The Chicken Came Before the Egg
27
(27)
((9))
(((6)))
((((1))))
(((((0)))))
27
It was beautiful, pure and free. I was who she always wanted, she was what I always desired. It all looked, felt, sounded so good, so perfect.
It has wings, which when flapped allow it to take flight. It has a beak and two four-toed feet. Majestic, it is not but when plodding around with a clutch of progeny, one cannot help but smile. Small and feathered, they are protected from all threats by their mother. The small ones come out of the mother so simply, elegantly, and without any covering.
(27)
It was all so beautiful until it wasn’t. I was wrong and so was she. The beauty, freedom, and courage had vanished, the only reminder of past joy being the pieces of a now shattered heart. Why venture into the unknown, why dare to love if it can cause such pain?
Conditions began to change, no longer were they calm and pleasant. Instead, the environment became arid and inhospitable even to the most hardened and experienced winged creatures. How could the small ones survive? Many of them didn’t. The only ones remaining had a thin layer of covering around them.
((9))
I decided not to love but to like. To be hospitable but not vulnerable. To be kind at times but never generous. I couldn’t take the risks I once took. I had to look out for myself. Shield myself from the dangers of loving. I met someone, we liked each other, had a family and children who we liked.
The surviving small ones all had a thin layer around them. When they became large and reached mating age, they all mated with large ones who when they were small all had thin layers around them. As a result, their small ones had a slightly thicker layer around them. Conditions were still unkind thus only the small ones with the thickest layer survived.
(((6)))
My parents liked me but never loved me. I never quite knew how to love and liking seemed like excessive effort and little reward. If liking led to little reward, loving must be even more futile and the potential for heartbreak even larger. So I will not love, nor will I like, I will merely endure. I found someone to endure, we had kids who we neither loved nor liked but endured.
It broke through its moderately thick outer covering which protected it from the harsh environment. The covering meant it survived. It was lucky, unlike the others who did not have a covering. When it was time to mate, all prospective candidates had survived their early days as they also had moderately thick outer layers when they were young. They mated. Their offspring had even thicker outer layers, which was good because they would survive.
((((1))))
I was endured. I only know how to endure. I will not love. We met, married, and had kids who we tolerated. They will not love, because they weren’t loved. After all, I was not loved.
It flaps its wings, procreates, and produces small ones that have thicker and harder outer layers. They survive, like others with thick outer layers. The survivours get together and reproduce.
(((((0)))))
I was never loved. I do not know how to love. I will not love. We met, but did not love, married and did not love, and had kids who we did not love. They will not love, because they were not loved. After all, I wasn’t loved.
The chicken will produce eggs inside of which is a chick that will grow and continue to cycle, but this was not always the case.
Themes: chicken, egg and intergenerational
Your turn - Submit a 600 word piece of fiction below based on one of these three themes and a selection will be placed on the blog. Happy writing .