Every day the magic crow rose at dawn and started pecking worms from the garden lawn. He picked all the crumbs on the garden bird table ... and ate as many caterpillars as a magic crow was able. The magic crow had the a yellow beak 'cos he polished his teeth only once a week. The magic crow loved the flowers a lot and ate all the flowers in the garden flower pots. The magic crow had the sweetest song which he sang all night and all day long. He sang the highest notes - higher than any other bird - it was the sweetest song that the garden had ever heard. And when all his singing and pecking was done, he liked to rest a while and sunbathe in the sun. But nowhere seemed quite comfortable enough ... the grass was wet and the garden shed was full of rakes and gardening stuff. The chimney pot wasn't comfortable at all and his wings got stuck in cement when he tried to sleep on the garden wall. He tried a nest in the garden hedge, but the sparrows complained - they said the the crow's feet made holes in the nest that got their baby birds wet when it rained. He fell off a branch on a tree next door, and landed with a "BUMP !" on the patio floor. The magic crow thought for a while - maybe a well would be a good place to sleep - but it was no good - the field was full of sheep and his feathers soon got covered in mud. A watering can ? or maybe the bird bath but he only bumped his head on the stony path. Along came a scarecrow who noticed him yawning - maybe he'd like to sleep in his coat pocket until morning ? Since the weather was fast becoming colder, up jumped the crow onto the scarecrow's shoulder. Although the scarecrow's coat was worn by the bad weather, it was a nice warm home, in which to rustle down in his feathers. Inside the pocket there wasn't much room at all - the threads had become unravelled and the seams were a little torn. A bunch of keys, two jumping fleas, a handkerchief and crisp crumbs that went "CRUNCH !" - even a left over sandwich from the scarecrow's ploughman's lunch. The magic crow was soon fast asleep - despite the noise, the pocket was deep. He snored and snored ... quite unusual for a bird ... the magic crow's snoring was the loudest the farmyard had ever heard. Suddenly the crow woke up with a start ... the cockerel was crowing and the scarecrow's hand pulled the pocket apart. Out the magic crow fell into the soil ...when the scarecrow almost trod on him with his Wellington boots it made his blood boil ! The magic crow started crowing out loud ... and soon his crowing started drawing a crowd. Before long, there was a mound of ants and a hundred caterpillars crawling up the scarecrow's pants ! Because the scarecrow was made of straw - it tickled him profusely, made the scarecrow roar and fall onto the floor ! His happy giggling was really quite infectious and made his belly ache ... the scarecrow laughed so much he kept the whole farm awake. Soon all the other birds flying overhead, came to see what the commotion was ... and why the scarecrow was going so red. The sight of the scarecrow was so funny, that soon they also started to titter ... the crow laughed so much when he opened his beak, he dropped a worm and couldn't find it for a week. The scarecrow's picnic was the funniest in years ... it even left the farmer laughing as he pruned the hedge with garden shears. Every time the scarecrow laughed, his floppy hat fell off his head and left the crow without a bed.
© Jacqueline Richards 2007
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