The following geezer story from Powder Monkey Tales was selected to be performed at the Idaho Centennial Play, 1989, at Pocatello, Idaho:
One day I went down across the road here, perch fishing in the Pend O'Reille. I fished for a while and caught a few. Just down the river on the bank sat an osprey. One wing was hanging down. Looked like he was pretty weak. Must a flew into the telephone line or something, hurt himself.
So I took a couple fish down there, close as I could get. I tossed him one. He ate it. I tossed him another. He ate that one, too. I went back to where I was fishing, and he follered me. I gave him another fish when he got there. Oh, I fished a while longer and headed home. And he follered me again. When I got home it was starting to get a little dark. 'Bout time to go to roost anyway, so I took the osprey out to the shed and set him on the back of an old chair.
Went out in the morning, took him some more fish and a pan of water for a drink. He hung around here for a few days. I kept feeding him. Finally he got so he could fly. He'd fly around a little, and finally got used to flying again. Two or three days went by and he finally took off.
After that, about every few days he'd bring me some fish. Dropped 'em off on the porch. Kept that up. Brought me a mess of fish every two or three days.
One day the game warden caught him at it and said, “Wes, you’re gonna have to buy that osprey a fishing license.”
Excerpt from POWDER MONKEY TALES - A Portrait in Stories by Wesley Moore, alias Post Hole Augerson.
Available on Kindle for 99 cents.
