The Boy Who Cried...ROOSTER! 🐓

Have you heard the Aesop’s fable about the boy who cried wolf? This week’s story is a retelling of that fable about the risks of raising false alarms – in this case, not knowing how you’ll actually react to something scary until it happens. 

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Written, performed, and produced for you by Claire Krendl Gilbert. Thanks to my daughters for their assistance playing and singing the intro and outro!

©2024 Claire Krendl Gilbert. All rights reserved.

Transcript

00:00:14

Hi friends, welcome to Foggy Oak Fairy tales, a stories podcast for all ages where we tell farm stories from real life happenings on Foggy Oak Farm, as well as fantasy tales to spark, both learning and imagination.

00:00:32

I'm so glad you're here.

00:00:37

Have you heard the Aesop's fable about the boy who cried wolf?

00:00:42

This week's story is a retelling of that Fable about the risks of raising false alarms in this case of not knowing how you'll actually react to something scary until it happens.

00:00:56

Tim loved visiting his uncle's farm.

00:00:59

He and his family lived in a tidy house on a tidy St. in a tidy town where nothing much ever happened. Tim went to school. His parents went to their jobs, picked him up, they had dinner, and the next day started it all again.

00:01:16

It was a fine life as far as that went, but Tim found it boring. So he found ways to make it more interesting.

00:01:24

Covering every object in a neighbors fridge in googly eyes, hilarious hiding, small plastic frogs all over his sister's room. Delightful. Covering door knobs with honey so unthinking neighbors were slimed with the sticky surprise when they went into their houses.

00:01:44

Oh, the reactions were too funny for words.

00:01:49

But that was nothing compared to the farm.

00:01:53

Tim's favorite prank when he and his parents went out to the farm was to find the farms Rooster, a small, fluffy black, silky rooster that barely came up to his calf.

00:02:04

And start screaming Rooster attack help as loud as he could in an increasingly more terrified voice until his whole family and anyone working at the farm came running to rescue him. He had to act scared of a little rooster, of course.

00:02:24

But that was easy enough. He was good at pretending.

00:02:30

After the third time he'd played this trick, his mother pulled him aside.

00:02:36

It's clear to everyone that you are in no danger from that Rooster, and that it's never attacked you even one time. If you keep pretending to be attacked and scared, eventually, no one will believe you. And should you ever actually get attacked, they might not come worse.

00:02:57

You never know how you'll actually react when something like that happens. It could be bad. I'm asking you nicely to stop it. This kind of thing isn't funny.

00:03:09

Tim had heard some version of this lecture after every one of his pranks and didn't pay it much attention.

00:03:16

They went home and he plotted eagerly for his next visit, which came the following weekend.

00:03:22

They arrived at the farm on a sunny fall morning and the grown up scattered to help out with various chores and spend time doing what Tim liked. Least of all talking and talking about nothing.

00:03:35

His sister had already disappeared with his cousins and he found himself alone in the barnyard that.

00:03:41

Was perfect. Tim sought out the little rooster prepared to act afraid and start his screaming act as usual, but this time the rooster actually looked angry. It lowered its head menacingly and started to flap its wings when Tam walked up to it. And then it charged at him.

00:04:03

In that moment, all rational thought flew from Thames.

00:04:08

After all, what could a tiny little rooster like that actually do?

00:04:12

Not much, but Tim's fear response kicked in and a surge of terror coursed through him as the little rooster charged at him. He jumped backwards with a startled hey.

00:04:26

But before he could gather his wits, the rooster ran at him again, this time flapping its wings harder as it took off and started flying up at him, furiously squawking and scolding.

00:04:42

Its fierce and angry eyes were barely visible beneath its abundant tuft of feathers, but its sharp beak made pecking motions as it flew screaming at him.

00:04:54

That it was angry was perfectly clear.

00:04:59

Tim opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. His body felt absolutely frozen to the spot. His vocal chords as locked and tight as if a hand was squeezing his throat. He couldn't move, he couldn't scream, he couldn't call.

00:05:19

For help.

00:05:22

Just before the rooster reached him, he managed to will his body to move. The barnyard was pretty open, and the rooster was fast.

00:05:32

Thinking quickly, though not very clearly, Tim decided to make for a gate into.

00:05:37

One of the pastures.

00:05:39

Heart racing, he forced his legs to unlock and run to the.

00:05:42

Gate, but the enraged Rooster was right on top of him the entire time, coming alarmingly close to kicking him with its fuzzy legs and pecking him with that sharp black beak.

