A Fair Adventure

Once upon a time, there was a playful stream. Near that stream was a little village where lived a farmer and his wife. They were pretty well to do as the farmer was a very hard working man. However they had no children. so the farmer's wife spent her time rearing a poultry for their family. The poultry would provide them eggs for breakfast and later she took the rest of them to the village market to sell. The poultry would also provide them with somptous dishes when the guests came for a visit. All in all, the farmer and his wife lived happily.

The farmer's wife had many hens in her poultry. One of them was Mrs. Prettyfeathers. She was a self righteous hen. She thought the wife exploited them way too much. She really hated when in the morning the wife came to take away her eggs. "This is injustice." Mrs. Prettyfeathers often thought. "Why can't I have all my eggs to myself? Afterall it takes much pain to hatch them."

So Mrs. Prettyfeathers plotted a plan. One day when all the other hens where pecking in the yard, she quitely sneaked away and reached the old grainary.

The granary had once caught fire. The farmer had suffered huge loss due to that fire. Yes, those were the days, Mrs. Prettyfeathers remembered, when many hens where taken away from the poultry and made into dinner. But those days were now gone and the granary was now no longer in use. But this was the place, the hens rumoured, where a sly, red, fox called Mr. Gnaw often made his visits. From this grainary he would steal glimpses of the poultry and make his evil plans, with saliva dripping from his six feet long tongue.

The granary was a spooky place. Mrs. Prettyfeathers had also heard of the ghosts of the rodents who had died in that fire, lingering around this place. As she made a tour of the granary, chill ran down her spine. "How will I ever manage it here?" She thought. But there was no other way. If she layed her eggs in the open, Rain would wash them away. If she layed in the poultry, the wife would take them away. This was thus the only option She seemed to have been left with. So she found herself a cozy spot and settled herself down.

Mrs. Prettyfeathers layed eight eggs and she swelled with pride as she looked at them. They were eight healthy eggs with milky white smooth round bodies. "Beauties!" she thought as she nudged them lovingly with her beak. Thus with her new found happiness, Mrs. Prettyfeathers sat herself on her eight beauties and got lost in dreams.

The day moved on. The Sun wrapped up his orange glow and vanished from the sky. The Moon, with his round smug face, came riding the clouds. The stars naughtily giggled at him, in the background. Mrs. Prettyfeathers snored softly. Her lovely face buried in her warm feathers.

All of a sudden, a very loud "crack!" woke her up. Mrs. Prettyfeathers was jolted out of her dreams. Someone was moving outside. She could hear a sound of heavy breathing and the dry leaves crackled outside as two pair of feet were laid on them.

Mrs. Prettyfeathers realised what was going on. She realised what she had led herself into. She began to pray,"Oh Lord, Please. Not me, not my beauties. Please save us. Please don't send this ugly trouble to us. Please Lord. Please Save us. Even if its just for once."

And then, Suddenly, there was a loud crash and a woman screamed, at the highest pitch human voice was ever known to have achieved. Then yelled a man in his baritone. A bullet fired and several other men were later heard. What had happened, the farmers wife while she drew water from the well in their yard noticed Mr. Gnaw. The water pail fell from her flimsy grasp and as all female species are prone to react in such occassions, she screamed with all that her vocal chords could offer. Hearing this, the farmer thought she was perhaps dying and ran to her aid. Then he too noticed Mr. Gnaw and yelled to his neighbours, "Fox Fox Help Help!!". One of the neighbours ran out with his double barreled rifle and fired. Others too then ran to the venue in the prospect of some entertainment.

This humungous disturbance gave Mr. Gnaw a run for his life and Mrs. Prettyfeathers who was by now almost dripping sweat and tears, was spared for the time being. She had perhaps recited half the bible and sweared several dozens over when it dawned on her that her bad time was past. She was safe again. She heaved a huge sigh of relief and thanked her stars.

Since this incident, several days had past. Mrs. Prettyfeathers devotedly sat hatching her eight beauties. But to her despair, they still felt lifeless. After so much of her love and toil, they simply refused to show any sign of progress. Since the incident, Mrs. Prettyfeathers began to be more careful while she sat on her eggs. She hardly allowed herself to slumber and was always alert for every little sound outside. However her situation provided her with very little scope for escape if Mr. Gnaw ever returned. Still she had hope in her heart. She prayed that her eggs would hatch soon so that she would leave this nasty place before that dirty fox came back with his puckered face.

