The Legend of Willow's FLocK: Wisdom of Time

One morning when the sun was high in the sky a set of goslings was put outside to enjoy the fresh green grass and cool air. They were put inside a fence so they were safe from all kinds of things. Several of the adult geese stood on the opposite side of the fence wishing that they could get to the goslings. 

One of these was the youngest of the flock named Gingko. She had an obsession with goslings and would not leave the fence. The other ladies of the flock also wanted to meet the goslings but were not so obsessed that they gave up their food and pond for them. Fortunately for Gingko her human decided to try out some of the female geese to see who would be best with the goslings - if any would. Tupelo was first put in the fenced area on trial. Tupelo seemed to be rather uninterested with the goslings and took advantage of the grass. If a gosling strayed too close she was then terrified and would peck it to keep it away from her. Seeing this the human decided to try Gingko. Gingko was thrilled to be with the goslings. She was immediately comfortable with them and was eating grass with them.

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The goslings on the other hand were not so thrilled with Gingko and were scared of her. They did not know what this goose would do to them. They avoided her. But after a few days of Gingko being brought into the fenced area the goslings came to trust her. They started to follow her and listen to her warnings about the things that flew by in the sky. She taught them the ways of a goose. How to threaten and chase things such as cats and bugs. She taught them how to preen themselves in the water or out of it. She even taught them to trust the human in coming up to her and eating out of her hand.

When the time came to join the flock, Gingko was greatly instrumental in getting the three geese accepted. Gingko would continue raising goslings with great devotion. She made it quite easy for goslings to become members of the flock whereas all alone without any assistance from an older goose it took much longer and the goslings were faced with the great challenge of being chased away by all the adults and being on the edge of the flock for a month or many months.  
One day, one of the first geese Gingko raised and helped into the flock came to speak with her. This goose was a goose named Cinnamon. Cinnamon began to speak with her by asking her this question, "Do you know how it was decided that I would be kept and grown out and allowed to join the flock?" Gingko then replied, "One fateful day your mother was killed by one of the most cunning and most malicious of the forest creatures - a fox. The human wanted someone similar to her and decided to keep a few geese that she knew were your mother's." "Indeed," Cinnamon said, "The human says I look similar to my mother but not exactly like her. Do you think this is good or bad to the human?" "I think the human would value you being unique from your mother. I am nothing like my mother but I am still loved so it must not matter that much," Gingko answered. "Do you know much about my mother? Would you tell me something of her?" Cinnamon questioned. "I know some things. She was named Sassafras after a tree that when a leaf is picked you can smell a lovely fragrance. This tree was very unique. It could have one-lobed, two-lobed, and three-lobed leaves or just one or two of those types. The trees' trunks are rarely straight but instead are usually wavy due to the frosts. Lichens tend to grow on the trunks making quite a contrast in color. These trees were very unique just like we the geese are. I do not think she related much to her tree but in how unique she was. She was one of the only geese with a dark stripe and one of the only ladies with more of a square head. She was kind of shy around the human but not to the point where she would not accept any food. She was a good layer and that convinced her to once try her luck at brooding. But unfortunately for her the human did not wish for any goose to brood as she had lost one to it. So to break her brooding the human tried to give Sassafras a gosling. That gosling was me. Sassafras loved me the moment I was given to her but she could not take good enough care of me and I had to be taken from her. 

She was quite sad about not having me but luckily she could still get to know me on the other side of the fence I was grown up in. She did not have very many close friends as she was a distracted goose and she soon began to stop coming to me. The times she visited became scarcer and scarcer until we barely spoke. It was upsetting for me. She stuck with Redbud for a while but then she went to another gander and then another one. Other geese would too but it seemed that she did it without putting much thought into it. The thing I respected her for is that she did seem to have a genuine love for the human. That seemed to be true and long-lasting unlike the rest of it. As she grew older she seemed to become less distracted and made a few friends. Many geese came to really like her because of her unique personality now that she had become good with her friendships. We became friends and she apologized for having stopped talking to me in the first place. I eagerly accepted the apology and was glad to have my first friend back. Most geese are rather high-strung when they are young and as they grow they calm down and learn many valuable lessons. Like how important friendship is. Being a goose without any friends is like not being a goose. As a flock it is very important," Gingko said. "But not all geese are high-strung at the certain age, are they?" Cinnamon questioned. "I believe all of them are to a certain degree," Gingko answered.