The Larks in the Cornfield Once upon a time, a young farmer wanted to be a magician.

So he gathered together all of his friends and said to them, Tommorrow morning I will perform the greatest magic trick that has ever been seen! That afternoon, the farmer went into his cornfield and began to think about what sort of trick he wanted to perform. The larks in the cornfield had been watching very carefully to see what the farmer was going to do. However, the corn was so tall and the ground so muddy that the larks were not able to enjoy what little view they had of the farmer. The mother lark then decided that she would fly to the top of the farmers new red tractor, she that she might be able to see the farmer. As the farmer was standing around in the field, he had almost given up hope that he would be able to think of an impressive magic trick. Suddenly, he noticed the mother Lark sitting on the top of his new tractor. He had not thought about using his tractor before. This gave him an idea. Aha! he said, I will make the tractor disappear! So the next morning, all of the farmers friends gathered around the cornfield to see what magic trick the farmer had planned. A loud cheer sounded across the field as the farmer drove into the cornfield on his shiny red tractor. For the first time, the farmer had not been wearing his straw hat, ragged sleeves, and muddy boots. The man appeared before the crowd wearing a black suit and shined leather shoes, complete with a top hat. He was dressed like a magician. Even the larks were impressed at this transformation. The magician, standing on top of his tractor, looked out into the crowd and said, Welcome everyone! Again, the crowd began to cheer. The magician continued his introduction, Today, I will make this tractor disappear! The people in the cornfield suddenly grew quiet. They did not understand how, or especially why, would the farmer make his new tractor disappear. However, without further a moment of hesitation, the farmer jumped back into the seat of his red tractor.

He placed his foot on the gas pedal; the crowd began to cheer upon hearing the impressive power of the tractors enginge. Vroom, vroom! said the tractor. The sudden noise had frightened the larks, but they managed to stay still in their place. After all, they could not miss the greatest magic trick ever seen! The magician farmer began to steer the tractor in a circular path around the cornfield. Prepare to be amazed! shouted the magician to the crowd. Suddenly, something very astonishing happened. The tractor had vanished from sight! Looking across the tall rows of corn, the people could no longer see the tractor or the farmer. They began to cheer, thinking that the disappearance was a part of the magic trick. The larks however, knew that this was not according to plan. After a minute without the farmers return, the crowd became very worried. Had he disappeared forever? The larks began to make their way to the spot where they had seen the farmer and his tractor disappear, slowly followed by the worried crowd. As they pushed through the last row of corn, they could not believe what they saw before them. The tractor had driven into a large, muddy hole. The farmer had been trying very hard to drive out of the mud, but it was too thick and too deep to move. His brand new tractor was stuck in the mud. Awkward. The farmer called out to the crowd and said, If everyone can push the wheels, we might be able to get out of the mud! The people gathered around the tractor and pushed as hard as they could. The tractor did not move. Suddenly, the larks had an idea. Mother lark whisteled to her baby larks and said to them, Bwukbwuk! Cuckoo! Bwuk, tractor, bwuk! One of the people in the crowd, who just so happened to be a zoologist, heard the mother lark say this to the other larks, and understood what she meant. He turned to the crowd and said, Listen! The larks are going to fly to the top of the tractor and carry it out of the mud! So the crowd moved away from the tractor, and all attention was on the larks. The larks swiftly flew to the top of the tractor, grabbing onto the machine with their tiny claws. Slowly, they began to fly up towards the sky, lifting the farmer and his tractor out of the muddy hole.

Using all of their strength, the larks pulled the tractor out from the mud and into the air. The birds then gently lowered the tractor and farmer back onto the dry area of the cornfield. You saved me! cheered the farmer, thank you! The larks replied with a number of enthusiastic Bwukbwuks! The farmer was very happy that he and his tractor were not harmed. He looked to the crowd and said, Tada! The tractor has disappeared, but now it has returned! Suddenly the peoples faces grew pale. Something was wrong; they did not seem to be happy. A young boy in the crowd pointed towards the sky and said, Look! The farmer turned back towards the tractor. However, the tractor was not there. He looked into the sky where the boy was pointing. There it was, the larks were flying off into the clouds with the farmers tractor. The farmer cried out, but there was nothing he could do. The birds continued to fly higher into the sky, until even the big red tractor was too small to be seen. The farmer and his friends became very sad, and the neither larks nor the tractor were ever seen again.

Authors Notes *Moral of the Story I. Farmers do not make good magicians. II. Mud is bad. III. Never trust a lark. *Note to Parents DISCLAIMER NEVER ALLOW YOUR CHILDREN OR ANYONE ELSE TO ATTEMPT TO PUSH A TRACTOR BY THE WHEELS, SERIOUS INJURY OR EVEN DEATH MAY RESULT.

ILLUSTRATION BY DAREK HOTELLING. COPYRIGHT 2013.