deep story nr. 171 | raving penguin | by Nicolas Rada

Peck peck...peck peck... a small fluffy creature struggles out of
its egg in the icy winter. When it made the first little hole in
the shell, it peeked through the narrow gap with its tiny eye.
However, our little friend could see nothing but glittering
white. A second hole had to be made quickly in order to explore
more of the surroundings outside the "tiny house", which had
become too cramped during the last few hours. But even through
the second hole, only white can be seen. The little chick squeaks
slightly and uses all its strength to push its head through the
shell. It braces and pushes itself against the ceiling and with
one leap it breaks through the resistance and also the light
blanket of snow above it. It squints its eyes because it is
terribly bright. But soon it gets used to the sun's rays and sees
a beautiful winter landscape.
Wow, it's beautiful here, our little penguin baby thinks.
However, it quickly feels alone. The thought mobilizes the last
forces of the little rascal. It jumps out of the egg onto the
snow and slips away. The little legs are still too wobbly to hold
the ball of plush and it falls forward. Unfortunately, our
penguin friend hatched on a gentle slope and now tumbles down the
hill. In the process, the chick soon forms a snowball that grows
larger and larger until it is gently stopped further down by a
small shrub. Completely exhausted from this adventure, our fluffy
explorer falls asleep.
When the chick wakes up again, it finds itself in a sled whipping
across the snowy fields. Next to him on the driver's seat he
spots a friendly looking personality. "Hello I'm Nicolas and I
found you on the side of the road in the snow. I thought you
could use the warmth of my blanket here in the sled. Besides, I'm
very glad to have finally found a fellow traveller on my tour,"
Nicolas said. "If you like, you'll find some yummy cookies in the
glove compartment," he added. Since when does a sleigh have a
glove compartment and did he just say cookies? The penguin thinks
to himself. He hastily tears open the package and contentedly
munches on cinnamon stars and vanilla croissants. Wrapped in the
blanket and covered in crumbs, the penguin is happy to have met
Nicolas, who is like a god to him. And since that time, the
penguin happily tours the clubs of this world with his savior.