Thankfulness

The thing was huge, but I knew I had to take it out. Arks of hot, thick, red liquid flew as I slashed at this creature with my horribly damaged dagger. Why did I take this thing? He said it could be good again given some care, but right now it wasn't helping much. The creature fought back with its talons, landing some blows here and there. I hadn't had time to put on some armor when this thing showed up and as I felt the pain of it ripping my flesh I wished I had some seconds to prepare. A few quick evasive maneuvers put me in the right position though, and throwing my entire weight into it I managed to sever the head from this hideous creature. It's body flopped around for a bit and as I had a chance to look at it I realized it really did look like a berycled, though a bit uglier. The feathers just seemed out of place on it and the neck just too long. It's body was huge, far too big to be natural. Curious of what it was, I used my scanner to figure out what kind of creature this was. The screen displayed it's name: a turkey, from planet Earth. How it got here, I had no idea, but the screen also mentioned that it was a very tasty thing to eat and my stomach told me to waste no time and cook that sucker up! I started a fire and soon the smell of it cooking made my mouth water, I couldn't wait to try this thing.

Once it was done cooking I ripped some flesh from the beast and pulled it towards my mouth. Saliva flowed freely as I anticipated the first taste and as it finally reached my tongue... I woke up. It was a dream! My curiosity had brought me all the information about Thanksgiving, a holiday of abundance celebrated back on Earth. I tried desperately to think of what it would have tasted like, but even the fabricated smells left my waking senses and I was left with just one thing to remember from it all; my stomach growling and the pains of hunger. As I prepared to leave the comfort of my apartment I mentally thought about what I was thankful for. The home I had here, the living I made, no matter how meager it was at times, and the fact that I lived on a planet as beautiful as this one is. Yeah, I was hungry most of the time, but at least I still had life within me and work to look forward to doing. Perhaps today I would find the big one and be able to get a few pieces of furniture, though I was still thankful to just have a place to call my own, a giant step forward from what a lot of colonists had these days. I hoped others would take some time to remember to be thankful for what they had, even if we don't formally celebrate the holiday here, there were plenty of others who had lost so much to get us here and still so many more who sacrificed much to allow us to stay.