Turkeys in Snow ©Bryant Olsen Flickr
Reginald’s Second Christmas ~ by Emma Foster
Christmastime was coming in the forest and Reginald had to prepare all of the turkeys for the heavy winter that was about to arrive. Already flakes of snow were falling onto the ground and the wind was cold. Fortunately, snow meant that there wouldn’t be any hunters around. The turkeys hoped that the winter wouldn’t be as bad as before when they lived closer to the hunters. Luckily, they had been able to travel deeper into the forest early before Thanksgiving to get away from all the hunters.
As the snow began to fall harder, Reginald made sure that the forts he and the other turkeys were building were ready for Christmas. They had made the forts out of different sized tree branches to make three walls and a roof to keep them from the cold wind because there was no time to build forts underground with the snow. Reginald soon found out that Oliver needed some help building his fort because Oliver kept knocking his branches over accidentally. Eventually Reginald had to build Oliver’s fort for him because Oliver kept knocking over the branches whenever he tried to help.
To prevent Oliver from doing any more damage, Reginald brought him farther into the woods in order to look for berries and acorns for the winter. The turkeys Reginald brought with him used their army helmets, which they used to protect themselves, to gather up the acorns and berries to take home. Because Oliver had lost his in the river on the way to their new home at Thanksgiving, Reginald let him borrow his own helmet to use.
Turkey in Snow ©SABaking
At one point, the turkeys came to the river they had crossed before that hadn’t yet frozen over in the winter. Reginald watched as Oliver wandered close to the edge, and before Reginald could stop him Oliver dropped the helmet into the river and the helmet drifted away.
Reginald just shook his head and hopped down the river to try to catch his helmet. But the water rushed faster than he thought it would, and soon Reginald was far away from the other turkeys. Reginald finally found his helmet hanging on a stray branch that leaned over the water, but next to it was another helmet, which Reginald guessed was Oliver’s because he had lost it on the way to their new dwelling.
Turkey Track in Snow ©WikiC
Reginald took both of the helmets home and made sure that Oliver didn’t see his old one. Eventually the snow began to fall hard so the turkeys had to stay in their forts. But on Christmas morning Reginald built a fire to melt the snow away so the turkeys could exchange their Christmas presents. Most of the presents were made out of branches to make rakes so each of the turkeys could keep the snow out of their forts. But Reginald gave Oliver his old helmet back as a Christmas present. Oliver was so happy he accidentally knocked over his fort again. Reginald just shook his head.
In the end the turkeys were very happy in their new homes, even though there was a lot of snow in that part of the forest. Fortunately, that meant that no hunters were nearby. But even though no hunters were seen Oliver still wore his helmet everywhere, at least until he dropped it in the river again for Reginald to retrieve.
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“How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?” (Job 26:2 KJV)
“They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.” (Isaiah 41:6 KJV)
Lee’s Addition:
Emma, that is another great story in the life of Reginald. He is proving himself to be quite a leader and a helper to those in need. Especially, Oliver.
Keep up the great articles. We are all enjoying them as your writing just keeps improving. Lord’s Blessings as you finish up your Senior Year in High School in just a few more months.
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Reginald The Turkey Commander – Part 3
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Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus 