Once upon a time...

...there lived a Silver Spangled Hamburg named Wayneisha, named after a Hurricane Katrina victim. Her counterpart, Rolexis, with the same name origins, had been brutally mauled by Marshall the Bloodhound who thought she was a whatchugot and not a real, living chicken.

All her life, Wayneisha has wanted to be a mother, an active mother, going through the entire cycle of laying, setting, hatching, and raising chicks of her own. Alas, it never happened. A few Silver Spangled Hamburg eggs were incubated but, as they were stolen by the humans, she never knew if the chicks that returned to the coop were indeed hers or those of one of her counterparts. Plus, by the time the chicks were allowed to enter coop-world, they were old enough to care for themselves and didn’t need a momma to love, protect, and care for them the way Wayneisha wanted to do.

After years of failure and her biological clock ticking, Wayneisha was ready to adopt.

Enter Severus. Wayneisha was somewhat aware of Severus’ origins since she liked to hang out with the turkeys more often than she did with the chickens. They were quieter and mellower and enjoyed the occasional intellectual discussion. She knew that the wild turkey (the bird, not the booze) who would rather wander on her own instead of staying in the safety of the turkey pen had gotten eaten by wild dogs called coyotes and that the eggs that remained in her nest had been taken away by the humans.

A month later, the human who farms in pajamas (rather than the one who farms in boxers) brought a beautiful grey and blonde baby named Severus to the turkey known as Lynda and set him underneath her wing. Wayneisha was envious and set her plan to order. After all, she had seen the turkey leave her nest of poults before more often than she deemed prudent.

Offering friendship and poult-care relief, Wayneisha sidled into the nesting box with Lynda and drank in the smell of baby, a perfume better than new car, a smell unduplicated by anything or anyone. She longed for this child. Finally, she had her chance. Lynda, feeling hot and claustrophobic, left to stretch her wings and Wayneisha extended hers. She bonded with baby Severus, cooed sweet nothings in his ear, and offered him praises unheard from his duller in color and personality up-until-then caregiver. He was smitten.

When Lynda returned, she saw what had happened in her absence but, as she was already jaded by the loss of poults in the past and since she also knew what a self-sacrificing individual Wayneisha was, she put aside her feelings and allowed the hen to take over Severus’ care.

Today, Wayneisha and Severus are inseparable as they scratch, drink, eat, and sleep. At night, they jump as one into the nesting box and whisper their hopes and aspirations to each other until together they let their eyelids droop and fall into Dreamworld.

Let’s hope they live happily ever after.

Comments

[Karalyn]

What a glorious story this is. I enjoyed every word and uttered a small prayer and W and S may live long and well together.

Now seriously, do I hear a children's book coming out the fowl pen? Sure sounds like a great one to me.

[Michelle]

Here, here to the happily ever after part. Great story!

[Nancy K.]

I'd buy a copy of that book! What a pretty chicken.

How are you feeling, my Dear? It seems I detect a bit of a bounce, back in your prose...

[Coach Factory Outlet]

And for better or worse, the outcome of the global recession will be closer regulation of the world's economic and financial systems, for years to come.