Claudia The Robin without a Song!

Once apon a time, there was a bird named Claudia, Claudia was a little Robin and lived in a small nest among the woodland trees. She was an unusual Robin, as she, unlike the other birds of the wood, could not sing. Yes every morning she would awaken to the beautiful chorus of all the other bird's songs but she could not join in. Poor Claudia felt very lonely and without a song she couldn't communicate with other birds. Morning time was most sad for her as the dawn chorus, the most social time of the day for birds was all around her and she could not join in. She had no friends as other birds didn't understand that she was normal. She could not warn other birds of dangers and so she was of no use to them in that way.  They saw her as strange and laughed at her for having no song.
As lonely as she was she did not care what other birds thought of her as she was just a bird like any other, a bird who could not be heard but still existed and carried on with her life. During the day she would fly around and collect bugs for dinner and collect sticks and moss for her nest.. At night she would be the first to go to sleep as she had no goodnight song to sing. So indeed Claudia was not very happy until one day something very special happened.          
Claudia was flying around when she saw a small stick falling from a tree. She swooped down and picked it up and flew off with it to put it in her nest. As she flew back, she heard a beautiful sound. It surrounded her and echoed into the woodland. She didn't know what was happening until she noticed she was making the noise. When she breathed into a hole in the stick, it would create a beautiful song. The most beautiful song Claudia had ever heard. When she arrived back at her nest, Claudia placed the stick beside her. It was getting late and so she decided not to breath into it until the following day when all the other birds would be awakening. Night was falling and the evening singing was in full swing. The Blackbirds continued their melodious tunes and the Pigeons cooed loudly trying to out sing the Robins. This went on before the sound rested and disappeared completely until  the morning as all the birds including Claudia had slipped into a deep slumber for the night. Nothing could be heard now but a light breeze through the leaves in the trees.
The following morning, the Sun was rising and the singing of all the birds had begun when Claudia awakened. She stretched her wings and grew excited when she remembered her new stick. She stood up and took a deep breath and breathed deeply into the stick. The most beautiful song rang out across the woodland and stopped all of the birds from singing. The wood grew silent and this song could be heard from miles away. The other birds could not believe someone who had never sung before could now be singing such a breathtakingly beautiful song. They flocked from far and wide to hear her sing and surrounded her in admiration. Day after day birds came to hear her sing. She had many friends and even though she could not sing on her own or communicate in every other bird's naturally gifted way, Claudia had found a way of communicating and the other birds heard her loud and clear. She was telling a story, a story of the lonely bird who carried on and ignored what everyone thought of her. She was truly a bird to admire and from that day on, Claudia had indeed the most beautiful song in the wood and if you listen very carefully the next time you are in the woods, you just might hear her telling her story.

                                                                                                                           by Paul Broughall.