By Bonita Wilborn
In this modern age, most young people don’t even know what a home phone is anymore, much less what a homophone is, so I wanted to take a moment to think about some homophones that are used in everyday life.
First of all, let’s define the word homophone. Homophones are two or more words pronounced alike, which have a different meaning. So here we go:
One night the knight at the Wright family’s castle was reading a red backed book that he had read many times before. All of a sudden a large sea gull flew over the flue of the castle. It’s certain that in its attempt to land on the edge of the flue the whole bird fell into the hole and the knight could hear poor bird squawking as he fell all the way down here to the room where he was reading.
Of course the bird was injured from his fall and the knight picked him up and tried to smooth his coarse feathers. The knight did not know what to do because there was no animal doctor in the kingdom, but he knew he had to make the bird like new again, so he did not put the brakes on trying to mend the breaks in the bird’s wing.
The knight quickly rushed to the store by the river so that he could buy some items to repair the bird’s wounds. As he left the store he waved bye to the storekeeper and went on his way. Since the bird was injured it make no sense to the knight to quibble about the dollars and cents he used, and as he headed back to the castle he noticed the various scents that were along the path.
The knight wondered if it would be best to use a piece of wood to bind the bird’s wing. He soon decided that it would be too cumbersome to place a piece of wood on the bird’s two wings that were broken, so it was back to the drawing board. He wanted to find a way to make the bird’s wing stationery, so he pulled out his stationary and pen so that he could write down the right course of action to take. The list was quite long, but the bird laid on the bench and was quiet the entire time.
“There much be an easy way to these wings so that they’re ready to assist the bird as he joins his friends on their journey south for the winter,” the knight thought. He almost threw up his hands and quit before he got through with his mission, but fortunately he finally got peace of mind when he decided to use a piece of string and some tape to secure the bird’s wings.
“This way,” the knight said to the bird, “when you get up there in the wind you won’t wind up back on the ground again. I’m going to fix your wing so that you won’t fall while you’re flying to join your friends.”
By the time the knight was finished repairing the bird’s injuries the night was far spent. He realized that it was very late and that he had missed his supper, which he usually ate at eight o’clock, but due to the bird’s fall the dew was already on the ground. It was plain to see that the bird would not fly like a plane for a few days, but if he ever wanted to see the sea again he’d have to deal with the bandaging the knight had given him that night. It was easy to see that the bird’s tail feathers were ruffled, but the knight certainly had a tale to tell about that night.
It was nearing time for breakfast so the knight took out some flour to make bread for his son to eat. He sat the pan of biscuits right beside the vase with a flower in it.
So when the sun came up the knight awoke his son to tell him about the night. The sun was high in the sky as the son came into the kitchen to eat. He said, “Hi, Dad. Did you have a good night?” As they sat at breakfast enjoying some meat and eggs the knight said son I have someone I want you to meet, a friend dropped in on me last night. The son listened intently as his father began to tell the tale about how the wind blew the blue eyed bird right down the Wright family’s flue as he flew over and managed to wind up inside the house. “I worked on the bird’s wings for four hours,” the knight said. “I rocked back and forth on my heel while I was trying to decide the best way to heal the bird’s wounds.” As the son chews his meat he listens to his father tell the tale about the method he decided to choose.
After breakfast it was time to release the Sea Gull and see if he could fly back to the sea. So the knight said to his son, “The night is far spent and the sun is high in the sky my son. It’s time that we release our little friend into the air.” The knight and his heir watched as the bird flew up over the flue and into the sky to join his bird friends. The knight and his son both gave sighs of relief as the bird vanished and seemed to be getting a smaller size as he flew away. The knight said, “There was a knot in my stomach. It would have really been bad if he had not been able to fly.”