Romance in the chicken coop

Welcome to The Spot Writers.

Prompt for June: write a story that involves worms.

This week’s contribution comes from Chiara De Giorgi. Chiara is an Italian author and currently lives in Berlin, Germany. She writes fiction, with a focus on children’s literature and science fiction.

 

Romance in the chicken coop

by Chiara De Giorgi

 

Image by Enrique from Pixabay (modified by me)

The sun rose and the rooster Rudolf announced it loud and proud as usual. His flaming red crest and wattles shone under the first rays of dawn and the coloured feathers of his tail vibrated to the high notes of his greeting to the sun. The hen community in the chicken coop under his jurisdiction diligently woke up. Each one fluffed her feathers, shook her head, and climbed down from her perch, where she had spent the night.

There were six of them: the oldest and wisest were Berry and Rasp. They knew all the tricks to make eggs hatch exactly when they wanted them to. Cup and Cake were sisters, and they were not very bright. They laughed easily: they laughed when they were happy, when they did not understand what was happening, but also when they understood and found it funny. They found everything funny. Or they didn’t understand anything. In any case, they laughed all the time. Lastly, there were Blanche and Rosy, the youngest.

While the older ones were still inside brushing their feathers, Blanche and Rosy looked outside the henhouse, on top of the boardwalk.

“I heard that”, said Rosy.

“You heard what?” asked Blanche.

“You sighed!”

“It was a yawn”, rectified Blanche, unconvincingly. “And even if I sighed? What would you make of it?”

Rosy shook her wings and wiggled around giggling.

“I’ve seen the way you look at him… our Rudolf… singing in the sun with his wonderful squeaky voice…”

Blanche giggled.

“It is squeaky, isn’t it?”

“The squeakiest!” confirmed Rosy. “Never heard one that was squeakier than his, as a matter of fact.”

Both hens sighed, their long necks slightly bent, and their little eyes fixed on the rooster atop the fence, catching his breath for one last cock-a-doodle-do.

“You know, I think he fancies you”, said Rosy.

Blanche winced and began to flail about, spinning in circles at the top of the gangway. The information pleased her, but also made her somewhat fluttery and she couldn’t stand still anymore.

“Rasp and Berry also think so”, Rosy informed her further.

“Cluck! Cluck!” Blanche was thrilled but did not want to show it. She couldn’t do it very well. “Why do you say that?” she asked.

Rosy pointed a foot in the direction of the rooster.

“Look”, she said. “Now that he’s done with his sun salutation, he’ll hop off the fence. First, though, he’ll look around.”

As she spoke, Rudolf did exactly that.

“So what?” asked Blanche, not at all impressed.

“Now that he has seen you, he will make a more elegant leap than usual…”

The rooster descended from the fence with a pirouette that made the long feathers of his tail sway in the sun.

“…now he will peck around a bit, trying to be inconspicuous…”

The rooster pecked with complete nonchalance.

Rosy sighed and retreated into the henhouse walking backwards as Rudolf approached her friend Blanche with a plump worm stuck in his beak.

“Madame”, he said, offering the worm to her.

Blanche, taken by surprise but extremely pleased by the gesture, accepted the juicy snack gracefully.

Both started cooing while the other hens, standing at the threshold of the henhouse, watched them with fascination. Cup and Cake laughed until their stomachs ached. They understood that a romance had sprung up in their chicken coop and found the whole thing hilarious.

 

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The Spot Writers—Our Members:

Val Muller: http://www.valmuller.com/blog/

Catherine A. MacKenzie: https://writingwicket.wordpress.com/wicker-chitter/

Phil Yeats: https://alankemisterauthor.wordpress.com

Chiara De Giorgi: https://chiaradegiorgi.blogspot.com/