Long ago there was a turkey called Steven who lived in the beautiful hills of West Virginia. Steven was a happy turkey, he roamed the plains with his turkey family and turkey friends all day, and at night he slept under the stars nestled between other turkeys sharing their warmth.
One day as Steven was going for his morning walk, he heard a commotion going on at the old babbling brook, so he wandered over to investigate.
As he approached he saw that there was one turkey standing on a rock in front of the brook, the sun was at his back and short plumes of water lit up behind him as the water splashed against the rocks on its way down to the river. Steven joined the mass of turkeys listening to the one on the rock, who he learned was called Estoban.
"What's going on?" Steven asked one of the other turkeys.
"Estoban is saying that we should move from this place to one of safety." The turkey replied.
Steven turned his attention to Estoban and pushed his way through the feathers so as to hear him better. Estoban was very sure of himself, his chest was pushed out and he had a fine wattle dangling below his beak. Steven listened, mesmerised.
"How many of us are going to be lost this year to predators?" Before anyone could answer Estoban carried on.
"Opossums, raccoons, snakes, eagles, just about everything wants to eat us!! Do you want to be eaten by a snake?"
A cacophony of gobbling disagreement rose from the turkey crowd.
"No!" Steven shouted with the others. "Hell no!!"
"Exactly my brothers and sisters!" Estoban rose up even higher as he agreed with the gathered multitude.
"However it does not have to be like this, there is a place of sanctuary not far from here. A place where we no longer have to worry about snakes stealing our unhatched young, or eagles carrying us off into the night. I for one am sick of the fox that gorges himself on the fat of my brethren."
Estoban paused to allow the crowd to agree with him, before continuing on with his soliloquy.
"There is a place at the foot of the mountain, and we should go there."
One of the female turkeys cried out "Tell us where Estoban!" She was joined by a chorus of voices. "Yes! Tell us where, we want to be safe!"
Estoban looked over the crowd before continuing.
"The place is called Christmas Farm, there we will be fed and looked after by the humans."
An uneasy silence descended upon the turkey crowd. Steven was nervous, but he spoke up, straining his neck so that he could be heard.
"But don't the humans eat us too?"
"Nonsense! The humans worship us." Estoban replied. "They shelter us, nourish us, protect us! We will live in pens surrounded by wire too tough for the jaws of the fox, knit too tightly for the slither of the snake, wrought too heavy for the claws of the eagle. For the first time in our history, we will be safe!" Estoban spread his wings and craned his neck. "Now who wants to be safe?!"
There was much flapping and gobbling as the turkeys exploded in reaction.
"I still don't think..." Steven started to say, but he was drowned out by the crowd.
"Let us vote on it!" Shouted Estoban.
"Yes vote!" The other turkeys chanted.
"Right! Who votes we stay here at the mercy of any predator with a sharp claw or piercing fang that wants to eat us, eat our children?"
Steven tentatively raised a wing, he looked around, there were others who had raised theirs as well. Some of them were now looking embarrassed and were putting them down again.
"Now, who votes for the safety and warmth of Christmas Farm?"
The resounding roar was deafening.
"Well, without further ado, let us march to our safety my brethren and sistren."
And so the turkeys that voted for Christmas, marched willingly to their lives of captivity knowing that they were safe from predators, everyone that is except Steven. He watched as the subsequent generations grew smaller and smaller, until in his old age, there were no more wild turkeys, only Christmas turkeys.
The end.