Once upon a time a mother hen and her chicks lived at the edge of a big field with their friends duck, cat, and goat. One day they were all out for a walk when Mother Hen looked down and saw a bunch of wheat seeds lying in the field.
“Hmm,” she thought, “I could plant these to grow some organic wheat, and we could make some delicious bread. Who wants to help me plant the seeds?”
“Okey dokey,” said the duck.
“Okey dokey,” said the cat.
“Okey dokey,” said the goat.
The chicks didn’t say anything because they have to do what their mother tells them. Mother Hen told them all to come to the house at sunrise to plant the wheat.
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So the next morning all gathered in the field were the hen, the chicks, the duck…
“Hey where’s Cat?” said the chicks.
“Uh, I dunno,” said Duck, “I think he said he was too tired. He was out catching rats all
night.”
“What?” said the chicks. “He said he would help us!”
“That’s alright,” said Mother Hen. “We can still plant without him.”
“And what about Goat? He said he would come too!” said the chicks, annoyed at having
to do all the work themselves.
“I dunno about him,” said Duck. “He’s probably just sleeping.”
“Fiiine, we’ll plant the seeds ourselves,” said the chicks.
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And they all got to work. Duck was so clumsy she spilled more seeds than she planted, and by the end of the day she had only done half the work of anybody else.
“Ugh, Duck doesn’t even know how to plant seeds,” said the chicks. “We did everything ourselves.”
“That’s ok,” said Mother Hen. “At least she helped us plant.”
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Now it was time to wait, and wait, and wait, as the wheat grew taller and taller, and the seasons changed, until finally fall came and it was ready for harvest.
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Mother Hen asked, “who will help me cut the wheat?”
“Okey dokey,” said the duck.
“Okey dokey,” said the cat.
“Okey dokey,” said the goat.
And the chicks didn’t say anything because they have to do
what their mother tells them.
“Come at sunrise and we’ll all cut the wheat,” said Mother Hen.
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The next morning all gathered in the field were the hen, the chicks, the goat, and…
“Hey, where’s Cat? And where’s Duck? They said they would help!”
“I don’t know about Cat,” said the goat, “but I saw Duck down by the lake catching bugs.”
“Ugh fine, we’ll just cut the wheat ourselves,” said the chicks.
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And they all got to work cutting wheat. Goat spent half the time eating the wheat instead of cutting it. Hours later Cat wandered in, but by that time they were almost finished. Now the wheat was cut and ready to grind into flour. Cat was too slow, and Goat ate half the wheat he was supposed to grind again.
“We did all the work again!” complained the chicks. “Why doesn’t anybody ever help?”
“That’s ok,” said Mother Hen. “They all helped in their own way.”
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Finally it was time to make the dough. They kneaded it and kneaded it until it was ready to put in the oven. Soon a delicious scent spread out over the whole field.
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When it was ready Mother Hen asked, “Ok who will help me eat the bread?”
"Okey dokey!", said the chicks.
"Okey dokey!", said the cat.
"Okey dokey!!!" said the goat.
And just then duck wandered in and said “Okey dokey, I want some bread too!”
“Hey!” said the chicks, “You can’t all eat the bread, we did all the work! that’s not fair!”
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Mother Hen explained to them: "Duck did help. She was down by the river eating the bugs that would’ve spoiled the wheat. And Cat didn’t show up to plant because he was out catching the rats that would’ve eaten the grain in the middle of the night.
“What about goat?” asked the chicks. “He just ate the wheat himself!”
“Well, goats will eat anything,” said Mother Hen. “We just have to know that about a goat.”
Finally the chicks agreed that maybe everyone had helped a little too.
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So all together they shared the loaf they had made, and it was the most amazing bread they had ever tasted in their entire life.
“Wow,” everyone said, “Imagine what we could do if we all worked together. We could get even more wheat, and then imagine what we could make!”
Cat said, “I’ll keep eating rats, but I’ll try to show up on time from now on too.”
Duck said, “I’m not very good at planting seeds, but I think I could grind the wheat pretty well.”
Goat said, “I can knead the dough with my hooves, but you all better keep an eye on me so I don’t eat it all…”
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So they all went out and did their jobs as best as they could, and this time they worked together so well they had twice as much wheat as the first time! They had enough to make bread, and muffins, and cookies, and donuts, and even cupcakes!
“This is great!” said the chicks. “The more we all work together, the more we all can enjoy!”
