The Great Corn Battle At The Old Barn

Farmer MacGregor’s farm was a quiet place. He and his daughter Pearl had four pigs, five chickens, two cows, and a horse named Wednesday. They also had four ducks that hung out by the pond named Bonnet, Bitty, Benny, and Beau. One day the ducks were crossing behind the farmhouse to get to their pond. The television was on and Farmer MacGregor and Pearl sat watching the news. The ducks enticed by the television, stopped by the open window.

Beau, the tallest duck stood on Benny’s shoulders so he could see. The other ducks tried to listen to the broadcast through the open window. The well-dressed TV announcer said that due to the weather, farms across the country would be experiencing a corn shortage. That is how the debacle began.

“A corn shortage!” Beau said to Benny.

“There will be less corn!” Benny whispered to Bitty.

Bitty gasped and explained to Bonnet, “There will be no more corn!”

Bonnet immediately panicked and started running around. She knocked into Benny who dropped Beau and the ducks fell in a clatter and quack. Pearl heard a noise. She looked out the window and saw the ducks waddling towards the old barn.

The ducks liked it when Pearl sat at the pond after dinner fed them corn. Now all that would stop because there would be no more corn. The ducks knew they had to formulate a plan. They made their way to the old run-down barn to tell the other animals. They told the cows who were not sure why the ducks were bothering them. They could eat more grass if they needed to. Wednesday the horse had a variety of oats and other grains in her diet, She whinnied at the ducks and called them silly.

The pigs however took the ducks very seriously. We eat a lot of corn said Oscar, the pig leader. We will have to protect the cornfield and make sure that no other animals eat our precious corn. This attitude worried the ducks, now they had competition for what they thought of as their corn. A chicken overheard the conversation in the barn and piped up.

“Hey! we need corn too! “As you know chickens are always a bit peckish.

The ducks panicked and ran out to the cornfield, the Pigs and chickens followed them.

The cornfield stood right behind the old red barn. It was a medium-size cornfield and was growing green leafy stalks of corn. The ducks got to the cornfield first and turned to face the drove of pigs and the flock of hens. They knew they were outnumbered, but they stood their ground bravely.

“We should get the corn! It counts as sixty percent of our diet,” said Oscar the pig.

“Everyone knows that chickens eat corn, so the corn should be ours!” said the lead hen.

Bonnet exclaimed, “We heard about the shortage first so it should be ours!”

The animals advanced on each other and feathers started to fly.

At that moment Pearl was walking to the old barn to feed the animals. She saw the fracas. The news report had worried her too, but she knew a secret the animals didn’t know. She ran to the cornfield.

Pearl yelled, “What are you doing?”

That took the animals by surprise. She got to them before they could start fighting again. A hen was sitting on Oscar’s head ready to peck. Bonnet had a chicken by the tail feathers. Another pig had Beau by the wing. Feathers were everywhere. Pearl separated the animals. She petted the pigs and unruffled duck and chicken feathers. She threw some cornmeal on the ground and everyone began eating. She looked at the ducks.

”You have been watching the news through the window, haven’t you? I know the corn shortage is scary but when things frighten us, we have to work together to make things better. Being selfish and fighting never solves anything. Come with me!”

Pearl got up and led the animals to a large shiny building. She opened a little door on the side of the big metal building. The animals smelled sweet delicious corn. The entire building was full of corn. There was enough for everyone.

Pearl smiled at them, “This is called a silo and we store corn in here in case there is a shortage.” The animals breathed a sigh of relief and headed happily back towards the barn as friends. Pearl gave each one a kiss or a pat on the head as they left. Animals are so weird, Pearl thought to herself as she headed back to the house.

Sometimes the ducks still can be seen guarding the corn. It makes a nice quiet break from the pond. They love to swim, but guarding the corn makes them feel like an integral part of the farm. They aren’t worried about running out of corn. They know the secret. Now the ducks are guarding the corn for everyone on the farm.