The Tubby Little Penguin

By Andrea Tillmanns

Hank was a little penguin and lived in the perpetual ice of Antarctica. Like all penguins, he loved fish, so he ate every fish his parents brought him. And as his parents were particularly good fish catchers, Hank also got a lot of fish.

“Eat well so that you grow big and strong!” his mother always said to him. “After all, you still have to grow!”

Hank did indeed grow faster than the other little penguins – but not just upwards, but also to the left and right and front and back. Soon, he was fatter than all his friends.

This didn’t bother Hank the little penguin or his parents. “The main thing is that you become as good a fish catcher as we are,” said his dad.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a bit fatter or thinner than the other penguins,” added his mom. And Hank didn’t care about the teasing from the other young penguins.

When he was a little older, his parents taught him how to catch fish himself. The three penguins swam through the cold water at lightning speed, always chasing after the fish. Hank was not as fast as his parents, but he was just as good at catching fish as the other young penguins.

But they were still teasing him. “You’re getting fatter every day, you lame water snail!” they called out to him as he waddled past. “Soon you’ll look like a whale!”

As time went on, Hank became sadder and sadder. What could he do? Was it really so bad that he was a bit fatter than the others?

When the young penguins started swimming in a race every morning, Hank became even sadder, because he really wasn’t good at swimming fast. Why did they always play this game?

Finally, Hank’s mother had an idea. She caught as many fish as she could and then called all the young penguins together. “We’ll have different competitions,” she explained, “and the winner of each game will get a fish!”

First, the young penguins had to swim in a race, and of course, Hank came last. But then they played ice floe pushing, and in this game, the tubby little penguin was almost the best. After that, they played wing wrestling, snowball throwing, holding their breath and many other games. And finally, Hank won the speed slide on the ice. His cheeks were red with exertion and joy when he received the fish he had won from his mother.

From that day on, he was no longer teased by the other young penguins. Together they played speed swimming, ice floe pushing, wing wrestling, snowball throwing, holding their breath, speed sliding and many other games, and each of them was the best at one of them.

- Total nr. of readings: 269 Copyright © The author [2020] All Rights Reserved. This story may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author except for personal use.