The Forgotten Birthday

On a beautiful farm, there lived a fluffy little yellow chick named Coco.

Just as the bright morning sun peeked over the horizon, Coco opened his eyes, hopped right out of bed, and gave his tiny wings an excited shake!

"Wow! Today is my birthday!" Coco cheered happily.

He had been waiting for this day for what felt like forever. He was eager for a birthday present from his mama, couldn't wait to hear his friends say, "Happy Birthday!" and, of course, was looking forward to a huge slice of yummy cake!

Flapping his fluffy yellow wings, he trotted all the way down to the kitchen to find his mama.

"Mama!" Coco chirped with excitement. "Do you know what special day it is today?"

Mama Hen was chopping vegetables—chop, chop, chop—and she looked very busy indeed.

She turned her head and said gently, "Oh, good morning, Coco. Hurry up and eat your breakfast now; Mama has so much work to do today."

She really did look incredibly busy. She turned right back around and went back to work without even mentioning the word "birthday."

Coco felt a flutter of disappointment in his tummy. Did Mama forget it's my birthday? he wondered.

After finishing his breakfast, Coco thought to himself, That's okay! Mama is just too busy. My best friend, Leo the duck, will definitely remember my birthday!

He scurried over to the pond, and sure enough, there was Leo.

Coco happily scampered over. "Leo! Leo!"

But Leo looked like he was in a huge rush. He quickly quacked, "Hi, Coco! I have something super important to do right now. Let's play later!"

And with that, Leo paddled away as fast as he could.

Did Leo... forget, too?

Coco's little wings drooped. He felt even sadder now.

But Coco didn't want to give up, so he went to look for another good friend—Roly the pig.

Roly was busy under the big oak tree, sniffling and snuffling with his round snout—oink, snort, oink—as if he was searching for something.

Coco asked, "Roly, what are you doing?"

Roly looked up and gave a happy greeting. "Hi, Coco! I'm collecting these fallen red berries. Look how pretty they are!"

Roly held up a hoof filled with bright red berries to show Coco and then immediately put his head back down to keep searching.

It seemed like Roly had completely forgotten about Coco's birthday, too.

Now, Coco was truly heartbroken.

Mama forgot, Leo forgot, and Roly forgot, too. Nobody remembered his birthday.

Coco slowly walked behind the farm's big red barn. It was very quiet back there, and he was all by himself.

He sat down, feeling very lonely, watching a line of tiny ants carrying breadcrumbs across the dirt. His eyes grew red, and he was just about to cry.

Does nobody love me anymore? Coco thought to himself.

Right at that very moment, some strange noises came from inside the barn.

Coco shivered. "Could it be a big, bad wolf?"

He was a little bit scared, but he was also very curious to see what was inside.

Tiptoeing up to the big wooden doors, he gently pushed one open just a tiny crack. It was incredibly dark inside.

Gathering all his courage, he whispered, "Hello? Is anybody in there?"

Suddenly, all the lights in the barn flipped on at once!

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COCO!"

Wow! Mama Hen, Leo, and Roly, along with the calves, lambs, and bunnies—all of his friends on the farm—jumped out from behind the hay bales!

Coco's beak dropped wide open in pure shock.

The barn was decorated from top to bottom with colorful streamers and beautiful balloons. Right in the middle of a big table sat the biggest, most gorgeous birthday cake, and it was completely covered in fresh red berries!

Mama Hen walked over and gave Coco the warmest hug in the whole wide world. "My silly little chick, how could we ever forget your most special day?"

Leo giggled. "We've been getting this surprise party ready all morning! I was in such a rush because I had to go invite everybody!"

Roly proudly puffed out his tummy and said, "And I helped find the sweetest berries to go on top of your cake!"

Coco looked at Mama, he looked at Leo, he looked at Roly, and he looked at all his wonderful friends. He was so happy he was about to cry again, but this time, they were happy tears.

They hadn't forgotten after all. They had just been busy secretly planning the best surprise ever.

"Thank you, everyone!" Coco chirped with joy.

They all gathered around Coco and sang the birthday song at the top of their lungs.

Surrounded by their happy singing, Coco closed his eyes, pressed his little wings together, and made a special birthday wish.

He knew, right then and there, that he was the luckiest little chick in the entire world.