30 Days, 30 Stories: "Thump and Thud find an Egg"

Thump and Thud find an Egg

by Sarah E. Southerland

2010 copyright; author retains all rights to the story. Please do not use the story without the author's permission

Because Thump and Thud were too big to fly like their sister, they decided to keep living in the nest with their parents. When Mama and Daddy bird couldn't fit in the nest with them, they built another nest on the branch above.

Every morning Thump and Thud jumped off the edge of their nest and dropped down, down, down until they landed on the ground with a thump and a thud. They shook themselves off and went hunting for food.

One morning, Thump found an egg. It was an odd egg-- not white, not blue, but a strange shiny pink color.

"Look, Thud," he said. "I found an egg!"

"What a weird egg." Thud looked carefully at it. "Look! It's got a crack around the middle."

"What should we do with it?"

"Let's take it back to the nest so it won't hatch on the ground."

Together, Thump and Thud pushed the egg up the tree to their nest. Thump took the first turn sitting on the egg. Then Thud took a turn. All day long they sat on the egg, but nothing happened.

"Maybe tomorrow," said Thump.

But nothing happened the next day either.

"Maybe it's not warm enough," said Thud. "Help me sit on it."

Thump climbed up next to Thud. Immediately, the egg creaked and cracked and then split in half.

"Whoa!" Thud and Thump said as they jumped off.

Inside the egg was a red and green striped worm.

"I didn't know worms laid pink eggs," said Thud.

"Me neither," agreed Thump.

"Wonder what it tastes like?" asked Thud.

Thump slowly reached down and tried to take a bite, but nothing came off in his beak. He tried again. Still nothing.

"Let me help," said Thud. They bit and scratched until the worm was completely gone.

"That was a weird worm," said Thump.

"But tasty," added Thud.

They looked at the egg then at each other.

"Let's got find another one," said Thump.

"Alright!" said Thud.

(This is a story I wrote for the picture book marathon in February.)