The Lost Egg
Written by
Judie McEwen
www.rogueartistsspeak.blogspot.com
Illustrated by
Dick Rink
www.blog.dickrink.nl
Copyright © 2011
Owl had just awakened from his noon day nap, when
he heard a strange sound. It was a THUMP!
“Whooooo was that?” he wondered. He looked
around from his perch in the trees. No one was in
sight! “Whooooo, “ he asked.
And then he looked with his sharp owl eyes and saw
on the floor of his forest a large white egg!
“Whoooo,” he asked again, but no one answered, so
Owl flew down to take a closer look.
It was indeed an egg, but where had it come from?
As Owl was studying the big beautiful egg, Mole
popped up from beneath the earth.
“Whose egg is this?” asked Owl.
Mole squinted his little eyes, and peered at the egg.
“Maybe it is my egg!” he said.
“Silly Mole!” said Owl. “Moles don’t lay eggs!”
“Oh,” said Mole.“ You are right, Owl. So I suppose it
cannot be my egg.”
“Whose egg is this!” Owl called again. “Whooooo!”
Rabbit heard Owl’s call, so he stopped nibbling on
the little green leaves, and hop, hop, hopped up to
the egg. He wiggled his nose and gave the egg
a sniff.
“This egg might belong to me, “he said, after one
more sniff.
“You know I bring pretty eggs like this one to children
in the spring, and it could be mine!”
“Rabbit,” said Owl, “This egg is not yours. Spring is
over, now, and it is summer in the forest.
This egg belongs to
someone else! Whoooooo?”
Toad heard Owl’s question from his rock in the pond,
and hopped over to investigate. He blinked his large
toad eyes, and gazed at the egg.
“Toads lay eggs!” he announced.
“Toads lay eggs in the pond! This egg could belong
to me!”
Owl looked down at Toad with his wise owl eyes.
“Toad,” he said, “it is true that toads lay eggs in the
pond, but this is not your egg! Toad eggs are very
tiny. This egg is very large.
It is NOT your egg.”
After further examination of the big, beautiful egg,
Toad announced.
“You are right as usual, Owl. This is not my egg.”
Squirrel, who had heard the commotion from his
favorite tree limb, scampered down and began to jump
to and fro around the egg.
“It’s mine, mine, mine!” He chattered loudly.
“Squirrel,” said Owl in his wisest tone, “This egg is as
big as you are! It simply cannot be your egg.”
“Right, right, right you are again, Owl! It is not my
egg!” he chattered, and he quickly scampered back
up to his favorite tree limb to see just who else
would come along to claim the egg.
Badger was wandering through the forest, looking
for his favorite dinner of eggs, when he heard Owl
calling, so he crept over to investigate.
“Hmmm,” he said. “I love eggs!
I was just looking for an egg for my dinner when I
heard your question, Owl. This is MY egg, and I am
going to eat it right now.
“NOOOOO!” cried all the animals.
“This is NOT your egg!”
Suddenly there came from the egg, a tapping sound,
and a tiny crack appeared. The animals were
frightened and slowly backed away. Even Badger
was a little afraid of the strange sound.
“I guess you are right, Owl.” said Badger. “The eggs I
like do not make any sound at all!”
The tapping continued and the cracks began to get
bigger and bigger.
All at once the animals heard a loud swishing
sound from the forest canopy. They looked up in time
to see a large eagle flying down out of the trees.
She landed right by the egg, and her eagle eyes
were sharp and bright.
“Don’t touch that egg!” she cried in a shrill, sharp
voice.”
This is MY egg! I was searching high above the
forest when I heard Owl’s call. A big wind came
along and blew my egg right out of my nest! “
The mother Eagle gently placed her great wings
around the egg, and the tapping became louder and
louder. All at once, the egg popped open, and a
baby eagle rolled out.
He looked up at his mother and cried, “Mama!”
“My baby!” said the Eagle, and the baby and his
mama kissed each other with their beaks.
All of the animals were happy that the mother Eagle
had found her baby, and that the baby Eagle had
found his mother.
“I must get my baby back to my nest,“ said Eagle,
“but I don’t know how I can fly and carry my baby at
the same time!”
Then the wise old Owl spoke up. “I have an idea!”
he said. “I can wrap the baby up in my wings and
climb on your back. Then you can fly the two of us
up to your nest!”
“Excellent idea, Owl!” said the mother Eagle. “But
you must promise not to hurt my baby on the way!”
“I promise!” said Owl, and he wrapped the baby
Eagle in his wings and hopped on the back of the
mother Eagle.
“Here we go!” said the mother Eagle, and she
flapped her large, strong wings and soared high up
into the trees of the forest.
“Good bye, baby Eagle!” cried all the forest animals.
“We are glad your mother found you!”
All the animals were happy, except for the Badger.
“Humph!” he cried. “I almost had the most delicious
dinner!” Then he ran off into the forest, looking for
something else to eat.
END