The Emperor Penguin Chick

The Emperor Penguin Chick is an original story written by C.Syde65. It's about a King penguin chick who somehow ended up being born among a colony of Emperor penguins. The Emperor penguins that were believed to be the parents of the King penguin chick until near the end of the story also raised two Emperor penguins that were biologically descended from the parents, unlike the King penguin chick who was adopted, not biologically related. The story tells how the King penguin chick was struggling to live the life of an Emperor penguin until he finally decided to go and seek a more suitable habitat. The writing of the story started on the 1st February 2018, however it hadn't been worked on until the 5th April later that year. The writing of the story was concluded on the 5th April 2018.

Characters

 * Emperor Penguin Chick/Emperor/King Penguin
 * Emperor Penguin's Mother
 * Emperor Penguin's Father
 * Emperor Penguin's Older Brother
 * Emperor Penguin's Younger Sister


 * Emperor Penguin's Peers
 * Leopard Seal
 * King Penguins
 * Emperor/King Penguin's Mate

Story
Two Emperor penguin parents were awaiting the time where their chicks were scheduled to hatch. There were three of them to be exact, though the mother could only remember laying two. At last the time came where the penguin chicks hatched. The first penguin was a male with a black mask on his face with white around the eyes, and a grey body. The second penguin was a male that looked so unlike the first penguin. He was brown with a longer beak and a smaller head. The last penguin was a female, but otherwise looked the same as the first male chick. The first and third emperor penguin chicks had no problems trying to survive at their home in Antarctica, but the parents of the chicks had a difficult time trying to bring up the second chick. The second emperor penguin chick had to suffer the mistreatment that the other penguin chicks gave him, because he looked so different. The emperor penguin's siblings laughed at him because they thought that he was being difficult, and couldn't understand why he didn't look like them. The emperor penguin's parents grew worried, and although they gave him extra care, he still had a harder time growing up than the others did.

At long last, the emperor penguin chick, his siblings, and peers entered teenage-hood. While the emperor penguin chick's siblings and peers were all the rage on holiday cards, the emperor penguin chick got laughed at because his adult black and white feathers grew in underneath, as he shed his fluffy brown feathers down. But he was happier when he finally completed molting, as he looked more like the other emperor penguin chicks. But as if the emperor penguin hadn't suffered enough problems, there were more problems to come. The emperor penguin had needed to be raised by his parents for sixteen months, while the others only needed to be raised for twelve months. The others were much larger than the emperor penguin was, being 25% taller, and three times heavier. Although the female emperor penguins found the emperor penguin attractive, there was something about him that wasn't quite right. But the biggest problem was that the emperor penguin was having a hard time trying to adapt to such harsh weather. And the others laughed at him because they thought he was being a wimp.

The emperor penguin finally decided to leave his home in search for a better place to adapt to. His siblings and peers laughed as he left, shouting out to him that he'd be sure to come back soon enough, and admit that he was being difficult, and wise up and adapt just like them. Then came more trouble. The emperor penguin was swimming in the Antarctic water when there was a leopard seal eyeing him. It was a hungry seal that wanted to make a meal out of the emperor penguin chick. The emperor penguin charged when he saw the leopard seal chasing him. He charged away from the leopard seal, and the leopard seal charged after him. The leopard seal was catching up with the emperor penguin, until he reached the open water. And then the emperor penguin finally realised that he was going to make it, and that he wasn't going to be eaten after all. The leopard seal was angry, because he was sure that the emperor penguin didn't stand a chance.

Meanwhile back at the emperor penguin's home, the emperor penguin's siblings had told their parents what had happened. That the emperor penguin had left. The emperor penguin's parents decided to go after him, because they were worried about him. They were worried that their second son would get eaten. So they went off. The emperor penguin's siblings went as well, not because they were genuinely worried, but because they wanted to see the emperor penguin make a fool of himself, and to see him come crying back admitting that he was silly for not trying hard enough to adapt into the same environment as them.

Meanwhile the emperor penguin had made it to the sub-antarctic islands. The inhabitants of the sub-antarctic islands looked up and saw the emperor penguin coming towards them. The emperor penguin took a look at the inhabitants, and his eyes lit up. They were king penguins, not emperor penguins, but they looked more like the emperor penguin than the other emperor penguins ever did. It then dawned on the emperor penguin that he wasn't an emperor penguin after all, and that he somehow accidentally ended up with the unhatched eggs of his siblings before hatching. One of the king penguins, a female penguin, went up to the king penguin, as if she knew she had finally found a suitable suitor. The king penguin smiled, as he apparently felt that he had found a suitable suitor as well.

Just then the king penguin's emperor siblings and his emperor parents had found the king penguin with the other king penguins. They were very surprised. When the king penguin's emperor penguin parents and siblings saw him with the other king penguins, it became clear to them as well that he wasn't an emperor penguin after all. He was a king penguin. The king penguin's emperor penguin siblings went up to him and said that they were sorry for the way that they had mistreated him. It never occurred to either of them until that point that he was a different species. They both smiled and hugged their king penguin sibling, they were both happy that he'd finally found his true home. Then the king penguin's emperor penguin parents hugged him as well. They were all happy and promised each other that they would stay in touch every once in a while. Then the king penguin's emperor penguin parents and siblings departed, leaving the king penguin with his mate, and the rest of his new family.

Inspiration

 * I found inspiration for this story while discovering various differences between king penguins and emperor penguins, and that there were more differences that I wasn't already aware of. Such as the two species of penguins very rarely coming across each other physically.
 * What happens in this story is unlikely, if not impossible to happen in real life, but if I had stuck rigidly to reality, there wouldn't have been room for me to write a story around the information that I'd found, along with the inspiration that I'd gotten out of it.
 * This story is sort of similar to The Ugly Duckling. Both stories feature the main character being born to a different species or in the King Penguin Chick's case, a different penguin species. Both of them end up reunited with their correct species at the end of the story.
 * Had I not heard of the Ugly Duckling story as a child, it is possible that this story which I'd written about penguins, may not have turned out quite the way it did. However, the Ugly Duckling was not the primary source of inspiration for the concept of the story. My discovering the various differences between king and emperor penguins was the primary source of inspiration for the story.