In the Kingdom of Acirema, there was a terribly incompetent king, King Retrac. Retrac didn’t try to act stupid, that’s just how he was; for, after all, he was a dodo bird. He didn’t rule the land properly, the working class, the pigeons, had no respect for him, and Retrac would eventually do two things that would cause the pigeons to call for change.

The Kingdom of Acirema was almost in anarchy. Seed and vegetables, the only things that provided the birds with sustenance, were short. The enemy kingdoms, the Kingdom of Noinu Teivos and the Kingdom of Nari, were being neglected and able to fester, all while dodo Retrac sat on his throne idle. This infuriated the pigeons. Retrac did nothing!

One day, Retrac made an announcement to confront the food crisis. The people listened intently to his address.

He stated, “My fellow birds, in order to deal with the seed issue, I would ask that all of you give up fifty percent of your seed and deliver it to my castle to be stored for when we really need it.” The pigeons were shocked at Retrac’s declaration. Not only did they already need the seed that he was asking them to give up, but next year’s crop couldn’t be planted. Birds couldn’t survive on seed and seed alone. Strike one for Retrac.

Strike two came one day when the military of Nari seized fifty-two hawks from the Kingdom of Acriema’s foreign council. And what did the thickheaded Retrac do? Nothing…for awhile. A few months later, after the pigeons were already steaming from the seed crisis, Retrac made an attempt on rescuing the hostages. It failed miserably. The reinforcements were not able to get to the citadel where the hostages were being kept. In addition, two hawks died on the journey there. The pigeons now were not only angry, but embarrassed. But the winds of change were about to blow carrying Retrac away.

Many months after the failed attempt, it was time to choose a new leader for Acirema and of course it would not be Retrac. Although clearly the disliked candidate, Retrac ran for office. Apparently he had no idea of his unpopularity. His opponent an Eagle named Nagaer was from the largest town in all of Acirema. Nagaer promised great things and had a clear vision of Acirema in the future that appealed to the people.

Nagaer won the election by a landslide. Only one town voted for Retrac and that was his hometown. Retrac retreated into the trees and along with him went the old regime of “do-nothing.” King Nagaer brought in a sense of peace and kindness, but you could tell that this eagle was an iron fisted ruler. In fact, immediately after Nagaer took office, Nari released all 52 hawks. The other enemy of Acirema, the Kingdom of Noinu Teivos, had a cage erected over the land of Ynamreg separating it into free birds and caged birds. Nagaer told the leader to “bring down that cage.” And he did. The seed crisis was solved and old enemies were placated for the time being. Under Nagaer, the Kingdom of Acirema adopted a new slogan: “Don’t be a do-nothing, do something! But when you do something, think it through first!”