00:05:55

He let out a terrified please.

00:05:58

He didn't know if he was begging the rooster or his own body. He clumsily hoisted himself onto the first rung of the gate, but it wasn't high enough. The rooster squawked at him and flew up, kicking his shoe. It didn't hurt, but it did make sure he stayed scared.

00:06:15

Tim felt his whole body shaking as he forced himself to climb up higher, finally managing to seat himself on top of the gate with a leg on either side, trying to keep himself and his legs as high up as possible to avoid more kicks and attempted packs. He didn't stop shaking when he got to the top of the gate.

00:06:36

And his voice was still gone. He couldn't get out more than a.

00:06:40

Horse help please help.

00:06:44

As the rooster circled below him, his eyes pricked and then tears came rushing down his cheeks as he tried to get his voice to work.

00:06:54

After a few minutes, which felt like a literal eternity to the poor, terrified Tim, the rooster lost interest and wandered back to his hens. But Tim didn't trust this.

00:07:06

He was afraid.

00:07:07

That if he climbed down the rooster would come back for.

00:07:10

Him. So he clung to the gate, crying and shivering with fear.

00:07:15

Luckily for Tim, his mother came out of the house at that moment to check on him.

00:07:20

When she saw him across the barnyard clinging to the top of the farm gate, as if his life depended on it, she ran across to him.

00:07:28

Tim, what happened?

00:07:31

She cried as she saw his tears streaked face and shaking body.

00:07:35

Tim shook his head, too scared to talk and too scared to let go.

00:07:40

Oh, my darling. Come here. She called and held out her arms to him, carefully gathering him off the gate into a warm embrace. You're safe. You're safe, she told him. Won't you please tell me what happened?

00:07:55

Tim found that he could manage a whisper.

00:07:58

The rooster, he gasped. The rooster attacked me and I was too scared. I was. I was too scared to call for help.

00:08:08

Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. Sometimes we don't know how our bodies will react when we get really scared or upset. It can be an unpleasant surprise during something that's already upsetting.

00:08:20

She hugged him close and stroked his hair.

00:08:23

And it looks like the rooster really did go after you this time, huh?

00:08:28

He did. I wish I'd never pretended before. He probably thought I really was scared of him and he could chase me, and now I really am scared of him, Tim moaned.

00:08:40

I think his mother replied that we've learned it's not good to cry Rooster.

00:08:47

We'll have to see if we can get that Rooster back to his old self, but in the mean time it's important for you to have a plan when you go outside, where the rooster will be and to practice controlling your fear and your reaction, practice will make you less.

00:09:01

Scared and help you react the way you want to rather than how your body automatically tells you to when it's scared.

00:09:08

Let's go have a break and maybe a cookie while we do something different for AW.

00:09:14

And draping an arm over his shoulder times Mom led him back to the farmhouse so he could calm down. And.

00:09:19

Have a break.

00:09:21

From that day on, Tim never felt the urge to cry Rooster again. Oh, he'd call for help if the rooster came after him, which did get easier as he got used to interacting with the rooster and controlling his fear. But he never pretended like he was being attacked, and he never called his family for help when he didn't need it.

00:09:41

It wasn't worth the risk that they'd stopped believing him, and it didn't feel good to pretend to be scared after he knew what it felt like to be truly terrified.

00:09:51

Even if the thing he was afraid of wasn't actually as dangerous as his body's reaction told him it was.

00:09:58

Did he learn a lesson about pulling other kinds of pranks? Well, I think so. He decided it didn't feel good to play tricks that worried and upset other people. Now that he knew what it felt like to be worried and upset by a situation outside his control.

00:10:14

He still liked.

00:10:15

To play pranks. But they were no longer mean spirited, and he always apologized if it seemed like he'd gone too far. He was learning and trying to do better, and that was what mattered most.

00:10:28

The end.

00:10:32

Remember, you're part of the story too. What did you think of this story?

00:10:40

What did you imagine when you were listening?

00:10:44

We'd love to hear your part of the story.

00:10:49

If you and your grown up want, you can share your thoughts or a picture you drew with our Foggy Oak podcast family.

00:10:57

You might find it easiest to share with us on Facebook at Foggy Oak Farm, but we have lots of options on our website, foggyoakfairytales.com.

00:11:10

You can also check out pictures from the farm and learn more about us.

00:11:14

Thanks for being part of the story and I hope you'll join us next week.