Chicken

by W.G. Willard ©

It was autumn, season of mists and mellow fruitiness, and the two K's, who were on a short leave, crawled on all fours across the muddy plain, shivering from extreme coolness and catching second breaths by their neck mouth.

It became dark, which frightened the two K's as it reminded them of the dark side of Auyola which is mainly a gigantic disk without fences to stick on.

They found a hideaway in a building consisting of thousands of small creatures that made cackling noises and from time to time let go off an egg. The place smelled like hell and some of the creatures didn't like the two K's using them for pillows.

Anyway, it was warm and dry and well lit, and for some obscure reason, it took them back to the time they were born out of a toothpaste tube.

"Are they edible?" asked K'min-el, investigating the oval shaped products sprouting from the creatures.

K'tau-el shrugged three of his shoulder blades. "Let's pretend they are."

They took a couple of eggs and swallowed them, using their rear tongues. They were still warm and tasted reasonable, apart from the shell, because Auyolans don't like calcium. They ate still more until they felt queasy, because Auyolans don't like zinc either.

"We should express our thanks to these small but useful creatures," K'tau-el proposed.

"Why don't we let them loose?" suggested K'min-el. "They seem to me a bunch of lonely souls, captured in their small cells, without intellectual stimuli whatsoever."

"Sounds a great idea to me," agreed K'tau-el. "Should we make a speech in order to prepare them for their freedom? After all, Auyolans have a duty to evangelize their galaxies."

"Okay, let's do it."

So, K'tau-el delivered a great president-elect speech, which made the creatures come to consciousness. They started to chatter and wing flapping and picking their co-workers.

"I think they've got the message!" yelled K'tau-el, going into raptures

. "Let's march onto liberty!" yelled K'min-el and he started to pull down some of the cages.

"This is great!" yelled K'tau-el. "I feel like a liberator."

"And I feel like a Whroyom!" yelled K'min-el.

Suddenly a door was thrown open and a Terra thing started to spit fire bursts onto the two K's who turned to a humiliating escape that marked the inglorious ending of their fleeting joy as knights in shining armor.

Back in the woods they took a rest, sitting on a bed of pinecones and wondering what that was all about.

"I might be mistaken, but I think we've met a Terra tyrant."

"I might be mistaken too, but I think those poor creatures haven't got a chance."

To Terra's luck the liberators didn't want to take measures and to this day we keep enjoying crispy grilled southern style drumsticks, eggs Florentines and chicken soup with matzoh balls.

Try to imagine how the world would look like without our small friend the chicken; we should erect a statue for it.

x x x

PS: chicken statue donations are gratefully accepted by the author.




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