Burying Baby Biddies
On a warm summer day on the farm when I was around six years old, my five-year old sister and I were looking for something to do. With no TV, we were forced to be creative and design our own adventures. Spotting the old mother hen, followed by her seven adorable fluffy chicks, I had an unusual vision.
"Hey! I got a great idea!"
I explained my animal cruelty idea to Phyllis, and we immediately began digging seven little holes in the soft soil of the flower garden with our sand shovels. When the holes were all dug, we dropped a baby chick into each one and buried it up to its head.
"Peep! Peep! Peep! Peep! Peep!" was all they could do. We were delighted with our brilliant inventiveness! Their fluffy faces wore frightened looks as their eyes darted back and forth in puzzlement at their sudden paralysis. We were hysterical with laughter. Like alien yellow flowers with no stems, they were planted in the garden along side the other flowers.
After a while, our budding consciences summoned our guilt for robbing innocent creatures of their freedom. Carefully, we dug them out of their little pots, They shook briskly and tripped eagerly back to their distressed mother hen, happy to have sense back in their existence.
Phyllis and I felt noble for restoring their freedom, but nonetheless glad for having committed the crime. It gave us a wonderfully humorous memory.
This is hilarious! I didn't grow up on a farm, so seeing chicks would probably conjure up my every idea of cuteness. It's most likely because they are not animals that I see everyday.
ReplyDeleteI would never have guessed that you would do this sort of thing to a chick. As children, I guess we tend to commit mean spirited acts. I'm glad you two let them go in the end, even though you were still happy about it.
I really liked the way that you described the terror and confusion of their faces also.