For @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt 144 Foul Play.
“Okay, who did it?” Hands on hips, she stares at the soft brown eyes of her audience. “Come on girls, are you going to blame the rooster again?” A few soft clucks. “Is that a yes?” She looks around at the overturned water pans and the mud under her feet. “Bad chickens.” But there is no true anger in her voice. On such a hot day, the chickens action was understandable. “Alright ladies, the pool it is.”
She pulls the wading pool out and the clucks get louder. They recognize the pool and know what it is for. She smiles as she prepares to fill it up. When she and her husband decided to raise backyard chickens, she didn’t imagine them being this much work. But it was like having nine toddlers and the rooster was like a surly teenage. Nevertheless, she loves them.
“Now ladies, we must wait for the water. Let’s all try not to be so pushy.” She admonishes as they try to get into the empty pool. They get more excited when she pulls the hose out. Shooing several hens out, she starts to fill the pool. They wait with semi-patience, clucking and peeking at the ground as they stand around the filling pool. When it is full, they are in as soon as the hose is off and removed.
“Where is your man?” It was as she had called him. The rooster, his head held high, struts out. He starts to move faster when he sees the pool. A quick leap and there are indignant clucks as he displaces half the hens and water. “Hey, bad chicken!” she yells out as her lower body is soaked. He just look at her from the center of the pool, surrounded by his hens. He knows his place in the peaking order. All she can do is laugh at his foul play.
