Trumpeter Swan -- Preview

   Travis Swan enjoyed the sunshine on his face. He loved to watch Mother and Father Trumpeter Swan glide across the pond with his brothers and sisters but he didn't like to swim as often as they did.

   His mother had warned him and his Father had warned him, but Travis liked to soak up the sunshine. He would spend hours on the shore, just watching, listening to the sounds all around him and doze in the warmth of the hot afternoon sun.

   One day, early in the morning, Travis heard a rustling in the tall grass that grew along the water's edge. "Wha-wha-what was that?" He shivered in fear. Rustle, rustle, there it was again! "My goodness!" he thought. "Is-Is- Is there someone out there?" he spoke in a trembling voice.

   "Oh, keep your feathers on," replied a hoarse croaking voice. "This mud is sticking to my sleeeek shiny fur."

   "Who are you?" asked Travis when he spotted the dark brown body that emerged from the tall grass.

   "My name is Wonker," came the same hoarse voice. Wonker crept slowly, twisting his body this way and that as he approached the young Trumpeter Swan or cygnet. He ran his tongue over his thin watery lips in a licking manner. His small black eyes darted this way and that looking for other living creatures at the pond.

   "What's a woonn -kker?" asked Travis.

   "I'm not a wonker," snarled the newcomer. "My name is Wonker. I am a mink."

   "What's a minkk?" asked the youngster.

   "Don't you know anything? I live right here, on the other side of the pond in that burrow. I love to fish and swim and I love the taste of little cygnets." With that said, the sleek animal moved quickly toward the little bird.

   Taste ...You can't taste little swans unless ...unless ...