Pim the Little Penguin and the Warm Huddle
At the bottom of the world, where the snow stretched white and wide and the sky glowed pink and gold, there lived a little penguin named Pim.
The wind was cold that evening — very, very cold. It whistled across the ice and ruffled Pim's soft grey down, and Pim gave a little shiver. "Brrr," he said. "How will I ever get warm enough to sleep out here on the ice?"
"Come here, little one," called his mother. "Come and see how penguins keep warm."
And all around Pim, something wonderful was happening. One by one, all the penguins of the colony were waddling close together — closer and closer — until they made a great big huddle: a warm round crowd of soft feathery bodies, pressed gently side by side.
Pim waddled into the middle, and — oh! The wind couldn't reach him here. All around him were his family and his friends, warm and close and soft. His mother tucked him against her cosy tummy, under the warm fold of her feathers, where it was snug as a blanket.
"When it's cold," his mother said softly, "we keep each other warm. No penguin is ever cold alone. We share our warmth, all together, all night long."
Pim looked around the huddle. The big penguins stood on the outside, keeping the wind away. The little penguins nestled in the middle, warm and safe. And slowly, gently, everyone shuffled and swapped, so that everyone got a turn in the cosy middle, and no one was ever left out in the cold.
Soon Pim was so warm, and so snug, and so surrounded by everyone he loved, that his little eyes began to close. The wind still whistled far away, out beyond the huddle — but here, deep in the middle of his warm and gentle family, Pim was as cosy as could be.
"Goodnight, little Pim," his mother whispered, tucking him closer under her soft warm feathers.
And the little penguin, warm and safe in the heart of the huddle, closed his eyes and drifted softly off to sleep — while the whole colony kept watch, and kept warm, together, under the wide and starry southern sky.