Much time had passed and nothing had changed. The Moon had gone on a vacation leaving the stars to twinkle in the sky, on their own. Mrs. Prettyfeathers was giving up on her hope when one of her eggs began to move a little. She was again jolted but this time, from her disappointment to her delight. She cursed herself to have ever thought of giving up and began working hard on her eggs with a new zeal.

That Night, it was drizzling with gale of cold winds dashing against the broken windows of the granary. "Oh! that is not a good omen." Mrs. Prettyfeathers thought. And she was right. Much deeper into the night, she heard the rustle of the wild bushes outside and she noticed a long dark shadow glide through the walls of the granary. Mr. Gnaw had returned.

"Our fathers in heaven. hallowed be thy name..." Mrs. Prettyfeathers chanted under her breath. She was trembling. This time there was no escape. It was dead in the night and the weather outside was bad. The farmer and his wife were tucked together warmly in bed. There was nobody who would scream and nobody who would fire and scare the monster away.

This time there was nothing to be done. The moment had finally come, the moment she had long dreaded. Luck helps but once. It had done its task once but what now? Mrs. Prettyfeathers sat tightly on all her eggs. Too afraid to make a single noise. Too afraid to even move a muscle. She trembled and sweared under her breath but what was the use. No rebellion works as peril blocks your way. The fox was outside. She could smell the stale breath. She had noticed the long dripping teeth in the shadow. The lashing windows were ringing. They were the bells of her doom.

As She heard soft thuds on the front steps, a strong determination rose within her. Like the turmoil outside, it churned her insides. She suddenly felt warm all over and believe me it was not the warmth we feel under our blankets. The Emotion was diffrent. "If this is it, then this is it." Mrs. Prettyfeathers thought. If I have to die, I will, with dignity. Whatever the danger may be, I will die fighting it. My beauties will never need to hang their heads in shame. They will forever be proud of their mother and henceforth will take the path she took." She belted herself. She would strike back.

But then again. Would it be easy to die? Wouldn't it definately hurt when the fox would grab her by the neck and pluck out all her feathers? The very thought made her shiver. Eyes lovely red eyes had dialated and all she saw was darkness. "Is this how it felt to die?" Mrs. Prettyfeathers thought to herself. But she was not dead yet and already it was painful. Oh! her poor beauties. what will happen to them. why did she bring them in this world to only let them into this misery?

The Shadow gliding on the soot covered walls. Mr. Gnaw was patroling before the door, sniffing every corner. The nauseating breath was growing heavier and heavier. The cold wind was now blowing with all its might. Her last moments were slowly ticking away.

Oh! what wrong deeds did she do in her past life that she was having to see this day? Mrs. Prettyfeathers as she sat stiff on some hay where she had layed her eggs, under a piece of burnt furniture, was beginning to get impatient. She was getting tired of this slow moving hour to her final destination. With the tension mounting up, she wanted to have it over with soon, even if it is to end in her death. But then wait, was some miracle to happen again?

And it was indeed so. As Luck would have it but again. Several of her eggs suddenly began to move. She raised her feathers and noticed several of them had cracks in them. Her happiness knew no bounds. But then this was no time to be merry when the grim was at the door. The door creeked open and a red nose made itself visible between where the door had parted from the wall.

Yes, Mrs. Prettyfeathers had managed to sneak away from the backdoor with seven of her eggs. However one was left behind. It had stuck to its mischief and stubbornly showed her no signs of life. Hence she had to leave it behind. The rest of them had hatched into healthy yellow chicks by the morning.

Mrs. Prettyfeathers still remembers her adventure. She never went back to the granary. Though she often longed for that one beauty she had lost that day. But then, she was happy that she would never need to go back there again. She might have lost one of her eggs and her heart ached for it but as we live it is not always possible to have to ourselves, everything. Life had taught her this very important lesson, in its own hard way.

As Mrs. Prettyfeathers sat soaking the winter sun, she proudly looked at her seven fantastic chicks pecking in the yard. She sighed. The scene was indeed, very beautiful.