#3

The Politician’s Tale
     There was a small duckling sitting beside a tree with a sad look on his face. Noticing this cheerless little duck, a goose from a flock nearby stopped to see what his trouble was.
     “I can’t fly,” said the duckling. “All of my brothers and sisters have learned and left to fly south.”
     “Well you’re just in luck today little one!” replied the goose.
     “What do you mean?”
     “What I mean is that I just happened to have a magic elixir here that’s just for flying. All you have to do today is take one big drink and climb to the first branch in the tree. Tomorrow you will do the same and climb to the second branch. On the third day you climb to the third branch, jump off and you will be able to fly. Piece of cake!”
     “Well it sounds easy enough,” the duckling said.
     So he did exactly what the goose told him to and each day he climbed higher up the tree. The higher he went, the braver he became. By the third day he was at the top looking down at the grassy meadow that seemed miles below him. One, two, three…the duckling leapt out of the tree and started flapping his wings and much to his surprise he began gliding through the air. You see, the duckling had to learn to fly in order to survive, but he had no motivation. The goose’s elixir gave him confidence, and drove him to accomplish what needed to be done.