The Stork’s Delivery

Hi there! I am a baby donkey. I live in Mountain Grove, Ontario.

My owners were expecting the stork to deliver me sometime in the middle of winter. Why did I wait so long, then? Actually, it wasn’t my fault. It was the stork’s fault.

Just after Christmas, I was on Donkey Island. Donkey Island is the place where all baby donkeys stay until the stork comes to pick them up to deliver them to their proper homes.

A stork landed on Donkey Island around the end of January. All of us babies were very excited. We knew that one of us would be leaving.

“Baby Donkey Number 2001,” the stork called out. “Come on little one. Your mother is in Mountain Grove, Ontario, waiting for you.”

“Mountain Grove,” I exclaimed happily. “That’s me! I’m going home!”

“Hop in,” said the stork.

I hopped into the white sheet that hung from the storks mouth. We were on our way!

“Oh hold on, little one,” said the stork while we were flying over the ocean. “The wind is pretty wicked. I don’t know if we are going to make it!”

“But we have to make it!” I cried. “My mom is waiting for me!”

A big gust of wind tore through the sheet, almost knocking it out of the stork’s mouth.

“Wow!” exclaimed the stork. “That was a close one.”

Out of the corner of the sheet I could see land in front of us.

“Are we in Mountain Grove, yet?” I asked.

“No, we aren’t,” the stork laughed. “This is only British Columbia.”

“British Columbia!” I exclaimed. “Where is that?”

“British Columbia is on the west coast of Canada,” said the stork. “Mountain Grove is in Ontario, Canada. We are still a long way from home, yet.”

“Oh,” I said sadly.

“Did you know that there is a famous Canadian singer living in British Columbia?” the stork asked me.

“No, I didn’t,” I replied.

“Well,” said the stork. “Billy Troll lives right around here, somewhere. Maybe we should stop in to see him. I think we need a break, anyway. What do you think?”

As much as I wanted to go home and see my mother, I was getting a little air sick. I thought that stopping by to see Billy for a few hours wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.

The stork found the ranch that Billy lives on. It sure was a beautiful ranch, too! It just so happened that Billy was sitting on his front porch, reading the newspaper when we arrived.

“A stork!” exclaimed Billy to himself as he put his newspaper down. “What the devil is going on! I’m not expecting the stork yet!”

Billy walked out into the field, where the stork had hastily landed.

“My! My!” exclaimed Billy as he looked me in the eye. “What have we here?”

I was a bit restless from my flight, so I tried to stand up. My legs were a bit wobbly.

“Here, little one,” said Billy as he helped me stand up.

I gave him a little nudge on his cheek.

“Aren’t you cute!” he exclaimed. “You sure are different though. Look at those long floppy ears! You must be a donkey. They are the only animals that have ears like that!”

Billy and I romped around the field together for quite sometime. I was having so much fun that I had forgotten all about the stork.

“If you are looking for your friend,” said Billy when he noticed that I wasn’t concentrating on our playing any longer. “He left.”

“Left!” I cried. “But how am I going to get home? I want Mommy!”

“It’s okay, little one,” Billy whispered in my ear. “I’ll make sure that you get home, but it is going to take a little while.”

Billy was a very nice man. I enjoyed every minute that I spent with him. We became very good friends.

“Hey little one,” said Billy to me one afternoon when he got home from a long day at the recording studio. “Tomorrow is the day that you are going home.”

I was both happy and sad! As much as I wanted to go home to meet Mommy, I was going to miss my new friend.

Bright and early the next morning, Billy and I hopped aboard an airplane. The plane ride was a lot better than the ride I had had with that stork! We landed in Toronto on May 12. That was the saddest day of my life. I had to say goodbye to my friend.

“Goodbye, little one,” said Billy sadly. “I’m going to miss you. I’ve got a stork lined up to take you to Mountain Grove. I’d go with you, but I don’t want to miss the hockey game tonight. It’s the playoffs. I’m sure you understand!”

I nudged Billy on the cheek and he wrapped his arms around my neck.

“Good-bye little one,” he said.

Billy walked out of the airport and I saw him getting into a limo.

“Bye Billy!” I shouted after him.

As soon as the limo had pulled out into the traffic, I saw a stork waiting for me. Believe it or not, it was the same stork that I had flown with before.

“Well, look at that!” the stork exclaimed when he recognized me. “You haven’t gone to see your Mommy yet! Come on, little one. We’ve got to get you home!”

Saturday, May 14, I arrived in Mountain Grove. Boy, was my Mommy ever relieved to see me. She wasn’t the only one, either. My new owners were relieved to see me, too!

The best thing of all is that I couldn’t have picked a better place to live. I probably won’t ever get to see Billy again, but I can listen to his music all the time. My owners are a big fan of Billy’s.