A Potential Candidate for Man's Best Friend:

It was a bright day. Though storm clouds lingered in the distance. And as the leaves of the trees began to rustle with the gentle touch of the wind, he gripped at the grooves in the wood of the park bench he was seated on. He came to this park every day. For some reason, he found more solace, more comfort in the connections he made with the animals here than with other human beings. Some people said he was strange, a real gem of a man. If you ask me, I think there was more to it than that. I think there was something in his past, something he was not revealing to the people he met that he wasn’t dealing with. His wife had died years ago. His children were all grown up now and living on their own. And now, he was where his heart took him every day. He would bring a freshly purchased bag of whole wheat bread down to the lake to feed the birds. On generous days, he would buy them bird seed. He lifted his head from his lap and examined the many Mallard Ducks, the Canadian Geese, which had come to share in his banquet. Glancing quickly across the birds, he flung a handful of crumbled bread into the grass in front of them. They all sprang forward and tried to eat their fill. This man would always pick out the ones from the flocks that seemed to be pushed aside, the hurt, the neglected. Though of course, there was enough bread for every one of them. And he would ensure that before he left, every bird would be fed. And so it was today that as he came marching up the parking lot path towards the grassy beach, the heads of the birds swung about upon hearing the shuffle of the bag in his hands. He was about half finished the bread in his bag when he stopped for a moment, collected himself and sat forward on the bench. He neatly closed the bag of bread and placed it under his arms. His eyes allowed themselves to shut and he withdrew from his pocket, a little humble rosary. He would pray for twenty or thirty minutes with the comforting din of birds picking at the grass and shifting about with their webbed feet in the grass. When he opened his eyes, he glanced around. Most of the birds had dispersed, all returned to the water. There were a couple, wading about in shallow water. One goose, though, he noticed as he turned about on the bench, had nestled up in the grass next to him and seemed to be waiting for him to continue with his feeding. He examined the goose and moved his hand toward it slowly. The goose allowed the man to pet its wing feathers. As his hand moved across the feathers, the eyes of the goose gently closed. The man reached across the table of the bench and grabbed the bag of bread. The goose stood. As well, the heads of all of the other birds shifted attention back to him. The goose, the man could tell, was very frightened when it stood. It was a contrast to when it had been comfortable and laying down. The man moved his hand again toward it but it let out a deep hiss and sheltered its head. The man could discern that part of the beak of the goose was broken off and, through that part of the missing beak, he could discern that the goose was missing half of its tongue. The man withdrew his hand when it hissed and took a piece of bread. He broke it into pieces and went to hand a piece to this goose. But the goose ducked its head again and hissed. The man took a couple of bread pieces and placed them an inch apart from each other on the bench next to him. The goose reached for these pieces and swallowed them one by one. The goose became energized and as the other birds made their way up the beach, this goose seemed to dance back and forth on each leg. The man continued to feed it, ignoring the other birds for a while. After a while, the goose began to settle down and sauntered away. The mallard ducks all came up to him next. At that moment, off in the water, a goose charged another goose and bit into it a bit. They both disappeared for a moment under the water, only leaving ripples in the wake. They each emerged then. One sped away, skimming across the water like a chucked stone. The other, its head emerged with a mouthful of feathers. The man refocussed his attention on the ducks. The ones at the back, those furthest from him, he made a point of throwing handfuls of bread to. Until, through the creek, which led further inland, came a mother duck and her chicks. The collected ducks ruffled their feathers and shook their heads, knowing that when young ones were here, they would be the ones who would get all of the attention. And so, scrambling towards him, the ducks and a couple of geese waddled across the area, looking for pieces that had been missed. The man couldn’t move his feet because a goose had perched itself atop one of them in an effort to reach across his lap for the bread as it came out of the bag. All of a sudden, a group of chicks came running across the grass and looked up at him, their mother not far behind. The man cooed and he reached out his hand to offer them some bread from his hands. The mother duck rushed forward and cawed in an inaudible manner while the chicks scattered. The chicks returning, this time more courageously, the man placed some bread in front of his feet and watched as the chicks devoured it. The man fed the chicks for a while and then they ran away after their mother. And noticing one duck in particular who kept being charged and who seemed to be an outcast, he aimed his throw towards it. And throwing the bread, the wind caught it. A duck to the right of this one caught the bread. The man was not discouraged. He aimed another throw towards this duck. And throwing it, the duck wasn’t able to reach it before another duck snatched it from under it. The man was impressed by the determination of this duck. It still kept its head high and sniffed at the air as the man lifted his hand to throw another piece of bread. And throwing the bread, the duck wasn’t able to turn around in the water before another duck got the piece. The man remained firm in his desire to give bread to those who seemed less able or less fortunate. And throwing another piece of bread, the crumb hit the bird in the nose. It bounced a couple of inches in front of it but the bird was able to snatch it before any others came. The man rejoiced and cried out happily. From the open water, a couple of beautiful swans approached. And as they got closer, the man could tell that there were a couple of young swans with them. The man continued to feed the ducks in front of him until he noticed that the swans were having some difficulty getting over a little wooden barrier in the water. And so spotting an opening in the barrier, the man walked over to the opening, throwing pieces of bread toward the swans. The swans followed him until they found the opening. The man returned to his seat on the bench and watched the swans as they awkwardly hobbled onto the grass. The young swans followed. The swans approached him, one sizing him up, in a way, intimidating him. He would not allow himself to be intimidated and knew that if he remained seated and continued to be calm, they would not view him as a threat. He fed the swans, first by placing the pieces of bread in front of them. At first, one of the swans kept nipping at the pant leg of the man and hissing but the man wouldn’t hear it. He kept throwing the pieces in front of this swan. Then the young swans waddled up and nestled into the grass next to his feet. The older swans eyed him carefully. The man lay down some bread next to the young swans and watched with delight as they gobbled the pieces up. The man reached out his hand and offered the young ones some bread from his hand. The older swans seemed to permit it. One of the older swans approached and bent its knees before him. The man stroked its wings and fed it. The bird took the bread from his hands. At that moment, the birds scattered. As though a gust of wind that arose from their quick flight had been their reason for scattering, the man’s head turned and he saw a dog rushing up the trail. The birds were able to get into the water before the dog approached. The air was fill with the din of anxious quacks and squawks. Another man followed the dog and looked around calmly. This man paid no attention to the older man on the bench. Instead, he called his dog and threw a stick into the water. The dog chased after it. The older man, a little upset by the fact that this man had interrupted his meal with his friends, simply sighed and collected his bread. He returned home. - From my Book Fables of Good Will.