Read from the beginning HERE. ............... DAY THIRTEEN Ollie Jennifer put me outside for a long time today. I don’t want her to forget she’s a chicken! she declared, which is the dumbest thing I ever heard. If she spent ten days outside, would she forget she’s human? Christopher says she never forgets anything, so I …
Read from the beginning HERE. ................ DAY ELEVEN trapped Ol' spider finally trapped some food tonight. I’m relieved actually, she was looking a little pale. —still. Desperate buzzing is a very sad noise. That poor fly tried to escape, tangling deeper as she inched close, creeping in such a way, I felt glad to be down here. I …
Read from the beginning HERE. ......... DAY NINE Jennifer’s poor choices The humans have a girl hatchling, Sophia. She has very busy hands and hair like a bird’s nest. Everyday she sprays me with oil of the tea trees. She also taps my torn comb with a delicate contraption called a Q-tip. I enjoy her …
Read from the beginning HERE. ........... DAY SEVEN to the bone I’m not mad anymore. Just sore. And listening to humans is interesting. I’m learning lots of new words like predator, nocturnal, hydrogen, and peroxide. They’ve also been researching how to make me better. The Google says I must keep clean and hydrated. So today I ate …
Read from the beginning HERE. ............... DAY FIVE wee hours I can’t sleep. I keep waking and wondering where I am. Then I remember. The bathtub. I can’t tell if it’s morning or night or what. I miss the garden. The entire back garden is ours. Americana humans call it a yard but Christopher is British variety …
Read from the beginning HERE. .......... DAY THREE hunger They tried to make me eat today. I can’t eat. I can barely hold my head up. Please just leave me alone. DAY FOUR yesterday and today Sorry for the dramatics yesterday. I was in terrible pain. Maybe I should tell you …
I don’t think she’s gonna make it. ---overheard. DAY ONE pain My name is Beryl. I am a lady chicken. And today is the worst day of my life. Yesterday I lived in the yard with Wanda, Missus Jenkins, and my twin sister Babs. Today I woke up in a bathtub, and I …
We have a recycle bin at the library that should be called the Cornucopia of Surprise. Mostly, it's trash. Newspaper circulars. Worn paperbacks with detached pages. Broken books. Wet books. Moldy books. Useless donations like roach-nibbled encyclopedias, obsolete plumbing manuals, and Weight Watcher recipe cards from 1974. But sometimes, you find treasure. One time I found the social studies …
Have you ever heard a chicken in distress? It sounds like a newborn pig being clawed to death. Go ahead and imagine that for a sec. Got it? That's what I woke to 12 hours ago. It sounded like this: Heeeeeelll heeeeeellll squeeeeeeeeee I felt it in my guts. So my eyes popped open. Really. A very upsetting sound. …
Time? 1991. I'm 13. Maybe 14. Driving across country with the fam. Sprawled on the backseat of our Dodge Caravan with my yellow Sony Walkman, listening to Billy Joel's Greatest Hits, staring at the dome light. Wishing I was tan. Pretty. Better at math. Hoping Virginia doesn't suck. Really, this was the extent of my concerns. But something was about …
Jennifer Kabay 