Sharon the Quail

Sharon the quail sat cozily within the dark wooden cupboard that smelled of coffee beans and sunflower seeds. She had been there for a few days now, and so far, the family living in the cabin hadn’t noticed her. 

Ki, her sister, had warned her not to go in. “Humans are much too dangerous to be around,” she had said. “Remember those chickens in that pen? They go out and steal their eggs and eat them every morning. And if they’re extra hungry, they’ll eat the chickens too. They’ll do the same to you!”

At first, Sharon had listened. After all, she didn’t want to be gobbled up by humans. It wouldn’t be a dignified way for a quail to die. But when the snow fell, and the green fields became white, and the trees became bare, she had grown tired of waiting for the warmth of spring. 

Being outside was fine. She didn’t freeze to death, and if she was cold, she could always cuddle with the other quails. But she hated snow. She hated having to scavenge for seeds buried beneath it. The work was exhausting. And she didn’t much like cuddling up with everyone else. She much preferred to be alone.

In this little house, she could eat to her heart’s content. The sunflower seeds in a nearby sack were delicious. There was a fireplace that warmed the whole house so she didn’t need to cuddle with anyone. Here, she could live like a queen until winter was over, and once the wonderful spring had returned, she would sneak back out when no humans were around and enjoy the sunshine. She would tell her sister and her cousins and her neighbors about her cozy living, and how she didn’t have to worry about scavenging like a normal quail. 

That night, Sharon went to sleep, dreaming of spring and it’s sunlight. 

Little Tommy, the little boy living in the cabin with his parents, was also dreaming. He was dreaming of getting sunflower seeds for a midnight snack. He slipped out of his bed covers, crept into the kitchen, and opened the cupboard. To his surprise, there was a quail sleeping right next to the sack of sunflower seeds, which was now half empty. 

He stared at the quail and fumed. Those sunflower seeds were his! How did it get in? Then he remembered. He had left the window open a few days before. It must’ve gotten in when they were out. 

He gently closed the door and went back upstairs. That quail would make a fine dinner. He’d tell his parents about the quail tomorrow. He didn’t want to wake them up. Besides, that quail wasn’t going anywhere so long as it was comfy.

Sharon continued to dream that she was walking in a green field. Her sister and her cousins and the other quails ran to her from some bushes and asked her where she’d been. She ruffled her feathers with pride and told them how she had cleverly sneaked into the cabin and stayed in a cupboard eating sunflower seeds and waited there until spring came. 

She waited for their oohs and aahs of amazement. Instead the quails looked mortified at something behind her, their beaks agape. They all ran away back into the bushes. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her. She struggled and squirmed but she couldn’t get free. 

Sharon awoke. A nightmare! A horrible nightmare. Her eyes widened. She was no longer in the cupboard. She was being held in the air by a little boy, with freckles all over his face, and a wide, satisfied grin. Two other humans, the boy’s parents, looked at her perplexingly. 

“See, Pa and Ma? A quail!” Tommy said. “She’s been eating all my sunflower seeds.”

Pa scratched his head. “Well, I’ll be.”

Ma laughed. “Unbelievable.”

“Can we eat her, Ma?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Tommy looked back at Sharon smugly. “That’s what you get for eating my sunflower seeds!”

Sharon squirmed and screeched. “Let me go! Let me go!” 

But no one heeded her. Tommy flung her into the pen with their chickens to save her for dinner. The chickens were huddled together on a pile of hay beneath a heat lamp. Sharon huddled with them, her head hung low. 

The sunflower seeds and coffee beans that had tasted ao delicious now made her stomach bitter. She would not have to be in the snow huddling with the other quails, or in the warm cupboard by herself, as she waited for spring anymore. She would have to be in the chicken pen huddling with the chickens as she waited for dinner time that night.