Disclaimer: I don't own Happy Feet or any of its characters.
This is a scary Happy Feet dream I had the other day. It's scary cause I'm the baby penguin! And I could feel every bit of pain! I'll never look at skuas the same way again...;-;
The little Emperor chick doesn't like this being lost thing. It's scaring her. She wanted to be back with her mother and father and all the other Emperor penguins. She's just a baby! She's not supposed to be out here, alone...
She remembered exactly how she got lost. Her parents went to go to work and she followed at a distance, since she's supposed to stay with the colony. But she was curious to see what work is. So...yeah.
However the journey had worn her out and she lost sight of them. She's been wandering aimlessly since that morning, hoping to find her parents or some how end up back at the colony.
"MOM!!! DAD!!!" she called out, hoping they'll hear her in this frozen tundra. Nothing called back. She sighed and continued to walk.
She shivered. She's cold. Back in the colony, she'd huddle with the rest of the chicks right now. How she longed for warmth...
Teared welled up in her dark brown eyes. She wants to go home now. She sniffled and wiped the tears off her downy face. They were making her colder.
What was she going to do when night came? The sun was already starting to set. It would be too cold for her to survive. Normally she'll hide under the brood pouch of one of her parents at night. But there is no parent anywhere.
Just ice and snow and more ice and a colony of penguins silhouetted in the horizon and...
Wait! She looked harder. Maybe that's her colony! She made it back home!
Overwhelmed with excitement, she made a break for it. Finally, she'll be warm and surrounded by friends again and she'll never leave. She can feel it already. All she has to do is reach the colony of-
Not Emperors...These penguins only looked like Emperors. They're King penguins. She's got the wrong colony.
She stopped, still comparatively far from them. A feeling of heavy disappointment filled her.
"I'll never make it home." she muttered.
"Aw. Poor lil Flipper Boid." a voice said behind her, heavy in a New Jersey accent. She snapped around. A brown skua with a yellow banded leg towered over her.
She backed away, only to bump into another skua, a golden colored one. She stared frightened as two other skuas landed on each side of her. One was white and the other was black.
She gulped, now surrounded. She's seen skuas before. She's seen what they done to lone chicks...how they eat the little things from the inside out while they're still alive. She hoped that she'll never had to face one, much less four.
She had to reach the King penguins. It's better than staying here as an easy target.
She tried to run past the black one, but he swatted her back to the center with an easy blow of an outstretched wing. She stumbled and fell onto her back. She heard laughter rising from the seabirds.
She quickly stood up from the vulnerable position and tried again with the banded one.
"No you don't." he said. Another swat and she was back where she started.
"Stop it." she protested quietly. She never really liked talking, only when she has to and only to make herself feel better.
"Den do sometin bout it." the banded one taunted. She started tearing up in silent frustration.
"Leave me alone." she muttered.
"Nope. We're hungry." the golden one told her.
"Why not eat something else?" she asked.
"Your da easiest ding we found." the black one told her. He flicked out a wing and easily knocked her down with a gentle push. He chuckled, a dark sound to match a dark skua. It scared her even more.
She started crying, standing back up. She doesn't like the fact that she was their little play thing. They were only toying with her. Enjoying a game of cat-and-mouse.
She needed help. She had to reach the colony.
She kicked snow at the black one's eyes, blinding him for only a second. But that second was all she need. She made a run for it, forgetting the other three skuas.
She didn't get far when she felt a sharp beak clamp onto the back of her neck and she was forced to stop. The banded one had caught her.
"No!" she yelled. "Let go."
She was surrounded again, receiving a hostile glare from the black one. She pulled herself free, leaving a clump of down in the banded skua's mouth. He spat it out immediatly.
"Kinda clever of youse. Turning snow against us. But it's useless. You only making us mad." he said. He nodded to the black one, who seemed to be allowed revenge.
The dark colored skua rushed forward, closed his beak on her back and shook her violently, like a dog does to a poor rat.
"Dat's enough, Dino. Let her go." the banded one said, flaring a wing to halt the other skua. She was dropped, thankfully alive. She began to really cry, unable to stop the tears.
"C'mon, Seifer. Let me have another go at her. Teach her to throw snow at me." Dino said, still raging at her.
"Chill Dino. Save some for us." the golden one said with a threatening grin at her. She shivered, staying down on her belly. Maybe if she stayed low, she'll manage to sneak away when they're not looking.
