The Girl Who Wanted Chickens

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This is a story about my daughter and her dream of having chickens.  She doesn’t have them yet, but she’s trying really hard to talk us into it.  It’s so sweet, I had to write a story about it.  Who knows?  Maybe she’ll get those chickens after all!

There once was a girl who wanted chickens.  She was just about your age.  It wasn’t kittens or puppies for her, although she cuddled and played with them, too.  It was chickens that she wanted.  She dreamed all the time of having them as pets.

You see, her sister had a dog named Rusty, her brother had a cat named Tuxedo, her dad had a lazy dog named Boomer and her mother had a very testy kitty named Twilight.  But none of these would do for Emily.  She had to have chickens and only chickens would do.

“Why chickens?” you may ask.  Well, it all began when she and family went to visit a friend’s farm.  They had dogs, cats, goats and tons of baby chicks.  They were all yellow and fuzzy and cheeped all day long.  It was love at first sight for Emily!  The little baby chicks were kept in large boxes with warming lights to keep them toasty warm.  Emily and her friend played with the chicks all afternoon.  They decided to play a game to see who could catch the most chicks and she won!  Emily became known as the best chicken wrangler ever!  She even out caught her older brother and sister, but they were ok with that.

As spring turned into summer and summer into fall, Emily would stop by the little farm to visit the little chicks, which weren’t so little any more.  She loved to help gather eggs and the colors of the eggs were so pretty!  They came in brown, white, blue and even polka dot! She didn’t even have to dye them for Easter.  Then fall came with school, but she didn’t forget about the chickens.  She continued to ask, but her daddy said, “No chickens honey.”  Emily continued to plead for chickens as spring came again; but still no chickens.

Over the next year, she reminded her family that she was the best chicken wrangler around.  She was constantly talking about chickens.  “They would make the best eggs!” she would eagerly suggest.  “But who would feed the chickens when it’s cold outside?” her mother would ask.  “Me, of course!” was Emily’s reply.  “But what about a house for the chickens?” her dad would ask.  “My brother and I can build a pretty coop for them to live in and I’ll paint it pink with egg shaped flowers on it” she said dreamily.

Then came the biggest hurdle of all, Emily wasn’t a country girl.  By that I mean she lived in the city.  Well, it was really more like a small town, but it’s still not the country.  “You don’t have farms and farm animals in the city,” her parents would say, “You need a farm.”  So, she thought all was lost and her dreams of having pet chickens would be over.

There would be no fuzzy, yellow chicks to rub against her cheeks.  No fancy pink chicken coop with egg-shaped flowers.  There would be no chicken judging at the local fair. Eh hem! I mean no pageants for the prettiest chicken.  Emily daydreamed of taking her fanciest chicken to the fair.  She would be so pretty all dressed up and of course she would win.  Then she and her chicken would be famous and they would travel the world and be in all the best magazines!

And just as Emily thought all was lost, she heard about people that lived in the great big city of New York that grow chickens and gardens on the rooftops of gigantic skyscrapers!  City chickens!  They must be rich chickens.  She ran and told her mom, who quickly read up on the idea.  “It’s called Urban Farming, sweetie!  City farming! Can you believe it?”  Did I forget to mention that my mom grew up on a farm?  She lived on a farm with a farmhouse, a log cabin, a barn that she got to play in, five gardens, acres of soybeans and tons of cows.  But not one chicken!

Well, Emily knew this was her answer to having her dreams of chickens come true.  She would start out as a city farmer.  Even more determined, she dropped hints everywhere!  On her mom’s computer she made a background of Christmas chicks wearing Santa hats and saying “Merry Chickmas!”  She found chickens at the local craft store and said they were a sign that she was supposed to have chickens!  She asked friends and family members about growing chickens and even read about chickens.  Her sister even said that she would gladly help with the chickens!  She loves to cook and the thought of farm fresh eggs to cook with made her mouth water.

Then it was Easter again.  Spring was in the air and her family’s small garden was being planted and the garden store in town had baby chicks in the big window.  Emily’s parents gave her a special Easter surprise.  You guessed it!  Six baby chicks all fuzzy and cheeping loudly.  Emily was so excited!  Pets of her own!  All her dreams could come true!  She was now a city girl with the heart of a country girl and pink chicken coop with egg-shaped flowers.

The End!