The Time Our Thanksgiving Dinner Ran Away

As years in the past, Thanksgiving Day was a cold and snowy day. Like many times before, our dinner would be one of the turkeys dad had raised. During this one particular winter, I helped him feed the turkeys every day and there was this one turkey that always seemed to glare at me, as he would stand off in the corner. I really didn’t want any of them to be our dinner. I spent more time with them before my father hand picked the turkey for our dinner. Every night after daddy left the pen, I would sit with the turkeys and I decided to give them all names. The tom turkey I named Skeeter and he was the one always glaring at me.

Skeeter seemed to like me and he also seemed to enjoy whenever I would talk or read to them. He became braver every day, as he would stand closer and closer to me. He would even peck at the book that I was reading from. One day, I had a bowl of popcorn to share with the turkeys. They didn’t hesitate other than Skeeter, he waited his turn until they were all done. 

That was when daddy stood in the doorway of our barn and told me that they would all be butchered for Thanksgiving dinners and that the big tom turkey, (Skeeter) was for our own dinner. I couldn’t allow that to happen to Skeeter and I knew that somehow I had to come up with a way to save him. Even though I knew that daddy always raised and sold the turkeys for the holidays and to help the family during the winter months, I couldn’t let Skeeter be the meat for our dinner.

I was so sad and couldn’t come up with any way to save Skeeter, so I ran up to my room and cried. That was when I knew that all the other turkeys and some of momma’s jams would be delivered to the neighbors that bought one of the turkeys. I knew then what I had to do. I grabbed a pillowcase and put clothes in it and went down stairs to put some food in as well. I had grabbed the quilt that momma made for me and went to the pen where Skeeter stood, all alone. I took my quilt and wrapped him up in it, even though I had no idea where I was running away to, I knew that I had to protect Skeeter.

I knew my way around the woods, so I headed toward the deep part of the woods where I believed it to be hard for others to find us. A few miles into the deep woods I found a little house that was empty.  Even though it wasn’t real big, it was just right for Skeeter and me. I believed that Skeeter and I would be fine there until the day after Thanksgiving. That made perfect sense to me since there would be no reason to kill him for a dinner. I couldn’t stop thinking about momma and daddy when they find the letter that I left for them. I didn’t want momma worrying about me nor did I want Skeeter killed for our dinner. That night, Skeeter and I had fun and once we both were ready to sleep, Skeeter fell asleep before I did. 

The next day was Thanksgiving Day and as I woke, the sun was shining on my face. I was glad that I had brought some food for myself and Skeeter, we had popcorn and some apples too. As we both began to eat, I heard some voices outside the little house. I couldn’t believe my eyes, there was momma, daddy and some neighbors too. They were all carrying boxes and bags and the closer they got, the more food I could smell. I kept quiet as they came up to the door and knocked. I opened the door and invited them in. Skeeter and I went to our safe corner of the room and glared at them as they all fixed up a man-made table and seats. Over to the side, daddy sat a bowl with grain and one with water for Skeeter. 

We all sat at the table and daddy said the prayers. Once that was said, daddy told me then that Skeeter would only be at our Thanksgiving dinners as another family member.

Many years have passed and I recall this so fondly. Skeeter was quite old and having some problems getting around. The last time I was home from college for another Thanksgiving I went out to the barn to see him, and as I held him close to me he died. I will never forget him and the year that our Thanksgiving dinner ran away.