Les Burdett's story of Ug

Author: Les Burdett

Nationality: British

something edible.

Poor Ug, he was useless at hunting, he was scared stiff of anything large with menacing teeth, or anything small for that matter. When a creature of edible size came along, he'd get very nervous and hide behind a bush until it had wandered off.

Ug was cast aside by all in the camp, they wouldn't give him food or let him sit in the deckchairs. He was once more a loner and left to fend for himself. He became very hungry, so in desperation he set off on his own to catch something to eat.

Days passed without him being able to catch a single thing, no one would hunt with him, so he had no help, he was always on his own. Then one day, as he walked home through the woods, he entered a clearing where he spotted a chicken sitting on a twig.

“Hmm, he looks harmless enough,” muttered Ug, “I bet he'd taste just fine barbecued.”

Ug quietly circled around to the other side of the clearing, so that he was behind the bird, then crept closer until it was within reach. Leaping out from behind a bush he thumped the chicken with his club, killing it instantly.

“Ugh,” thought Ug, “I seem to have flattened it a little.” In fact, the unfortunate bird now resembled a feather plate. “Hmm, well at least I killed it. I'd better take it back to camp, it might still be edible, and it will fit nicely into the frying pan.”

When he got back to camp, he went to see the leader of the hunting men to show him that at last his hunt had been successful.

“Ug,” Ug said, “look I've killed some food.”

“Oh, no!” Ug responded. “Throw it away, it’s one of those poisonous things.”

You see, at that time humans thought that all birds were poisonous. After all, some years earlier one of their greatest hunters, Ug, had died after being pecked by a Pterodactyl.

Ug was desperate for food. “Poison sounds better than starving to death, I'm off to cook it and at least I'll die with a full stomach.” he told Ug as he slouched off for his last supper of fried chicken.

“Wow, that does smell lovely,” he thought to himself as it sizzled away, and when it was fully cooked, he ate it.

“That was a lovely way to die,” he said to himself, as he sat on a rock licking his fingers, awaiting his fate.

Over the next few days, the people in camp would come to see if he was still alive, they were amazed to see that he hadn't died. From that day forth Ug was allowed to catch and eat as many chickens as he could find. Soon others tried eating the fried chicken and it wasn't long before, every evening, the whole camp would sit around the campfire on their deckchairs, eating their chicken supper, licking their fingers, and praising Ug for being so brave.

Ug decided to try eating other birds too, many were good, others not so good.

Ug's bravery meant that several of the young women in the camp wanted to date him. He chose one particular girl that he thought was very pretty, Coor, and after a few months they married. About a year later they had a son, Ug Junior; everything was going so well for Ug.

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