Benigno and Flower, a story about a Rooster who has to take care of his egg on his own. NO, this is not a true tale. I made it up :) read chapter 7 in the notes and credits MORE TO COME LATER! :3 You can find the other chapters on my profile :) Please notify me of any typos! Thank you! :D
Chapter 7 Buttercup fusses over my egg a lot. She insists that I never get off of it, not for even so much as a worm as a snack. She tells me I have to be tough in order to keep my egg alive. I will do what she says, because I love my egg. Now and then Becky might complain about wanting to move from this spot, but I’ve grown used to it. Eventually, she too, grows used to staying in one place, protecting one egg and one chick, getting to know our new flock. Amelia has a knack for interpreting bird calls, not like that’s USEFUL, but it’s still kind of cool. She can also speak Chickadee, Robbin, and Hawk. So, in a way, she IS useful! One day a hawk dove toward us and Amelia stepped forward bravely squawking at it in his language. The hawk stopped to hover and the two had a little conversation before the hawk finally flew off. “What did you say?” Becky asked. “I told him that I know his brother, Louis, and Louis says that I am his friend and that any hawk that comes my way should leave me and my friends alone.” Henrietta is the bossy one, she’s a natural leader, too. It makes it a lot easier for me, since I have to sit on my egg all day, but I’m secretly a little jealous. Buttercup is super friendly and kind. She likes to stick near Becky so that, if she gets the chance, she could babysit Peep. I’m still figuring out Daisy… she seems like a talkative type, but there isn’t much else to her. I wonder what my chick will grow up to be like… … The leaves are changing and falling, the wind has gotten a little fiercer, and last night I experienced something HORRIBLE… …Daisy says it’s called a THUNDERSTORM. FLASH! The world lights up, blinding me. BOOM! A horribly loud noise shakes the earth. And the rain… it’s hopelessly MISERABLE! It DOWNPOURED! We took cover under our little pine tree, but it didn’t provide enough protection, our feathers are soaked. The very WORSE thing that happened that night was that I LOST MY EGG. As I got up to scurry into the cover of the pine tree, I completely forgot about it! When I remembered, I looked ALL OVER the place, under the wet leaves, through the pine needles, but it was lost in the darkness. All I could think about was stepping on it by accident. I encouraged the hens not to move as I tour through the earth for my precious egg. … It is morning, the rain had stopped and the horrible storm has passed, but the earth is soaked. My egg is still gone. I mope around like a turkey who had no tail to impress its mate with. “You’ll find it.” Buttercup encourages me. “I’ll help you look.” We looked EVERYWHERE, even under other trees! I guess I’ll have to assume my egg was stolen by a racoon or trampled on by an oblivious hen, or--- Oh, I don’t want to think about such horrid things. I lay down on the wet leaves to sulk. … Suddenly, I am woken by the shuffling of hens scratching through the leaves and pecking the wet dirt for any worms or grubs that have come out. I stand up and look around. I spot a stranger. A HUGE brown chicken stares at us. “A turkey!” Amelia whispers loudly. We all freeze and stare at her. “Hello, friends!” The turkey says in a thick accent. “Greetings!” Henrietta immediately takes over the conversation that I assumed was directed towards me. I shoot her an annoyed look as I step forward, gently pushing her back with my left wing. “Hello, there!” I smile, fluffing up my feathers to shake off the remaining water droplets. “What name?” The turkey asks. “Benigno! What is your name?” “My name be Feathers!” The turkey comes closer. “I new to forest here!” “Um… me too!” I grin nervously. “I think she’s saying that she’s new to this part of the forest.” Amelia guessed. “I bring big…. Group!” Feathers hesitates between her words, as if searching for something. “…Flock?” Henrietta guesses. “Flock! Big group! Yes! Flock!” Feathers looks excited. “Me go get!” And with that, she turned around and scurried into the woods. “That was… interesting.” Becky looked bewildered. Peep let out a questioning peep. A little while later, Feathers came back with several female turkeys. “This be Tonia,” She started to introduce each hen, “and this is Audrey, Gabby, and Rachel.” Audrey had a broken leg, but she still managed to get around, sort of hopping on her one good leg. “Nice to meet you.” I smiled. (part two coming soon)