Have you ever wondered what it's like to be relied on all the time? Well guess what; it's tiring. Everybody expects you to lay an egg every single day, making sure you lay in the same nesting box that Rosie assigns you. I hate it. Why does it matter which nesting box you lay in? It's not like you are in school; we're not learning anything. Just lay an egg where you want to. Believe it or not, I have held a meeting one time just to discuss this. I started out clucking, "I think we should have the freedom to choose our nesting areas so that we are most comfortable for ourselves, not what you think Rosie." She replied, "I know you are unfamiliar with this rule, but it is in my blood as a head hen to take order to be an established flock." "Lay it on the line Rosie, you know that you don't like your box," I blurted. "Talk all you want Pearl, she isn't going to change her mind," purred Violet, my sister. She is a Lavender Orpington, like me. Unfortunately, she is older than me, so I have to do what she says. I backed down from the argument and gave a fake apology to Rosie. I have envied my sister since that day. Violet was supposed to take my side and everybody else was as quiet as a mouse. They feared me and wouldn't eat when I would eat or drink when I would drink. It's like living in heaven; everybody is so scared of you, they just leave you alone to your peace. It was finally quiet, I could lay my eggs in peace. I got the good shares in the food scrap bowl. I bathed in the cleanest, coolest dirt. I had practically become the new head hen. Until yesterday. Rosie had woken us up all early to tell horrifying news. Shadow was missing. She lays the bluest eggs I have ever seen in my life. And now she was out in the world, possibly being eaten by the coyote ghost. I overheard the story in some of my first days in the flock. A starving animal dragging itself to it's den, just to fall short from shelter as a towering moose trampled it by accident. It is said that the coyote shows up during winter to find it's den once again. I'm not surprised that Shadow escaped the coop. The roof is covered with thick metal wire, with smaller holed metal mesh covering until the very front of the coop. You see, the coop has the garden shed, where all of the food, water, and nesting boxes are. Surrounding the front of the shed is a dog kennel cage about twice the size of the garden shed. The roof covers everything except for the area above the kennel door. We call it the Hole. Only the Easter Egger's can fit if they really tried. Coco looks sick with the worried thoughts of her sister. Shadow has never been the exploring type. If it was anybody, I would say Rosie, counting how many times she escaped this summer. I felt boiling with anger. I lunged towards Sunseed, our sentinel. I remember causing quite the commotion. "Why didn't you watch outside the coop? Aren't you the sentinel? Act like one!" I screeched in her face. Coco tried to calm me down by her persistent cackling. It's so annoying, even Mother Hen finds it persistent. Sunseed gave out a firm answer, "I'm doing my very best each day. If you are so concerned about her, maybe you should go for her." That was the last straw. I pecked at her eye and called her something that I can't remember and threw myself up the Hole. I heard Violet trying to call me back but I refused to listen to my own sister's words. I flew off into the distance and landed on a brittle elderberry shrub. With no leaves to hide myself into, I could hear Lavender laughing her feathers off. I shot her a look even though it was useless. I bent my knees and flapped my purple-gray wings into the sky. I soared for around 5 seconds but that was enough time to land on an old wooden fence that was rotting in the winter snow. I continued this manner until I got onto a tall, rotting tree. I could see Mother Hen's coop, the yard where pullets and cockerels go to play for the summer, and the Gray Barn. I swear I could hear so many coyote yips but it was probably my imagination. So here I am, on the tip of a tree branch trying to land on the bran roof. Until the tree snaps in half. I didn't realize the wind was blowing fiercely in my face. The tree gave up and began to fall. I flapped like crazy and started flying my way over to the forest behind the barn. Surprisingly, I stayed in the air for a whopping 15 seconds, only because a stream of air lifted me even higher. But in a few short seconds, everything went wrong. I started falling at high speed, and my body was spinning. I tried to slow down my fall by flapping my exhausted wings over and over again. I failed and hit a frozen creek body first. I felt my neck pop. That one spot on the creek where I was wasn't frozen all the way, and I fell in. The water was freezing. Chickens can swim but not like ducks of geese. I struggled to stay above the chilly water. I kicked the ice and pecked at it trying to break the ice.
Finally, I got out and laid myself on the snow bank. I fell into a deep slumber, frozen both physically and mentally. I wasn't sure if I was going to wake up again...