"Listen to Vinni. Don't hog her to yerself. We want to have fun too." the white one joined.
"Shaddup, Frankie. Who asked youse?" Dino snapped. While they bickered with eachother, the little penguin scooted backwards, away from them.
But then, she felt something place a foot on her lightly, pinning her down. It was the banded one. She guessed his name was Seifer from what Dino said. She struggled.
"How bout all yall just shaddup before I keep her to myself." Seifer shot at the group. They immediatly quieted down.
"Now...I get a leg, of course...who wants the other one?" he asked, terrifying his little captive. She didn't want to hear this. The other three skuas began to argue.
"It's my turn to get da juicy piece!" Frankie started.
"In your dreams! Dat part's mine!" Vinnie shot back.
"You're dead wrong! I deserve dat! So it belong to me!" Dino joined. Seifer, still pinning the chick down, sighed.
The little penguin turned her head towards the skua's leg and bit it. Seifer fluttered up at the sudden pain and she slid away as fast as she could towards the King penguins.
She could hear the skuas in pursuit and she tried to go faster.
Something stepped on her rather hard and she knew she was caught again. The instant she felt herself get pressed to the ground, she played dead.
Not a good thing to do if the predator trying to eat you is also a scavanger. There was a pause as the other skuas fluttered by their leader.
Seifer bent down over the motionless chick.
"Hey Flipper Boid. You okay?" he asked, not expecting that landing on her would kill her. She didn't move at all, she didn't even breathe. She had to fool the birds into thinking she's dead.
She felt the foot remove itself, but she didn't shoot off. If she did, they'll take her in a second. Seifer placed his foot under her and flipped her over to her back.
She remained limp.
"I dink she's dead." Seifer said to the rest of the skuas.
"Serves her right." Dino muttered. "Dough I'd feel better to make her suffer."
"Well, she ain't gettin any fresher. So let's eat!" Frankie exclaimed. The penguin felt her heart skip a beat. They're going to eat her anyways!
She jumped up and took off. She only saw a feathered wing in her face, pushing her back towards the others.
"NO!!!!" she yelled. "Don't eat me! Please!"
"Sorry kid." Seifer said. "But you really are a clever lil Flipper Boid. Playing dead would have saved you from other predators. But not us."
Dino went closer, looking hopefully at the brown skua. Seifer turned to him.
"Go ahead. Let her pay." he said. Dino chuckled his dark laugh and approached her. She screamed and tried to run, but was knocked over by Seifer.
"No!" she yelled.
"Just don't kill her. Flipper Boids taste better alive and kickin." Seifer said, horrifying her.
"No prob." Dino responded, without even turning to face his leader. He speeded his advance and grabbed her in his beak. He lifted her up and threw her to the ground.
The others laughed as she shakily got up. Her entire right side ached from the impact and still she couldn't stop the tears from falling.
She yelped as Dino picked her up by the tail and threw her high in the air.
"Hey look! A Flyin Flipper Boid!" Vinnie humored.
The others laughed as she came crashing back to earth. An instant death might have been better so she wouldn't have to face the horror of getting eaten by skuas, but she had no such luck. She was still very much alive.
She made the most of that fact by shooting towards the other penguins.
"HELP!!! PLEASE!!!" she shouted to them. One of the penguins looked at her, but it was a chick. What help could it be? There was no way it was going to come. That would be suicide.
The skuas caught up with her without any difficulty and pecked her into submission.
"Help..." was all she muttered, not expecting anyone, but just saying it for the sake of it.
"Nobody's comin. It's dinner time." Seifer said. She closed her eyes when she felt all four beaks on her and the following pain was excrutiating enough as the skuas tried to rip her limb from limb. Having failed that, they tried to peck through her skin.
"I hate dis part of Flipper Boids...Deir skin is too tough." Frankie complained.
She felt a horrid pain on her side and realized what happened. Dino managed to break her protective skin.
"Got it!" he exclaimed in triumph. All four skuas stabbed their beaks inside the wound, making it bigger and eating her from the inside.
She screamed until she lost consiousness, never to wake up again.
That dream was horrible for me. You'd think I'll be scared of skuas for the rest of my life. But it's just a dream...right? I ain't no baby penguin that couldn't even remember her own name. Comfort me here!
Tell me what you would have done if you were the poor chick. And would you be scared to be in her place for that whole encounter?
This is one of those kinds of nightmares that is extremely difficult to wake up from in order to end it...:(