The Story Spark for this was Holiday Hijinks. The writing prompt I chose was Penguin Takeover. We had 20 minutes to write.
The Parade Takeover
You’ve heard of the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, where all the floats and marching bands march down the streets of NYC. Crowds of people line the streets awaiting that last big flotilla that includes Santa riding down the street, wishing everyone a Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas.
We were going to have a similar parade down Main Street in my hometown of Etisoppo. Everyone was excited about it, but no one knew what to expect. We lined the streets, hopeful of a great event.
We looked down the street and saw a marching band of people all dressed in tuxedos. Something was different, though. It was a strange kind of waddle, not a march.
As this group came closer, it became clear that these were not people at all. They were Adélie penguins.
To add to the confusion, as the first float rounded the corner, it was of a large Weddell seal.
This was followed by a march of Chinstrap penguins.
Next came a float with different kinds of Petrels. Some snow petrels and a giant petrel.
As they passed us, the marching male penguins honked and brayed.
We could hear some squawking and barking behind us. Turning around, we could see what I can only describe as female penguins making noises in response to the male penguin marchers’ sounds.
This continued throughout the parade. There were floats of other seals, cormorants, Albatrosses, and even some whales. Blue whales are pretty big; they’re even bigger in the air as a float.
Everything culminated with an Emperor Penguin riding on an Orca whale, tossing krill, baby jellyfish, and sea stars to the crowds.
I think I can speak for all my neighbors: though this looks very impressive, it is not a very celebratory event for humans.
In fact, I was a bit intimidated by it all and couldn’t wait to go back to my house and have lunch. Trust me, it won’t be a tuna fish sandwich for a very long time.
From now on, when it comes to outdoor parades. I’ll stick with watching them on YouTube, where I can choose the events I know about.
