Just for fun—this is a story I wrote in High School. I think I was a Junior (age 16). It was for an assignment given to the class by our English teacher, Mrs. Arvilla Griffeth (my favorite teacher). In the typed copy, below (typed May 2, 2025), I made a minimum of edits to correct punctuation and address a few word choice/order/repetition issues I wasn’t able to understand at the time. As for that time—so many years ago—I had no thought about having a future in literature. I just wanted to come up with something witty and get a decent grade. I still have the now-yellowed, original, hand-written, lined paper I turned in. As can be seen written on that paper, I turned it in late, but I still got an “A” with a note by Mrs. Griffeth that said, “Very Clever!” That made me feel good.
The Beautiful Peacock Bachelor
ONCE UPON A time, there was a male peacock who was so beautiful that all the female peacocks wanted to catch him. He was very much in demand! He could have had any one of the most beautiful peacocks in the valley, but he was a very-much-confirmed bachelor.
The beautiful bachelor was the last of his father’s bloodline, and his father was up in years. Knowing that he didn’t have long to live, he called for his beautiful-bachelor peacock son.
The old peacock said, “Son, being that I have not long to live, and seeing that you are the last of our beautiful-peacock bloodline, you must give up your beautiful-peacock bachelor status and marry a female in the valley in order to save our bloodline from extinction.”
Well, the beautiful peacock bachelor didn’t like the idea, but in order to please the old man and save the bloodline, he consented.
Off went the peacock into the valley to find a mate. But alas, all but three female peacocks had given up their hopes and married someone else. So he had only the three to choose from.
He met the three on a country path to make his choice.
They had heard that some peacock trappers were in the valley, so one of the female peacocks stayed in a nearby bush for protection. The other two were standing in the path.
The almost-not-bachelor peacock told them of his need to make a choice, and the two standing in the path immediately began arguing with each other for the honor. The female peacock in the bush then only poked her head out of the bush and said, “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Joan Peacock from West Peacockville.”
At that, the male peacock noticed she was quite beautiful and was the shy, bashful type. He chose her at once and asked if he could come into the bush in order to get to know her better.
As he entered the bush, the two other peacocks just continued arguing, and they didn’t notice the trappers who had just appeared. The trappers swooped down upon them. They were captured and taken to the Memorial Zoo in Hand, Arizona, while the beautiful “now-married” peacock and his hen lived happily ever after in their bush.
The moral of this story is: A bird in the bush is worth two in Hand.
L. Edward Hazelbaker Share This Article: