Jessy is a heron, and the one thing herons have to do is fish!
One particular Sunday, Jessy was standing on his long legs staring into the murky water, right next to the bridge beside the quacking ducks in the park. Fishing is done standing up. That’s what his father had taught him in the fields and streams, and that was what Jessy did.
“Just stand on your long legs and wait until a delicious snack with a tail comes swimming past,” his father had said. “A fish or perhaps even a frog! As soon as you see it, step slowly and carefully towards the fish without moving the water, and then: SNAP! with your long beak. It’s sad for the fish, but a heron must eat!”
So on this Sunday morning, Jessy was fishing in the park just by the noisy ducks and geese, who were busy trying to eat the bread thrown by the walking visitors. Above the stream, there were gulls circling and squawking.
Jessy loved to watch the gulls in the air. He was quite jealous of their art of flying. But he didn’t like their bread. He never even looked up when people threw bread for the birds. Of course the ducks and geese did; they flapped over, quacking like mad.
But a heron waits only for his fish, and that was why Jessy was staring into the dark water. He wasn’t going to be disturbed by anything or anyone on this sunny winter afternoon.
As the geese gobbled up everything, swimming towards the bread with their fat stomachs, they gossiped about that peculiar heron.
“How stupid he is – just standing and waiting. He thinks the fish will swim to him as though he’s in the country fields! But this here is the city! In the city everything moves fast, even the fish. So you must snap them up quickly and move off. That heron doesn’t understand anything. I bet he’s new in town.”
Laughing, the geese nudged one another and went on gossiping and eating.
“What is the heron looking for here? It’s far too busy here for fish. Perhaps he’s looking for frogs? But the frogs all have been eaten by other local herons already. They are real city dwellers, they don’t stand and just wait. They dive from the tree into the water and SNAP! the fish are gone!”
Yes, all the geese had something to say about the heron, as the water spattered off their fat bellies. But Jessy took no notice, and remained where he was, standing a few feet from the bridge, staring into the murky waters, waiting for his fish.
In the distance a mobility scooter appeared. It was Mr. Noiseman. He rode in the scooter because his legs no longer worked properly. It was an electric scooter – it didn’t smell of petrol and it could go really fast. In the neighbourhood where he lived, people called him the ‘Wildman on Wheels’. Indeed, even though he couldn’t walk anymore, Mr Noiseman was young, and still quite wild and free.
On this Sunday, Noiseman fancied racing fast through the park. In fact, he was really too late for that. By now the park would be quite full of walking people. Never mind! He would drive carefully and he could steer very well.
Mr Noiseman liked to have some fun, which was one of the reasons he’d bought his scooter. It cost quite a lot of money, but it could drive really fast. It had one small wheel at the front, and two larger ones at the back. It looked good too. He could sit comfortably in the seat and feel the motor throbbing while he was driving. He loved it!
There were lots of bridges and bends in the park. Mr Noiseman really enjoyed driving fast over the bridges and around the bends. Especially on a Sunday, when there were lots of local people to watch him. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, he just wanted to show off a bit. Otherwise the Sundays were just so lazy and boring.
He knew exactly what to do to make sure everyone watched him. If he accelerated just before the bend and then raced around on one back wheel whilst his other wheel balanced in the air – then they would certainly all watch!
He’d often done it before and the gravel made a loud noise. And people could hear him coming and move out of the way. It gave him such a powerful feeling, hanging on one side for a couple of seconds and then bouncing back onto the ground again. Oh, he loved that, and all the more when people watched him and cheered.
Hooting his hooter, Mr Noiseman rode into the park. He went straight onto the big bridge. The bend after the bridge was really sharp, and the path ran on beside the water. Oh, that place was so exciting!! First, though, he had to make a lot of noise with his hooter, to warn people to get out of the way.
After hooting his horn, Mr Noiseman went over the bridge at full speed. The wheels of his scooter made a great sound on the wooden boards. It sounded almost like a train! Then he raced fast down the bridge on the other side, and as fast as possible through the bend! He knew he had to steer carefully, because then he could race along beside the stream to frighten the geese. Sometimes they would hiss angrily at him and Mr Noiseman thought that made it even more fun.
Just around the bend behind the bridge, Jessy the Heron was fishing. From the corner of his eye he saw Noiseman racing towards him. What on earth was this? An idiot heading straight for the stream where he, Jessy, was fishing!
Oh yes, Jessy was right. Mr Noiseman had accelerated on the bridge and the path was still a bit slippery from the frost. Mr Noiseman never followed the weather forecast so he had no idea it had been frosty that morning. As he drove down the bridge, his scooter started to slip and slide. Luckily all the people had fled from the bridge as they saw everything going wrong.
Mr Noiseman couldn’t keep the scooter in the bend. It started to spin out of control! He saw the treetops spinning round, and no longer knew where he was. It was lucky the scooter didn’t fall over. Instead it drove off the path and into the grass towards the stream… towards Jessy the Heron!
Mr Noiseman and his scooter landed in the water with a big splash, right in front of the astonished Jessy, who started to hiss at him. Luckily the water had slowed down the scooter or else he would have crashed really hard into Jessy. Two dark beady eyes looked at him threateningly across the water. The heron was really angry and my word, what an enormous beak he had! Right up close, Mr Noiseman saw this size for the first time.
Before he had time to be really scared, Mr Noiseman noticed how his expensive mobility scooter was gradually sinking down deeper into the cold water. Air bubbles were coming up to the surface of the stream. All the ducks and geese had seen Mr Noiseman coming, and had immediately flown off with a great deal of indignant noise!
“That’s the idiot in that hooting scooter. Oh we know him, alright! He always races around scaring people, but he never brings us any bread. Always teasing us… it serves him right. Haha, look at him now!”
But Jessy didn’t fly off; he stayed exactly where he was. He was hungry so he needed to fish. He walked threateningly towards Mr Noiseman to scare him off. But Mr Noiseman couldn’t go anywhere. He was stuck in his seat in the cold water.
He closed his eyes so he couldn’t see what was happening. People along the edge of the water started to shout and call out. Mr Noiseman could hear them all around him. He felt very ashamed, but there was nothing he could do now in his wet and sinking scooter.
Slowly he felt the cold water rising in his clothes and up to his neck. Oh, it was so cold and so muddy! And all the time the heron’s long beak and beady eyes were looking at him. What was the silly bird going to do? Oh, no – not that…!
Noisily Jessy flew out of the water and landed on Mr Noiseman’s head. He could feel the heron’s claws gripping into his hat and hair.
Jessy didn’t know why, but with one beat of his wings he had hopped onto Mr Noiseman’s head. From his new vantage point, he looked in amazement at all the local people pointing and calling. They made such a noise together!
This was all too much for Jessy, who was shocked; so he dropped a large white heron poop on Mr Noiseman’s head!
‘Dirty bird!” Noiseman screamed under him. He could feel the poop slipping down his hair into his neck, but then he shut his mouth. He didn’t want to make the heron any angrier; he was afraid of the long beak.
From the sidelines people were laughing and shouting. Everyone wanted to see this. A heron standing on someone’s head is not something you see every day. Jessy seemed quite happy up there; he wasn’t making any move to go elsewhere.
Other people watching felt sorry for Mr Noiseman, but they couldn’t see how they could help him without getting themselves wet. Luckily a couple of young men walked over to the water to lift Mr Noiseman out of his scooter. That wasn’t easy because as soon as they got close, the heron’s beak pointed dangerously near to them. So they were forced to take a few steps back again. It was a strange sight to see how a thin little heron could keep five, fit young men at a distance.
What about Mr Noiseman?
Well he kept vey still, but suddenly he got an idea. Earlier this morning he had made himself some salmon sandwiches to eat in the park. He could feed them to the heron, because that scraggly thin bird must be really hungry by now.
Mr Noiseman managed to get the parcel of sandwiches out of his wet coat pocket and threw it into the grass beside the water.
“There’s fish in there – he’ll come and get it!” he shouted.
The young men understood Mr Noiseman straight away, but Jessy was even quicker. Before the parcel of sandwiches had even landed, he had flown from his perch on Mr Noiseman’s head and was busy opening the parcel with his beak. He could smell the salmon. It was smoked salmon! Jessy didn’t get to eat that very often!
Mr Noiseman shouted happily and waved his arms in the air. The heron had flown off his head and the young men could come and help him out of the water.
Jessy allowed nothing to disturb his enjoyment of the salmon. One by one he picked the pieces of pink salmon from the sandwiches – he didn’t want the bread – just the salmon. So the geese flew in for the bread and looked at the heron in astonishment. “Look at that – he’s got his fish. How did he manage that? Are there fish in our water? He’s a really smart heron!” But the geese had to wait for Jessy to finish the salmon before they could eat the bread. That is the order of things!
Now Mr Noiseman could safely be taken out of the water, he stretched out his arms and the young men were able to pull him out of his scooter. His clothes were all dripping wet with the muddy water. They laid him down on the grass while they went to see if they could rescue his expensive mobility scooter. That was no easy task as it had heavy batteries and the wheels were stuck in the mud. But they managed, and the scooter stood next to Mr Noiseman on the grass, dripping muddy water. Then the young men picked up Mr Noiseman and put him upright in the scooter again.
There was loud applause from the bridge and from the edge of the water. Everyone was pleased that the young man had been rescued from the water. And happy Mr Noiseman was very glad to be sitting on his scooter again. He waved his hat at his rescuers to thank them, and the spectators understood and applauded again. Then Mr Noiseman pointed to the heron, still busy eating his salmon. Everybody was laughing and applauded again, now just for Jessy.
Thankfully, a couple of Mr Noiseman’s neighbors were also in the park and they were willing to help him home. They saw how he was shivering with the cold and suffering from shock. It could all have been a lot worse. He now needed to get home fast for a warm shower and clean clothes.
The neighbours helped him by pushing the scooter, which was of course totally waterlogged, and held on to the shivering Mr Noiseman as they left the park. Jessy watched everything as he had now finished all the salmon. So with a loud squawk he flew up and followed the group out of the park.
Once home, a neighbour opened the door and they pushed Mr Noiseman and the scooter into the warm corridor. A couple went inside with him to help and the front door was closed.
From the air Jessie had seen a convenient lamp-post in front of the house, and he landed on his thin legs on the top. It was comfortable up there, and he had a good view and was safe from people and dogs. He tried to see in through the windows to see where that Salmon Man was now. Jessy stayed until it got dark, and then he flew back to his sleeping tree in the park.
The next morning, Jessy came back to his lamp-post early. After waiting for hours, at last the front door was opened and he saw Mr Noiseman drive out. He squawked angrily.
Mr Noiseman laughed when he saw the heron looking down from the lamp-post with his beady eyes. He had spotted him straight away, and had come out prepared with a parcel of salmon. He accelerated his scooter, happy that everything had dried out and was working once again, and he set off for the park with Jessy flying behind him.
Since that day Mr Noiseman never drives on his own. Wherever he goes, Jessy goes too. Somewhere in the air above his head. They are always together outside.
From that day on, his neighbors in the street all call Mr Noiseman the ‘Wild Salmon Man’, as he feeds salmon to Jessy every day on the bridge in the park.
Mr Noiseman still enjoys racing fast through the park, but only when it’s quiet now, because Herons don’t like it when its busy!
Bedtime Story for Kids by Fons Heijnsbroek
Illustrations by Wendy Tjalma
Translated by Anne Porcelijn, Edited by Jade Maitre
Let’s Discuss the Stories – Ideas for Talking with Kids
Community
1. How are humans and nature shown living together in this story?
2. What animals live in your neighbourhood? Do they like you? How do you respect one another?