A fable by our very own Bella Ealam-Smith

THE FLYING KIWI

“Even if things don’t go to plan never give up on your dreams”

“Nothing is impossible”

Long long ago in the heart of the woodland forest, there lived a small brown kiwi that had the biggest dreams of all.

During the different seasons, Kiwi would sit and watch all the different birds fly together in the sky.

“They all looked so happy”,

he would murmur to himself. Those moments always made Kiwi realise how much he wanted to fly, and that's when Kiwi came up with a marvellous idea! He would plan and create a pair of plane wings that would help him accomplish his dream and reach the sky. But the only problem was that Kiwi wouldn’t be able to do this alone, he would need help from the other animals. So off he went…. Kiwi strided through the forest with a smile so big you would have been able to see it shining from the moon. As he approached the middle of the woodland forest, he found most of his animal friends sitting around a warm fire they had made out of sticks and rocks. Kiwi was so excited to share his idea, he could barely wait to tell his friends.

“Guys, guys! I’ve come up with the most greatest idea” exclaimed Kiwi. The animals stopped talking and stared at Kiwi.

“So…. What is it?”

Asked the Fantail. Kiwi was so ecstatic he almost forgot what he wanted to say.

“I came up with an idea, that I would create a pair of plane wings to help me fly and…..”

“Ahah!” laughed the animals. They wheezed with laughter. “Wh-Whats so funny?” Kiwi said confused.

“Everybody knows kiwis can’t fly!” Snorted the Tuatara.

“Plus you’ve already got a pair of wings that don’t even work,” added Weka. Kiwi felt disheartened and ashamed. He turned around and started walking back.

“That’s impossible! What a silly kiwi thinking he could fly”,

Kiwi heard the animals murmur as he got further and further away.

“Maybe the others are right, what was I thinking?”

Kiwi said frustrated, feeling a tear fall from his face. Just as kiwi was about to give up, a little voice said “I can help you kiwi” Kiwi looked around and there in the corner stood a little Pukeko. Kiwi forced a smile,

“It's ok,” he sniffed, “it was a silly idea anyway.”

“No it wasn’t Kiwi, those animals don’t know anything at all, plus if you don’t try you’ll never know whether it would have worked or not.” The pukeko replied, determined to help kiwi out.

“Let's get to work then”, Kiwi said, smiling at the Pukeko. Kiwi pulled out the plan he had been busy creating for the last few nights, it had how they would create the wings and what materials they would need to find. It would take time, patience, and teamwork to build the wings successfully. As they got to work the pukeko asked Kiwi why he wanted to fly so badly. Kiwi explained that he had always wanted to fly, ever since he was a young Kiwi, he would watch all the birds fly happily together in the sky and wished he could join them every time.

“I guess I just knew that was what I wanted to do since that day.” Kiwi said shyly. The pukeko nodded. The Pukeko and Kiwi worked together until the moon was out that night, it had been a long, tiring day for them both. After hours of work, they finally stopped and Kiwi walked Pukeko back to his home.

They said goodbye and both fell asleep after their long day.

During the night kiwi had a nightmare that his plan went terribly wrong. He and the Pukeko had finished Kiwi’s wings and were sure they were ready for Kiwi to use to achieve his dream of flight. Kiwi slipped on the pair of wings and began to get further and further off the ground, he flew around in glee. Suddenly Kiwi heard a crack and his winds began to come to a stop. He fell from the sky, unable to do anything about it.

“BOOM! CRASH! BAM!”

Everything went black. Kiwi woke up panting with fear.

As Kiwi ate breakfast alone at his table, so many thoughts floated around in his mind. What if his plan didn’t work? What if the nightmare he had last night meant something bad was bound to happen?

Kiwi sighed, confused.

“Knock, knock kiwi. Time to get to work ”, the pukeko said, knocking at Kiwi’s door. Kiwi got out of his seat and opened the skinny red door.

“Morning kiwi!”

The pukeko exclaimed with excitement.

“Morning,”

The Kiwi said with not so much excitement.

“What’s wrong”?

Grinned the pukeko,

“It’s just… What if my plan doesn’t work?”

The kiwi said, sitting back at his table.

“Don’t be silly Kiwi! What’s the worst that could happen anyway?”

Pukeko exclaimed, taking a seat.

“I don’t know, I could fall from the sky”, Kiwi smartly said.

They both went silent.

“Listen here Kiwi, we can either test the wings that we’ve worked hours on or you can just give up and let those other animals be right.”

“But-

“No but’s Kiwi. Are we doing this or not?”

Said the Pukeko.

TheKiwi sat in silence for a minute.

“You’ve gotta take risks Kiwi, and I'm most certain this plan will work for you! Isn’t this what you’ve wanted to do your whole life?”

Pukeko said, breaking the silence.

“You're right Pukeko, it is what I’ve wanted to do and I can’t give up now.” Smiled Kiwi.

“Well then, let's get back to work”

Pukeko said, pushing his seat back in.

Kiwi grabbed the plane wings they had almost finished, out of his tiny cupboard and placed them outside on the forest floor.

Pukeko lifted them up and did a few measurements around Kiwi.

“Alright I think they’re ready to go”, Pukeko smiled.

“Ar-Are you sure?” Nervously said kiwi in a tiny, shaky voice.

“I’m sure Kiwi. You've got nothing to worry about.”