Spruce Bruce the Barnacle Goose was terribly handsome but rather obtuse, he liked being social and preening his looks but wasn’t much bothered with pencils and books, and so it occurred near the end of the year that Bruce’s young mind became troubled with fear, and he strutted and stumbled his way through the flock to bring to his parents the cause of his shock. Spruce Bruce the Barnacle Goose complained to his Mother. “My feathers are loose. So loose in fact that I’m losing a few. Oh mother please tell me what am I to do?” “Don’t worry.” She told him. “Don’t worry at all it happens each year when the leaves start to fall, when the weather turns cold and the wind starts to shout first your feathers get itchy and then they fall out.” Spruce Bruce the Barnacle Goose said to his Mother, “Oh what is the use, of feathers that itch in an unpleasant way and fall to the ground at the end of the day, I’m looking so awful I think I could die, and when they’re all gone, oh how shall I fly? Oh Mother your loving and wise it is true so tell your poor son what he’s going to do.” “Don’t worry.” She told him. “ I’ve told you that once. Do want everybody to think you’re a dunce. It’s perfectly natural, it happens each year and I promise you darling they will reappear. The ones that you have are already quite worn they’re tired and tattered and terribly torn you really don’t need them so just let them go, and when they are gone then the new ones can grow.” Spruce Bruce the Barnacle Goose said to his Mother, “It’s really abstruse. These feathers I grew, if I have it correct get damaged by wearing and fail to protect. which is why they get itchy before they get slack, and though they fall out they will also grow back, and then I can fly and be safe from the rain and handsomely dressed in a suite once again.” Spruce Bruce the Barnacle Goose subjected his parents to no more abuse, but did what his mother had told him he should and looked after his feathers the best that he could. And so it occurred, not long after this that young Bruce’s mind discovered the bliss of having his feathers all shiny and new and of feeling quite proud of the way that they grew.