A Chicken Embarks on an Unexpected Journey

Doris discovers the world

Photo by Michael Anfang on Unsplash

Doris was a happy girl.

Every morning as the sun began to rise, it would bring just a little bit of light into the sky and Doris would wake up.

She would listen at first, remaining quite still in her box, alert to the night noises as they slowly faded away.

As soon as she could feel the change in the dawn, she would pull her head out from under her wing and open her eyes.

Then the songbirds would begin to greet the day and a feeling of joy would rise up inside her.

‘Day,’ she would whisper in a clucky voice. ‘Day!’

She could tell if the day was going to be sunny by the way the rooster crowed. This morning, he was perkier than ever, which was contagious in the hen house.

She could hear her sisters begin to cluck and murmur, as they stretched and settled themselves for another day in the yard.

Soon they heard the creak and clunk of the door to the house and the footsteps of the man as he came out to open the door of the coop.

She could hear the panting of the dog, Lucy, who was always with him.

Doris didn’t mind Lucy.

She was a big old lab that was friendly to all the chickens, even though her nose sometimes got in the way.

All the girls were excited to go out into the fresh air. The coop always got a bit stuffy by the end of the night, but it was their safe place in the dark night. They were always happy to go inside when it was time.

As soon as it was her turn, Doris went out the little hole that was the door to the coop and walked down the ramp.

She was humming to herself, a song she liked to sing about ‘Day’ and ‘Sisters.’

Her little murmurs were in anticipation of the greens and bits the man was dropping into the feeder.

There was a sudden squawk from the rooster as a large dark shape appeared from the sky. It landed right beside her on the ground, scattering the other hens nearby.

Doris was too stunned to do anything but stand there and look.

The shape turned out to be a large bird with a white head and a hooked beak. It was looking right at her with sharp yellow eyes.

She squealed and tried to run, but it was too late.

It pushed her to the ground with heavy claws and held her there, while she screeched and squirmed, trying to get away.

It started to peck at her, and when it tore a piece of her shoulder, she realized she was in the worst trouble.

Then she heard Lucy, barking as she ran from the yard. The man was coming too. She could hear him yelling.

There was hope, she thought. They would save her.

Then Lucy was right there, growling and rushing at the eagle.

There was a loud whoosh and she could feel the claws tighten their grip as the eagle left the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to stuff her head under a wing so she didn’t have to watch what happened next.