Saturday, November 01, 2008

Why did the chickens cross the road?

The McDonald’s restaurant closest to my home sits on a corner where a major east-west interstate highway crosses a busy four-lane state road. Traffic at this particular intersection is almost always fast and frantic, definitely not for the faint of heart.

There I was, sitting in the drive-thru lane at McDonald’s, when a movement at the edge of the parking lot caught my eye. I turned to get a better look and saw two hens, one red, one white, walking together next to the curb like two women on a mission.

All those cars whizzing by on the interstate? Didn’t seem to faze them. The hens walked with a purpose, as if they knew where they were going, stopping only for a moment to pick up a discarded french fry, then continuing on their eastward path.

I wondered how the hens got there. How and where did they cross the busy road? Did they recognize the danger they were in? And had they consciously decided that the reason for their trip was worth the risk? Why did those chickens cross the road?

One possible answer occurred to me, but even as I thought it, my mind wanted to reject it. Maybe I’ve seen too many movies on the Lifetime Channel. Maybe it was just my imagination running wild, but do you remember the movie about the woman who traveled to the seamy underbelly of the city in search of her runaway daughter, who had been drawn into prostitution against her will? No amount of danger could have kept that woman from searching for her daughter.

I thought of that movie as I saw those determined chickens. Were they crossing busy roads, dodging SUVs driven by people on cell phones, in a desperate search for their missing offspring?

The possibilities continued to play out in my mind, and just as an arm reached out the drive-thru window and handed over my breakfast order, I had an even more horrible thought. It stayed on my mind all the way home.

I almost cried as I ate that Egg McMuffin.

6 comments:

  1. ROFL!!! Velvet you do spin a good yarn!

    So, they worked at McDonald's right?

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  2. LOL! I'm glad you didn't order a chicken sandwich!

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  3. maybe it would be more correct to say they worked for McDonalds...They were looking for those eggs....I'll bet they were Patsy's chickens, she had a few that got away...

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  4. At least you didn't order a chicken sandwich!!! So glad to see you back and posting again. I was really beginning to get concerned. I just now noticed that you are back today....I've been a tad neglectful myself as you can see from my blog. Too many workdays scheduled and not enough time to do all I want to do. By the way...I finished THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE. Horribly disappointing. See you soon!

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  5. Creekhiker, they were enticed into the fast food lifestyle and never had a chance.

    Janet, I've sure eaten my share of Chicken Selects.

    4th Sister, I thought of Patsy's chickens when I saw these. Wasn't there a song about the Arkansas Traveler?

    Val, it's a shame the way work interferes with our blogging time. One day (sigh)...

    I actually liked The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, but before I read it, I'd read a review that warned of the ending. With a hint of what was coming, I actually stopped reading for several days when I got close to the end. I knew it would upset me, so I waited to read the end until I thought I could handle it if it put me in a bad mood. I can imagine the disappointment if I hadn't been forewarned, though.

    I did enjoy the writing, though, and the story of Edgar and his relationship with his dogs.

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  6. tonight i'm catching up on my velvet sacks posts, and this is my favorite from all of november.

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