The Summer the Sun Didn't Rise

(Chapter 7 from the book "The Chicken Who Didn't Know Where to Lay Her Eggs")


Paula got up at 6:30 every morning. She got up at 6:30 even when she was sick, wasn't going fishing or had stayed up late the night before to watch baseball.

She enjoyed the early morning. She was always in a good mood and full of energy. She often told Shellie, "Each morning is like a brand-new baby to me. I can't wait to get my hands on it."

She had a fixed regimen she carried out every morning. She first cooked breakfast for Mike and herself, fed Dingo and Shellie, and then fed the other animals in the farm yard. After she washed the breakfast dishes, she logged onto the Internet, checked her e-mail, and caught up on the latest news. Then she spent half an hour or so cleaning house.

Shellie loved this time of day. Paula was always cheerful and talked to her while she was busy doing all her morning activities. Shellie would either sit on the kitchen counter and watch Paula cook breakfast or follow her from room to room as Paula did the housework. It was during times like these that Shellie had learned about all the years before Paula had married Mike and come to live on the farm.

Shellie had learned about the birth of Paula's two children, her years as a registered nurse, and the couple of year's before she moved to the farm in which she had worked with the veterinarian. Those two years were when she had met Mike. She had come to the farm one day with the veterinarian to help one of the cows that was having trouble delivering a calf. She had met Mike as they stood there delivering the calf, and they had married six months later.

Shellie loved hearing about those years as Paula did her morning work. It was even better than watching one of Tadpole's movies with him.

This had been the way it was ever since Shellie's first day in the house. Shellie had never known anything else. Shellie had never known any other mother. The egg that Shellie had hatched from had been just one of seven eggs in the nest. All the other eggs had hatched on a bright day in May, but the egg Shellie was in remained there alone, unhatched. The mother hen found herself so busy with her six new chicks that she completely forgot about her last egg. Instead, she took her six new chicks out into the yard to start their first day of searching and pecking for food.

Later that day, Paula checked on the mother hen's nest and saw that one egg was still unhatched. She picked it up and held it up to the sun. She could tell that there was indeed a chick in it. She doubted that a mother hen with six hatched chicks would come back to hatch her last chick. She took the egg with her into the house. She got down the electric heating pad from the shelf in her bedroom closet and placed it on the kitchen counter. She folded the pad in half, placed the unhatched egg between the layers, and turned on the pad to low heat.

On the first day, Paula left the egg untouched. On the second day, she peeked under the electric pad a couple of times, took the egg out, and held it up to the light to see if she could see any change.

She couldn't see any. She thought that perhaps the chick had died before it had hatched.

But she decided not to rush things. She knew that not all things in life happen when you most want them to.

On the third day, Paula peeked between the layers of the electric pad again. The egg still hadn't hatch.

But on the morning of the fourth day, Paula noticed that the egg seemed to wobble a bit when she took a peek at it. When she looked a few hours later, she saw that a small hole had appeared on the surface of the egg.

She took the egg out of the pad, removed the pad from the box and placed the egg back on a soft towel in the box. The hole in the egg grew larger. The egg had begun to hatch.

But it didn't happen quickly.

The little chick in the egg seemed to peck a bit at the shell and then quit for a while, as if it needed a rest. This went on until almost nightfall. Finally, the chick seemed to make up its mind to finish the job.

Right as the sun was sinking on the horizon, the little chick finally broke open the shell completely and emerged. Then it closed its eyes and lay very still. Paula didn't know whether it had died or was just exhausted from a hard day's work.

Finally, about ten o'clock that night, the chick opened its eyes, stood up for the first time in its life, and let out a single chirp, as if to say, "Now I'm ready!"

That had been over three years ago. In the meantime, Shellie had grown into a full-sized, if small, hen. She was completely black except for a single white spot at the bottom of her neck. She had become an important part of the family. She also got up at 6:30 every morning along with Paula.

But on June 2 of Shellie's fourth year on the farm, something happened that had never happened before. Paula didn't come into the kitchen at 6:30.
Mike got up, but he was alone.

Shellie hopped down from her perch on the kitchen counter and looked at Mike. He seemed somehow confused, not sure of what to do. She had never seen him prepare breakfast before, but today he started making some coffee himself.

Shellie walked through the living room and then toward the bedroom of Mike and his wife. The door was closed.

