Hi.

Today I shall not be posting anything. Pauses dramatically. Then bursts out laughing. April Fool’s! Yes, it is that day. Or at least it was yesterday. I took a while editing this.

Anyway, apparently even the chickens celebrate April Fool’s, because when I went downstairs yesterday, guess what I found? The chicks had knocked their feeder over and it was lying in the middle of the brooder while a chick was standing proudly on the big-stone-brick-thing where the feeder was supposed to be. They seemed quite impressed with their feat.

In all seriousness, I wrote another chicken story.

I like writing chicken stories.

The Adventures of Chicky Chick: Volume Three

Bawk Bawk’s Revenge

It was a quiet night in the brooder. All the chicks were sleeping, dreaming happy chicken dreams. All but one. Bawk Bawk surveyed the insulting sight of her sleeping sisters with an air of disdain and barely concealed anger. How dare they sleep so peacefully when she, the great Bawk Bawk, could not, simply could not, get to sleep! She thought angry thoughts such as these for several long minutes before coming to a decision. Bawk Bawk’s mind was made up. If she could not sleep, nobody could. She began to formulate a plan.

Meanwhile, in the land of dreams, Chicky Chick was dreaming about the sky. She did not know that was it’s name yet, she only knew that when she was young, she had caught a glimpse of the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. A blue expanse that seemed to go on forever. She dreamed of flying up to it, of perhaps, eating it, if it was food. Chicky Chick was sure it would taste better than anything else in the world.

In her dream, she was flying, soaring, up to The Blue. She stretched her neck, straining to get close enough, for just one peck. Just one peck……

Back in reality, Bawk Bawk was ready to make her move. Everything was in place. Bawk Bakw was perched on the very top of the feeder. A grim smile crossed her beak. She stood up straight, her head held high. History will remember this day, thought Bawk Bawk. The day the legendary Bawk Bawk got her revenge. She stretched out her wings and jumped.

Chicky Chick never pecked The Blue, at least, not in that dream. Sensing danger, she awoke in time to witness her sister Bawk Bawk soaring through the air, chirping madly. Chicky Chick’s eyes opened wide in amazement. She thought fast. Jumping up, she flapped her wings frantically, propelling herself into flight. She aimed straight for Bawk Bawk. Chicky Chick collided with her sister just in time, pushing them both away from the rest of their sisters, and shoving them both to the ground. Bawk Bawk let out an angry screech. “Noooooo!”

Now, while Chicky Chick did stop Bawk Bawk from landing on her sisters with her brave act of daring, the noise both parties made woke all the chicks nevertheless. Sleepy chicks raised their heads in confusion and annoyance. Who had woken them up? The sight the chicks saw was certainly an interesting one. Chicky Chick and Bawk Bawk were circling each other, both chirping angrily. The chicks’ eyes widened. This could only mean one thing. Chicky Chick and Bawk Bawk were going to have a Chicken Duel. This strange custom was centuries old, and how chickens through the millennia had settled disputes. The two chickens dueling circled each other, but the duel could not begin until another chicken stated the reasons for the duel.

Chirp Chirp stood up. The other chicks slowly got to their feet. Chirp Chirp walked forward and stopped directly between Chicky Chick and Bawk Bawk as her sisters watched in stunned amazement. Surely Chirp Chirp did not intend to state the reasons? Chirp Chirp had a well earned reputation for being quite shy. I’m telling you, think of the shyest soul you know, and multiply it by a hundred or so, and that might, might, come close to how shy Chirp Chirp was. I should, perhaps, tell the tale of why Chirp Chirp chose to abandon her timidity………..but not now. Later, maybe. For now we are following the heroic adventures of one Chicky Chick, and we cannot go down side roads such as these, or I fear we shall become lost and never return to our intended destination.

“Will the opposing parties please state their reasons for dueling.” Chirp Chirp peeped in her high voice.

The two chickens began chirping at the same time.

“She was going to-“

“She shouldn’t have stopped-“

“I barely stopped-“

“My revenge-“

“I can’t believe-“

“I was-“

“Stop!”

Chicky Chick and Bawk Bawk stopped and stared in surprise at their shy sister.

Chirp Chirp took a deep breath. “All right, Chicky Chick, you go first.”

Bawk Bawk opened her beak to protest this, but one look from Chirp Chirp silenced her.

Chicky Chick sighed. “I am dueling because Bawk Bawk here,” she glared at her sister, “was trying to wake everybody up. She was chirping loudly and flying straight for us, I barely stopped her in time.”

Somebody muttered that as they were all awake now, she didn’t do a very good job. That somebody was quickly shushed by her sisters.

Chirp Chirp turned her attention to Bawk Bawk.

Bawk Bawk raised her head defiantly. “Chicky Chick was the one trying to wake you up. I’m the one that-“

Chicky Chick cut her off. “So now you’re a liar, too!”

Everyone started talking at once. Some believed Chicky Chick, some believed Bawk Bawk, others weren’t sure what to think, and really just wanted to go back to sleep.

“Quiet!” Chirp Chirp commanded.

The chicks fell silent.

Chirp Chirp quietly related the reasons for dueling.

“The reasons,” Chirp Chirp said, “real or not, have been stated. Let the duel begin.”

So the greatest duel the chicks had ever seen (the only duel the chicks had ever seen, but that wasn’t the point), began. The two combatants flew at each other with fierce determination. The first to be knocked to the ground lost. You could flap wildly, peck, or anything, really, there were few rules in Chicken Duel. Bawk Bawk pecked and pecked. Chicky Chick flapped her wings in Bawk Bawk’s face, hoping to unbalance her. The duel continued. (If this were a movie, I promise you epic fight music would be playing).

After several minutes, the end seemed near. Chicky Chick could barely stay on her feet. Bawk Bawk smiled evilly, and reared back her head for the final blow. Chicky Chick knew one push would knock her over. Chicky Chick closed her eyes sadly.

But then she remembered. She remembered her past. The long trip to the brooder, which she recalled only in bits and snatches. Her first sip of water. Her first bite of food. Endless games of “Who Can Fly The Highest” with her sisters. Discovering the Grey. Wishing for freedom. Trying to escape. Failing. Failing. She discovered the Grey only to have it disappear. She wished for freedom only to see what little she had taken from her. Chicky Chick opened her eyes. She would not fail this time. The tale of Chicky Chick would not be one of despair.

She remembered. She remembered the future, her dreams of the future. She would find freedom. She would peck The Blue. She would fly higher than any chicken before. She would not fail. Not this time.

The chicks watched in amazement as Chicky Chick flew straight up into the air, higher than any of them had ever flown before. Chicky Chick came back down to earth, landing right on top of Bawk Bawk. Bawk Bawk tumbled to the ground. Chicky Chick was the victor.

Here this story ends. It ends, not with defeat, but with victory. Remember the story of Chicky Chick. It is a story of a chicken who dreamed, hoped, and persevered with that endless determination of chickens. It is the story of a chicken that- well, we’ll get to that eventually. Eventually Chicky Chick will face her greatest challenges, her greatest hopes, and her greatest fears. Eventually she will face an enemy so great………some will wonder if she can win. But I believe one should never underestimate a chicken. It’s usually a bad idea.

Thanks for reading this, I hope you liked it. Chicky Chick certainly has interesting adventures, does she not? But the greatest adventures are yet to come….

Now for a quote, again, from one of my previous posts,

A Warm Day

“In the north,

when the snow is melting and the birds are singing.” -Kylli Berg