressed it three times. An eagle. Four times. A squirrel. By the time it was noon, I had tested a fish, a kestrel, a spoonbill, and too many other animals to count.