Thinking Outside the Coop

In a quaint village beyond the hills, lived a scatterbrained chicken named Cluckers. Every morning, Cluckers would lay eggs and forget where she put them. The villagers chuckled, but Farmer Ben grumbled, "No eggs for breakfast!"

One day, Cluckers stumbled upon a stash of eggs hidden under a bush. "Eureka!" she screamed. Cluckers went to share her discovery with the other chickens, encouraging them to "think outside the coop."

Word spread. Soon, every chicken laid eggs in unexpected places. Farmer Ben's breakfasts improved, and the village learned: even mishaps teach valuable lessons.

And Cluckers? She never forgot that lesson again.

From Guest Contributor Chinmayi Goyal

Cabral

Immediately after he was stripped of his chevrons, Cabral ripped off his shirt, stepped out of his pants, turned, and ran. He hurdled the low stone wall, graceful as he could manage. Moments later, shot at but only nicked on the hip, he lay face down in the coop surrounded by surprised hens and their bolder cocks. He crawled, stopped, caught his breath, inhaled the scent of shavings and other leavings. Not far away he heard the bleating of the small disparate herd. “Why,” he later almost told his captors, “Why didn’t I seek the goats? That’s where I belong.”

From Guest Contributor Clyde Liffey

The Chicken Farmer

The chickens followed him from inside their coop, pacing back and forth. They never took their eyes off him.

He stopped going outside except when entirely necessary. He'd constantly peek through the curtains hoping they'd not notice. They always noticed. They were waiting for him to make a mistake.

Chickens were meant to eat pretty much anything. But his chickens had gotten a taste for grapes. They were sweet. They were also expensive.

He couldn't afford to feed them nothing but grapes, so the chickens had gotten a taste for eyes. Now, they were determined to have his other one.

The Transformation

As Gregory Samson awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a giant chicken. There was no doubt but that he was monstrous.

Gregory feared the ridicule of his peers. He dwelt on past incidents, when others had been shunned for smaller variations. Differences were not well tolerated in his society.

He rose from bed and stumbled into the yard. What before had seemed an entire world was now barely able to contain him. He had grown so large he could easily hop the fence.

How Gregory yearned to be a normal-sized chicken again.