by Kimberly A. Cook
Bagged the bird! For those of you who thought I’d lost my mind last week, my poultry paparazzi patrol paid off. Did a quick recon before leaving for my fiction critique group last Saturday to see if the violin playing chicken was in attendance. No fowl. Dang it.
Got in the car and headed for my meeting. Ready to make a left turn and looking right, chicken ahoy! I ignored my left turn signal, and the car behind me, and turned right to get a quick chicken pic. Using my vast stealth abilities from the military, I parked a block away and then went chicken stalking. Got two pics. Here is the best one.
Now this fowl encounter has become a quest. I want to know the chicken’s back story. My journalistic roots are tingling. When did the chicken take violin lessons? Why here? Why now? Why the outfit? Does the chicken have a website? Do all chickens wear Birkenstocks? Or flip-flops? (I’d say thongs, but I don’t want to confuse people and I really don’t want to go there with this chicken.)
Saturday is the big Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade so we all know what that means, rain. Not sure the chicken will show if it doesn’t like to get wet. But I’m intent on getting an interview.
When writing fiction, the author always needs to know the back story of each character. Where do they come from? What happened to them to make them do what they do now? What is their biggest goal? Worst fear? In my fiction books I’m writing, there are quirky animals too. Of course. And like their human counterparts, they all have back stories which explain their motivations.
In “real” life and fiction, everybody’s story is important. We all matter. Our stories matter. What better life long pursuit than to fight for our own happy endings?
How do we do that? We find out each other’s back story. Don’t judge a book by its cover or a chicken by its violin.
Every chicken has a back story!
I definitely want to know that chicken’s backstory. I definitely don’t want to know the backstory of the chicken on my plate at dinnertime. Great photo!
Fun post! I will definitely stay tuned for the followup back story. 🙂
My chickens all have backstories….Coco was an exotic dancer as a younger chick when her feathers were much fuller and her breast(s) were perkier! Colonel retired as early as possible and now “double dips.” Nugget’s story is bit sketchy…I think she is actually part of the witness protection program. Her recollections of the time before she came to live with us just don’t add up. And Schnitzel? Well she got tired of cooking for the logging camp and packed up her knives and ended up with us…where she no longer has to fry up the bacon!
I had no idea you were running a halfway house for chickens! You’re a true fowl friend.