Shellie listened carefully. She didn't hear any noise inside.

Shellie sat down in front of the door and waited. She didn't know what else to do. As she waited, she heard Mike in the kitchen. She heard the coffee kettle whistle and she heard the toast pop up in the toaster. She heard Mike sit down at the table and eat his breakfast. He hardly even smacked like he usually did. After about 10 minutes, he got up. Shellie heard him get his keys and then go out the door.

The house was silent, very silent. There was still no sound from the bedroom.
Finally, at about 8:00, Shellie heard a sound come from the bedroom. She heard Paula cough and a creak from the bed. Paula got out of bed slowly, very slowly.

After about ten minutes, Shellie heard Paula walk toward the door. The door opened slowly. Shellie looked up at Paula. She looked very tired, as if she hadn't slept for several days.

"Good morning, Shellie," Paula said in a very sad voice. Paula bent down, petted Shellie's back gently a couple of times, and then stood back up.

Paula had a vacant look on her face, as if she didn't quite know where she was.
Rather than going straight to the kitchen, Paula walked over to the sofa in the living room. She slowly lowered herself and sat down. After a few moments, she leaned forward and placed her head in her hands. She sat that way for several minutes, without moving, without saying anything, without making any sound.
After about five minutes, she sighed deeply, lifted her head and looked at Shellie. She still didn't say anything.

Then she slowly stood up and said to Shellie in a flat and glum voice, "Come on girl. Let's go get some breakfast."

Paula slowly walked toward the kitchen. Shellie followed.


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The next morning, Paula didn't get up until almost 8:30. When she finally did come out of her bedroom, she behaved like the day before. She sat down on the sofa and put her head in her hands. Even after ten minutes, she didn't move. She sat there for at least half an hour. When she finally did move, she didn't get up and go to the kitchen. Instead, she lay back on the sofa. She lay there with her eyes open for about ten minutes, just staring at the ceiling. Then she closed her eyes.

Shellie watched. She could tell that Paula wasn't sleeping because she would occasionally open her eyes or scratch her nose or turn from one side to the other.
It was nearly 10:30 before Paula finally got up.

For the next week, the same thing happened every morning. The house was very quiet and Mike very subdued.

Every day, Mike would ask his wife if she wanted him to take her to the doctor. She would always say, "No. I'll be better in a couple of days. Don't worry."

On the morning of the tenth day, Paula wasn't any better. Mike himself was also starting to look tired and drained. The lost look in his eyes only got deeper. That morning, he took his wife's hand as she lay in bed and said, "We have to take you to the doctor. We have to find out what's wrong."

Mike helped her get dressed and took her to the SUV. She didn't resist. She didn't say anything. She lay down in the back seat of the SUV and they drove off.

When they came back late that afternoon, Mike was driving the SUV and his brother was sitting on the passenger side. After Mike parked the SUV in the garage, he and his brother got out and opened both rear doors of the SUV.

Shellie saw Paula sleeping on the back seat. She seemed to be in a very deep sleep. She didn't wake up even though Dingo was barking.

Mike and her brother gently lifted Paula. They carried her into the house and placed her on the bed. She still didn't wake up.

Mike went back to the SUV and got out a bottle of pills. He took the bottle inside and placed it on the bedside stand beside his wife.


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Over the next two months, Paula still didn't get any better. In fact, she got worse.

She started getting up later and later. On some days, she didn't get out of bed until early afternoon. She stopped going fishing altogether. She stopped going to church on Sundays. She often let the phone ring and ring without ever answering it.
Her daughter started coming by every day. She fed Shellie, Dingo and the other animals. She cooked for Mike and cleaned the house. She also spent hours sitting by Paula as she lay in her bed. They hardly ever talked during that time.

The daughter and Mike often sat together in the kitchen and spoke to each other in quiet tones. Shellie couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew it was important. Mike always seemed very worried.

One morning, Mike and the daughter got Paula up, helped her get dressed and took her out to the SUV. They all three got in and drove away.

Shellie waited and waited for them to come back. They didn't come back all morning.
Late that afternoon, Shellie saw the SUV coming up the driveway. She saw Mike driving and the daughter in the passenger's seat.

When the SUV drove in the garage, Shellie ran over to see Paula.

Mike and the daughter got out.

Paula wasn't there.