A Goose's life.

This is a work of fiction, though I do gather my ideas from caring for and interacting with my geese that I rescued.

A Goose life. By Rev. Edward C. McClelland.

This is a work of fiction, though I do gather my ideas from caring for and interacting with my geese that I have rescued. The method, I mostly have used over the years is that I scan local advertisements looking for Geese. Some keep them as pets, others raise them for meat. One such person asked me, how I want to goose, Defeathered, or frozen? My reply was, that I want them alive and breathing . That has never been a problem with people as even the people that raise them for meat, often get attached to them as they are very nice creatures to interact with. They all each have their own personalities and they show many emotions that humans show, and they communicate them with honks when distressed or hungry and they show affection with rubbing up to other Geese and occasionally to me who they regard as the bringer of sustenance and protection and they sound greetings when I arrive home and know me apart from any other human being.~ Edward.

Chapter 1. My name is Gabriel. I was given this name in honor of the great Angel Gabriel, because of my wingspan. Most of us were born into captivity and brought together, by the one we now call Father. Most of the places from whence we came were places of eventual death, long before we would be taken from this dimension, and on to the next. All us geese were hatched in a pen and closely guarded by our parents against all would-be predators. Christmas of all days was the saddest time of the year for Geese. One of us would be picked by the two-legged ones, also known as humans, to die each year on this day. This was a day of evil for us, and we knew not the reason for it. Who was this "Jesus" and why did his followers practice hatred and violence towards us, and other non-humans? Why did these humans follow it?

Big Jim Gander was a large goose of African descent, He loved his mate and his little goslings and was constantly worried for their safety. He had known his, one and only mate since they themselves were goslings and there seemed no escape for them from this evil day and he couldn’t understand why it had to be.

One day things changed. The male human, that normally came and brought food and water and would come annually to kill one goose on December 24th was absent, and for days, no one brought food or water and it seemed like it would be a sad and horrific end for this entire community. Big Jim worried for his mate and his little babies and he would tell them to think of good things, every evening before they went to sleep.

His wife was a Chinese bred goose who was very loyal to him and when she hatched her young ones, Jim was both very proud and very protective of them and in quiet moments he would pray for peace and for happiness for them. On the third day of this event most were noisily carrying on with nasal honks of hunger and thirst It was now evening, and darkness permeated the goose pen and Jim wondered about the future days and tried to have some hope and thought that perhaps, even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise.

The following morning a different two-legged came and started talking kindly to the entire population of Geese. No one trusted him and he attempted to catch each one of us for transport to a new home. He chased us around the pen until he caught us all one at a time. He continued talking kindly, repeatedly, telling us not to worry and that he would take good care of us and would never, ever hurt any of us. He loaded us all up into cages, and we traveled very far. It took many months before any of us trusted this two-legged. He only showed us kindness and referred to himself as our father and showed us all caring and love, which was something none of us were used to.

Chapter 2. Getting to know the new neighborhood. It seems whenever things are going well, there is someone who tries to upset things and we had to learn all over again as to who we could trust and who to be careful of and avoid. The two legged that we now called father had thought of our security and placed large boulders around our home to prevent any violent creatures from digging their way in. That did not stop the big Raccoon along with some smaller followers, who we all had watched appear from the distant woods on the western side of the land from digging and attempting to move one of the rocks to gain entrance. After several failed attempts to move a rock, we all stood and honked and told them to go away for their own good. Then said the large Racoon to us, “If you surrender yourself to us and allow us to consume your brains, then you will become part of us, having adventures that you can now only dream of.” Big Jim Gander, disgusted by the big Racoon’s attempts of persuasion, tried to answer him, but Luciano Goose chimed right in, saying “When our father, who is a two-legged, sees you, he will put forth his special hand that sends death and he will take your lives and then he will hang you all from the tree with a vine, as a warning to all other predators like yourself and as an embarrassment to you. That is what you will get if you attempt to break into our home. The big Raccoon now realized that we would not be easy pickings and he and his smaller flunkies then left but were still trying to plan a future way into the Geese pen.

One morning after hearing the most blood curdling scream, into view came a large creature that looked like a weasel. He was a male and was known as a Fisher. He had large sharp looking teeth that looked like they belonged to a larger creature. He also had large, long claws and he crawled along at a fast pace, close to the ground. Without warning, the creature threw himself hard against the chain-link fence, like it was expecting to go right through it. Pain did not seem to be a bother to the creature, and he let out another aggressive blood curdling scream directed at all the geese and especially at Big Jim Gander, attempting to unnerve everyone.

He then said “You can still die when the sun is shining.” Then Big Jim Gander spoke to Fisher, saying, “I have heard stories of creatures like you, and I am well prepared for you. You are an abhorrent, earth walking demon and a probable creation of the Archons. You only know killing and you will even despicably eat your own young when you are able. You neither love nor are loved and you only exist to do harm to others. Our father constantly has his eyes out looking for you and will kill you without hesitation. Fisher Cat replied, I have no fear and I do what I must, and I have seen the female of the two-legged human named Donna and I have even cornered her. The sweet smell of her fear still lingers in my nostrils and her fright was a perfect delight to me, and she barely got away from me. Next time, I will get her. Suddenly Angel Goose, who is a small beautiful white goose who through no fault of her own developed a condition known as Angel Wing from too much protein in her diet as a Gosling, chimed in and said to Fisher Cat, we all know how evil you are, but I still kneel and pray for you every evening before I go to sleep, because, I do believe that there must be some goodness in you.

Brenda Goose then retorted, saying, “Do not give this creature the benefit of the doubt and automatically think that there is some goodness in one. Some, even among the two-legged, are born evil and vicious, and then said, you not only have to fear our father, but you must fear his four-legged soldiers, known as German Shepherds. They are large with long noses, have four legs, run very fast and have large, razor, sharp teeth and without fail do whatever father bids them to do and if they even see you, my friend, you will be gone like the snows of yesteryear. Fisher then retreated nosily back to the Woodline, promising to return.

Days went by with no intrusions by predators and daily our father would visit us, talk with us, and feed us. We started to feel comfortable.

I have always been known as the most spiritual of the group and I try not to be envious of the wild geese that fly overhead and we often will call out to them and them to us. Geese that fly, do so in a V-formation, making their journey easier.

When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the wing and another goose takes the lead, ensuring everyone shares the burden. Although we seldom fly over five feet in the air, we like to see ourselves in that perspective, doing what we need to do to protect one another. Occasionally one or two of the wild geese will land near us and we have a nice conversation.

I always attempt to resolve matters in the most peaceful manner possible, and sought to help guide the community to a peaceful existence. A task, that was not easy, considering the gale of sorrow that this entire group has been through.

This is a work in progress and there is more to follow. ~ Rev. Edward C McClelland 09/18/2023