AAWC – Challenge 2, Entry 2

       Yippee! It’s the second challenge, and I am hyped! As you know, I’m on Team Summer, and we’re in second place. 🙂 Come on, girls, we can do it! Anyways, I was extremely excited when I saw the prompt image which was…

       There! It’s like it was made for my story – even the amount of chickens is spot-on. :O Anyways, let’s get on to the challenge.

PROMPTS USED:

 

“Oh my, this would look so cute on you!”

“Be quiet! I’m trying to crack this safe.”

POINTS EARNED: 14

      “While you’ve been unconscious,” Aunt Lola continued to speak. “I’ve been searching this place for a way to escape. I’ve been scratching in the dirt, and do you know what I found? A safe,” she said triumphantly, not waiting for me to reply. “Can you believe it?”

        “No, I can’t,” I declared flatly. “Why on the turkey’s tail would Grimer put a safe in here? It’s literally pointless!”

        “Why on the turkey’s tail wouldn’t he?” asked Matilda, desperately trying to be clever and desperately failing.

        “I’ve been trying to unlock the safe,” Aunt Lola clucked us back to attention. She pointed at a black box with funny buttons on it in the ground. “But it won’t do anything! Matilda said that you were wonderful with peculiar gadgets that shouldn’t even be on turkeys’ tails, so we were waiting for you to revive.”

         I inspected the safe carefully, giving it a few dainty pecks here and there. After I had thoroughly look it through, I slowly cocked my head to the left, and then slowly tilted it to the right.

       “What is it?” demanded Aunt Lola eagerly, peering over my wing.

      “It’s breakable,” I said solemnly, propping a wing under my beak to look wise. “But it will take a long time, and I must work in peace and quiet with no interruptions whatsoever.”

        My wish was their command. Aunt Lola sat down on her tail and watched me with fascination in her eyes, and although Matilda was scurrying about picking up flowers and leaves to create accessories, she didn’t disturb my intense practice.

       “Oh my, this would look so cute on you!” she squealed, revealing a tiny little flower that she had discovered – it was the style to wear on tails.

      “Be quiet!” I cried. “I’m trying to crack this safe!”

       “Oh fine,” sighed Matilda, trying it on her own tail.

       After an interval of around five minutes, Aunt Lola spoke up, bristling her feathers a trifle impatiently.

       “Are you finished yet?” she asked anxiously.

       “Of course not!” I said indignantly. “Cracking a safe is serious work. But…I think that I’m almost done. I just have a few more things to go through!”

          Ten minutes passed. Aunt Lola watched me with the oddest expression of awe on her face, while Matilda distracted us both by plucking all the few flowers that she could find. Honestly, it drove me mad.

          “I’m done!” I announced, clapping my wings with satisfaction. “Aunt Lola, you may do the honors?”

         With trembling feathers, Aunt Lola opened the safe. What we saw shocked us into silence and stillness. It was…a little man.

        He certainly was no garden gnome – he  had an unshaven face and dark curly hair. Jeans, a white shirt, and sneakers were his attire, which gave him a plain and unkept appearance somehow.

      “Who are you?” Matilda burst out. She gave him a peck to see if he was real or not, and the man gave a cry of pain.

      “I’m Thomas,” he said. “Once upon a time, I was walking through the woods as a boy, and I saw that fox. I tried to kill the fox for some awful reason, and he shrunk me and put me in this safe. I’ve dreamed about this day,” he continued with a wistful look in his eyes. “Being free from the tigh enclosure of the safe and being rescued by…chickens?!”

       “I’m Lola,” explained Aunt Lola. “These are my two nieces Matilda and Jeanie. Jeanie was the one who broke the safe for your escape, and Matilda is a um…fashion expert?”

       Matilda held up a dark green leaf. “This would suit your complexion very well,” she decided.

      “No thanks,” Thomas back away. “Well, do any of you fair chickens have an idea of how to get out of this place?”

      “No,” said Matilda and I.

     “Yes,” said Aunt Lola. “There’s a little hole in the lid that covers this, and Jeanie could fly you up there so you can get out and find a way to get help to lift this lid so we can all fly out!”

      “Are you able to support my weight?” Thomas looked dubiously at me.

      “Of course I am,” I declared indignantly. “You must be two inches high!”

       The plan was carried out accordingly, and Thomas ran swiftly to get some trustworthy animals that might be able to lift the lid and get us chickens some help.

     “Do you think that he will actually return?” asked Matilda anxiously. “After all, he might just leave us here!”

       “Why would he?” replied Aunt Lola calmly, and Matilda could not answer to that, however much she scratched in the dirt and clucked.

       Thomas came back with a buck, who used his antlers to pry open the lid. The plan had worked so smoothly, I almost couldn’t believe it. We thanked the buck for his service, and he said not to mention it, but he must be getting home soon to his wife and children.

        Thomas hopped on my back, and we began to head to Canterbury pond, where he knew of an owl the could cure his small size and make him big again. By this time, it was dawn.

      As we went galavating on, I was aware of something shadowy and large behind us. I looked around nervously, and I saw something horrifying. Grimer was trying to snatch Matilda’s tail! 

      “MATILDA!” I shrieked. “Watch out!”

      “Oh!” gasped Matilda, turning around. Aunt Lola is a very astute hen, and the moment that Matilda turned to face her oppressor, an idea formed her head.

      “Everybody!” she cried. “CHARGE!”

      We dashed at Grimer, beaks at ready and wings spread out angrily. We bolted at him, shrieking and clucking. He considered mad chickens with a human roaring on the top of it all a very dangerous thing, so with fear in his eyes, he turned tail and ran!

 

       “What a nice adventure this has been,” Matilda remarked later, as we were at Canterbury pond, waving to Thomas who was heading back to his home his normal size.

      “It’s not been terribly pleasant,” sighed I. “I would never call it really and truly nice.”

      “But it’s been interesting,” insisted Matilda. “Hasn’t it, Jeanie? It’s been the most wonderous summer‘s day. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it! For the better,” she added, fluffing her feathers cheerfully. “It’s all happened so fast – each of our moves seemed to have been planned, haven’t we?”

     “It’s the power of chickens,” said Aunt Lola cheerfully. “No silly human could ever be so wonderful. Except for,” she thought a little bit. “Except for Thomas,” she decided.

      It was a lovely adventure, but one that would have to end. However, the legacy of the chickens will always live on, and chickens will always have adventures. No matter what.

       Yes, I got a little bored of writing the chicken story. 😛 I mean, it was fun at first, but then the idea just sort of chickened out. XD I didn’t like this part of the story nearly as much as the first part, but it was okay. 😛 There’ll be a new story next entry, although it won’t be continous. 😉 GO TEAM SUMMER!