1st draft

Thursday, February 11, 2010

It's a sad sad day :(

Rocky (big one) with Weeble (little one)

A few months ago, Louis came home with a teeny tiny white Bantam chick. He was ridiculous levels of cute, and I fell in love with the little fluff ball. We called him Rocky; actually we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl really, but we always referred to it as a boy. He wasn't like the other chickens that we have, those are for eggs and *whisper* (meat...)... Rocky was a pet. He slept in the house in a little box, and we tucked him in every night to keep him warm. As he got a bit bigger we built him a little nursery pen in the big chicken pen. Louis would drop him off at nursery each morning and I would visit him frequently in the day. When he saw me coming he would get all excited, peeping away like a goodun. When I reached down to him he would jump into my hands. A good little chicken that always ate his worms and veg. I loved Rocky. One day, I decided the time had come for him to run with the bigs boys. Our other chickens get let out of the pen every morning and they run off free range, putting themselves back in the coop when its dusk. Rocky was so little compared to the big chickens, but he wasn't afraid. He stood his ground even when the bigger chickens tried to intimidate him. After a few days he seemed to be doing so well that I let Rocky run with the bigguns full time, just bringing him in when it was dark. He would however make a bee-line for me each time I went in the garden. I'd be hanging out the washing and suddenly I could hear Rocky peeping excitedly and running in my direction from wherever he was. But one fateful day, tragedy struck. I had to go and fetch Louis from work. It was only 5pm, not near dark so I left Rocky playing with his new friends and jumped in the bakkie (pick up truck to you poms ;-)). Louis had a few places to stop on the way home and we endedup coming back after dark. As we pulled into the yard, I suddenly panicked, where was Rocky?? All the big chickens had gone to the coop, and we nestled on their perches, a place much to high for Rocky to reach. I called him, and I could hear his peeping, but I couldn't pin point where he was. Then, I noticed Lola playing with something in the bushes. She distracted me for a second, but then I went back to looking for Rocky. I was getting worried. I looked everywhere, then Louis called me over. Basjan (pr: Bas-y-an) our biggest dog dropped something at our feet. I was Rocky. He was in a bad state, Lola had tossed him around like a ball, and he was dying. I cried so hard when he passed away a little while after. We buried him in the yard, and planted a tree on top.
I missed Rocky loads, he was a funny little thing. A few weeks later, Louis brought me home Rocky 2. He looked exactly liked the 1st Rocky, and soon took on the same personality, excited to see me, running over to me etc. But this time, I played it safe. I would take Rocky to nursery, but then shut the big pen behind me to keep him safe from the dogs. Rocky 2 loved running around in the big pen, exploring the long grass in peace. This morning was a lovely day, so I took Rocky out like usual to let him play in the pen and enjoy the sun. Louis and I went to town. I checked the chicken pen gate before we left and all was well. That was until we came home again. The chicken pen door was open! I paniced, "where's Rocky?". I went to the pen and called him, but he didn't come running like usual. Then, Louis found him, all his feathers where off and he lay still in the grass. The dogs had killed my little Rocky 2, too. I'm so sad. I'm going to miss that chicken. RIP Rocky dude, enjoy the big farm in the sky. xxx

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