Thy Friend, Obadiah

A seagull has taken a fancy to Obadiah, the youngest son of the Starbuck family, and he is annoyed.

It follows him one afternoon as he does errands and goes to sleep on the chimney of the shed, facing his window at night. It even follows him to Meeting on Sunday as Obadiah follows his parents and two older brothers, Moses and Asa, and his older sister, Rebecca. Then comes Obadiah, and then Rachel, and finally, the seagull. The seagull tries to come right into Meeting with them but Obadiah scares it away by throwing a stone at it. It leaves for a while, but is waiting for him when he comes out.

His older siblings tease him about his “friend” seagull at breakfast one morning which makes Obadiah shout. That day, he has to go to the local mill for a sack of flour. It has been snowing. The seagull is nowhere to be seen and Obadiah rejoices to be rid of it.

But on the way home, he slips on a patch of ice and falls head over heels.

His hats flies off, he gets snow in his ears, and in his boots. His breeches get wet and so does the sack of flour.  He picks himself up and limps the rest of the way home. Many seagulls are watching his progress, but not “his” seagull. Where could he be?

When he gets home, his mother is upset about the wet flour. She gives Obadiah a hot bath and puts him to bed. Still no sign of the seagull. For days afterward, the seagull doesn't make an appearance.

Then one day, Obadiah runs an errand to the wharf. And there it is. But something's wrong. There is a piece of fishing line wrapped around the seagull's beak with a rusty fishhook dangling from it. As he walks past the seagull and tries to forget about it, the seagull hops along behind him. So Obadiah bends slowly down and gently untangles the fishing line from his beak. The seagull flies away.

But that night, the seagull's back on his perch on the neighboring chimney like a guardian angel. Obadiah decides that, since they've helped each other, they will be friends.

This one is a gem.

Such a simple, unassuming, gentle story. This incident in the life of a very young child is nothing an adult would even consider significant, but could be the most significant thing in the world to someone Obadiah's age.

The quaint island and village of Nantucket of more than two hundred years ago, portrayed by a talented author and illustrator, come to life and bring a young Quaker boy with it. Putting themselves in place of another, and someone they can particularly relate to, is the way to instill historical empathy in your youngest listeners. Obadiah could be any little boy throughout all time. He could even be your little boy.

CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS

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