The Warm in the Middle

At the very bottom of the world lives the wind. It is the coldest wind there is.

Whooooo, says the wind. Whooooo.

And who lives there with it? The penguins! In their black and white coats, standing together on the ice.

Now, penguin coats are good coats. But when the coldest wind blows, one coat is not enough. Not even for the biggest penguin.

So the penguins do their trick. Would you like to know it?

They huddle.

They squeeze together, all of them, close-close-close, shoulder to shoulder to shoulder — a hundred penguins in one big warm circle. And in the very middle of the huddle, where all the warm collects —

— stood Pip. The littlest penguin of all.

Warm as toast. Warm as soup. So warm and cozy that Pip’s eyes went blinky and slow.

But wait. What about the penguins on the OUTSIDE of the circle? The wind was landing on their backs! Whooooo! Snow was piling on their shoulders!

Don’t worry. The penguins know.

“Turns!” called the big penguins. And the huddle began to move — slowly, slowly, shuffle, shuffle — the outside penguins sliding into the middle, the middle penguins waddling out to the edge. Everyone taking a turn in the warm. Everyone taking a turn in the wind.

Shuffle, shuffle. Turn and turn.

Warm penguins going out, saying, “Your turn now!”

Cold penguins coming in, saying, “Ooooh, lovely!”

Even Pip took a turn on the outside — just a short one, because Pip was littlest — with snow landing soft on those small shoulders. And do you know, it wasn’t so bad? The wind is not so cold when you know the warm is coming back to you. When you know it’s yours too.

Whooooo, said the wind, all night long.

Shuffle, shuffle, said the penguins, all night long. Turn and turn and turn about.

And that is how everyone at the bottom of the world stays warm — not by keeping the warm.

By passing it around.

Goodnight, penguins. Shuffle in close.

Your turn in the middle.