The Amusing World of Wingy – Chapter 3

Alone on the Island

“HEY! Mother flamingo!” wailed Wingy loudly, his eyes full of tears.
“Where are you? Is anybody here, please, where are all of you?”
As the young penguin shrieked at the top of his lungs, turning his anxious eyes over the island, he saw no one except himself, standing alone on the beach and crying for help. Wingy was distressed. His little heart was full of sorrow. He was glancing desperately at the large, empty shore when, in a daze, he began desperately racing in the direction of every nook and cranny of the island to find any of his friends, the flamingos.
As he ran, he remembered how the old flamingo had warned him not to go too far since they only landed on the island for a short break. In his dazzled head, her last words still struck like a sharp hammer.
“Young boy, are you listening to me?” the old flamingo had asked worriedly whilst scratching her head.
“Oh yeah old flamingo, I am all ears,” Wingy had replied, staring at a coconut tree at the end of the beach, before he questioned her. “Mother flamingo, what is this huge tree, and those small brown furry balls hanging on the top?”
“Wingy, this is a coconut tree, and these balls are coconuts’ fruits,” the old flamingo had replied impatiently. “Don’t go there! We are in a rush, Wingy; we do not have so much time because a wild storm will ravage this island.”
“A storm,” Wingy had exclaimed giggling, “No way old flamingo, look how the sun is illuminating and the sky is so clear!”
Then he had approached her while muttering, “Mother flamingo, what about if I run so fast, I swear so fast old flamingo, then I pick up one coconut and I return in a flash? Old flamingo, please, I have never tasted a coconut before.”
“Quack? No Wingy, No way!” the old flamingo had shrieked sternly. “We will leave right now before the storm. Are you aware of what NO means? Just stay here next to me!”
Mother Flamingo, how did you not think for a while that Wingy was never aware of what no means? Oh, look at you now, you look miserable and frustrated now, abandoned alone on this strange island like an abandoned little bird. All the flamingos had left the island without noticing that you were not with them. He smacked his head in his palms and murmured, “OH SILLY ME!”
Everything around him appeared strangely quiet. Birds left the beach as if they felt that a catastrophic thing was waiting to occur over the deep horizon.
“I deserve this! I deserve all this!!!” Wingy yelled, whilst throwing the coconut so hard that it cracked on the sharp rock.
On this quite lonely island, you could hear a pin drop.
Wingy sat with his knees crossed on the golden sand, a frown imprinted over his face. He couldn’t stop blaming himself for how he had acted arrogantly and why he had not listened to the advice of the old flamingo.
The young Wingy started to feel his heart full of despair. His mind was as empty as a blank page. He looked so woeful, so heartbroken. He closed his eyes and sank into deep thoughts. All his life was ruined rapidly in the blink of an eye. “Am I dreaming? Is it a nightmare?” he wondered anxiously. “Is it the end?”
He stayed silent for a minute, his head down, when, all of a sudden, he raised his head to catch sight of a small cottage not far away from him. A light bulb struck his little head! A dangerous light bulb…
NO WINGY, DON’T THINK OF FOLLOWING THAT LITTLE LIGHT!
As always, Wingy followed what was in his stubborn mind. Immediately he rushed towards the strange cottage hoping to find any rescue and, in record time, he was standing next to the front door.
An uncomfortable thought passed over his mind whilst he was gazing worriedly at the walls made of messy, crushed red bricks as if they were dumped in blood.
Suddenly, he sniffed an acidic, noxious smell coming from a broken, tarnished window.
“What’s this stench?” murmured Wingy anxiously. Then, he started tiptoeing silently towards the window.
To his great horror, he found an old evil witch standing inside the cottage. She was a villainous woman and stood in front of her black bubbling cauldron. She was busy cooking her sticky, smelly porridge.
Her face was so wicked and arrogant. Her hair was very long and messy as if she had never washed it in thirty years. Here lay an enormous, orange snake eating its porridge. Its tiny, mean eyes were gleaming with greediness.
“Today, I will make something you like,” whispered the old witch to her pet.
“Something I like,” the snake declared indifferently, “like what? Fish as usual! The sssssssame sssish like every day!” Then he gasped, “I wonder if I can eat sssssome sssssoup of penguinssss, maybe one day?”
“A soup of penguins!” responded the witch, laughing loudly. “Have you gone bonkers? There are no penguins on this island. Penguins live so far away, in Antarctica.”
“BUT I like…”
“Stop nagging, young snake!” growled the old witch firmly. “Fish means that you will eat fish!”
Then, all of a sudden, she started sniffing with her spiked, ugly nose.
“LITTLE BABY! I can’t believe it,” sniffed the witch excitedly. “A smell of penguins? Penguins? Penguins don’t live in hot places? Penguins living in hot places?!”
“Let me sssssniff!” hissed the snake with great astonishment.
Then, he slowly started to slither towards the window. The small penguin turned pale. He stood like a stiff stone. Immediately, he leapt out of the window. Wingy shivered with fear. Cold sweat drained from his pale face while his heart pounded inside his small ribcage. Now, when he realised that he was in a pickle, he chickened out.
“Let’s make a penguin soup!” roared the witch crazily, and, in a daze, she rushed through the door, followed by her gigantic snake.
Wingy ran so fast, looking for a near escape, while just behind him, the terrifying snake followed him with his open mouth showing his yellow-tipped fangs like a pair of pointy knives.
The little penguin felt so tired that he could no longer run. His legs felt like huge stones blocking him. He stopped for a short while to catch his breath, whilst, suddenly, he got scared out of his wits. The venomous snake came closer and closer to the soft flesh of his throat, sporting a wicked, immortal smile.
Everything started to be dark, so dark in front of Wingy that he began to faint, when in a last, desperate movement, he curved his soft body like a tiny fur ball sliding in the sea, slid between the dreadful fangs, and jumped into the deep, dark sea with a great SPLASH, leaving the snake behind him, snarling viciously at him.