Another true story inspired by an object in the Magic Story Bag
Once a year we used to walk from school to Debden village church for a special service. On the way we passed a lake where a few swans swam.
The teacher, Mrs Firth, told us not to annoy the swans because they might get cross. It was springtime and they had cygnets. Mrs Firth warned us that when swans felt threatened they had been known to snatch a small child and drag it into the water. I was a small child!!
In the same Essex village, the garage owner kept geese. They hissed and honked very loudly at anyone who approached. I had to pass them on the way home from school. They would stretch out their long white necks, lower their heads and run at me, their long orange beaks thrust forward like bayonets.
Which may explain why I love small birds but big ones still worry me.
