VOL. XXII, NO. 4
NOVEMBER 26, 1980

Thank God Tomorrow For Unlucky Turkeys
BY ANGELO MANTAS

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, another step toward Christmas. On this day we thank the Lord for all the good things that happened this past year.

Thanksgiving started a while back with the pilgrims. When at first they landed on their new land, they had trouble with the Indians. As the days went by, they became friendlier with the Indians. So they had a big dinner in which they gave thanks to God for their new friends and safe home. Maybe the Americans and Soviets should get together on Thanksgiving and thank God that we are still alive and not at war with each other.

The turkeys spend all year living like kings, until the day before Thanksgiving. Then they notice the farmer looking in the shed for his axe or his sledgehammer. The turkeys look on as the farmer sharpens his axe. When the farmer tests his sledgehammer on a watermelon, then they realize Thanksgiving Day is near. The sledgehammer is for those turkeys that won't stay still while the farmer tries to chop off their heads.
 The turkeys start to panic and shiver as the farmer walks toward them with the axe in his hand. He opens the pen, grabs one turkey and quickly shuts the door to the pen. Now the turkeys must look on as the farmer lays the turkey on the ground, tries to tie it down, but does not succeed. The turkey runs away and the farmer picks up his sledgehammer and runs after him.

The farmer corners the turkey, lifts up the sledgehammer and takes a mighty swing at the turkey. All the other turkeys turn their heads as they hear a terrible scream. The voice keeps echoing in their ears as they imagine how the poor little turkey looks now.

They all turn to look and to their surprise they see the little turkey still running around. There on the ground they see the farmer who must have missed the turkey and hit his own foot.

Most turkeys, though, aren't this lucky and end up as our Thanksgiving dinner. So when you eat your turkey dinner tomorrow remember the story of the little turkey and wonder what you'd be eating if all turkeys were this lucky.