Unplanned Motherhood

(Chapter 14 from the Book "The Chicken Who Didn't Know Where To Lay Her Eggs")

Every few weeks, Shellie had dreams about flying. It wasn't the labored, awkward flying of a chicken. It was the fluid, effortless flying of a hawk, a dove, a condor or a wild duck. She dreamed that she was very high in the sky, so high that she passed through the mist that was the lower part of clouds.

The dreams were always pleasant, and Shellie enjoyed ruminating about them long after she woke up. Many times right after she woke, she felt as if she was still soaring through the clouds. She felt weightless and bright, like a ray of light darting through the heavens.

There was one flying dream that Shellie had again and again. In it, she was at least a mile high. The sky around her was bright blue with splotches of medium-sized puffy white clouds. They were clouds of comfort and joy, not clouds of rain.

Shellie enjoyed the sensation of passing through spaces in the air where the warm sunshine hit her directly, followed by spaces where the gentle clouds offered her a few moments of coolness and shade as she flew forward.

In the dream, she was flying over a large lake. It was so large that the wind blew small waves across the surface. Most of the shore was forested. The water washed right up to the trees lining it. But there was one spot about half a mile long that had a beach about 300 yards wide.

The sand was bright white. On the one side, it bordered against the dark green waters of the lake. The small waves crested right before they reached the shore. When they crashed, they sent a thin string of light turquoise foam over the sand.
The other side of the beach was bordered with a craggy cliff about 25 feet high. The cliff was brownish-grey and rocky. Roots of trees stuck out from it. There were several paths worn into it where beach-goers had come up and down the cliff.
About 200 people were on the beach. Some were lying on towels or blankets on the sand. Some were in the water. Some were sitting against the rocky cliff, enjoying the warmth of the stone.

In the dream, Shellie always recognized one cluster of people. It was Paula, Mike, April and Tadpole. Dingo was also there with them. They were on a spot about halfway between the water and the cliff. They had spread out a blanket and placed a large red-and-white cooler with drinks on one corner of it.

Paula and April were dressed in their bathing suits and lying on the blanket. They seemed completely relaxed as they talked to each other. Occasionally, they would sit up to take a sip of their soft drink.

Tadpole was also in his swimsuit. At first, he was just standing there. Then he ran down to the water, dived in, and started playing with a group of children already in the water.

Mike was always sitting there in a beach chair under an umbrella, completely in the shade. He didn't have on a bathing suit. Instead, he was dressed as if he was ready to go to work: shirt, long pants, work shoes and a hat. He looked like being at the beach was a struggle for him. He looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.

Dingo was lying on the blanket beside Paula and April. He also appeared somewhat uneasy about being there. He kept a careful eye on Tadpole. Anytime Tadpole got near him, he would jump up and run back toward the cliff. He knew that Tadpole wanted nothing more than to throw him in the water.

It was always at this point that Shellie woke up.

Shellie had the dream again on a cool night in April. When she woke up, she tried as long as she could to hold onto the sensation of the dream. She was able to make it last for about half an hour. Finally, she got up, went outside with Dingo and welcomed the morning. It was a beautiful morning and the wonderful dream seemed to put a warm glow on everything.

Shellie then went back in for breakfast. Dingo came with her.

Paula was up and cooking breakfast for Mike and herself. The smell of Paula's special pancakes, sausage and heated maple syrup was in the air.

Shellie knew that Paula greatly enjoyed the pancakes. She made them using Shellie's eggs with the slightly garlic flavor. Tadpole also loved the pancakes. Neither Mike nor April were that crazy about them. Both of them felt that pancakes should be made using regular eggs, not ones that tasted like garlic. But they ate them anyway. Now that Paula was back, nobody ever complained about anything she did.

Paula greeted Shellie and Dingo. She put a bowl of corn and toast cut into very small pieces on the floor for Shellie. She also put a bowl of pork and rice there for Dingo. She knew that Dingo preferred chicken and rice, but she wouldn't let him have that if Shellie was in the kitchen.

Mike came into the kitchen. They all ate breakfast together. Both he and Dingo were very loud eaters. They tended to smack a lot and splatter their food around them.
Mike ate only one pancake. With each bite, he got a slightly sour look on his face, as if he had just swallowed a mouthful of bitter-tasting medicine. He ate extra sausage instead.

Afterwards, Mike picked up his keys and left the house.

Paula started washing the dishes.

A few minutes later, Mike opened the back door and poked his head back in the kitchen.

"Come here a minute," he said to Paula. "You better see this."

Paula went outside with her husband. Shellie and Dingo stayed where they were. They usually avoided getting involved in any of Mike's activities. It usually meant day-long trips to various parts of the farm and doing something in the fields. They knew that if they went, they wouldn't get to come back home for hours.

Dingo took his place on his blanket, and Shellie climbed up on her counter perch.
In about ten minutes, Paula came back in. She had a large cardboard box with her.
She brought it over to the counter and placed it down beside Shellie.

"Look, Shellie!" she said excitedly. "I've got something for you."

Shellie was a little alarmed. Paula sounded too cheerful to her. She sounded as if she was only trying to be cheerful.

Paula picked Shellie up. She lifted her up so that she could look in the box.
"Look, Shellie," Paula said. "These are your new children. Those are baby ducks."
Shellie looked closely. She saw eight furry-looking yellow-and-black little creatures. They made strange non-chicken peeping sounds that Shellie didn't understand at all.

Shellie knew what baby chickens looked like and how they sounded. Other chickens in the farmyard regularly hatched a new brood of chicks, and Shellie had a good idea of what chicks did. Shellie had never been a mother herself, but she had a general idea of what it was about. Up to now, though, she had been completely happy being a single chicken without any little ones to worry about.

Paula gently placed Shellie into the box.

"Now don't step on them, Shellie," Paula told her.

Shellie stood there, filled with uncertainty.

"Shellie, you're going to have to take care of them," Paula told her. "They must have hatched some time in the night. But it looks like the fox caught their mother early this morning. All we found were her feathers. The father duck is still there, but he won't have anything to do with them. You're going to have to be their new mother."

One of the ducklings ran over to Shellie. Then another, and another. Soon, all eight of the ducklings were crowded around Shellie's feet.

Shellie had a strong impulse to get out the box and get as far away as she could. The ducklings started chirping excitedly. They crowded as close to her as they could.

But then Paula put a metal grill over the box. Shellie looked up pleadingly at Paula.
"Now stay there for a while and get used to them, Shellie," Paula said.

Shellie didn't know what to do. With the grill over her head, she couldn't jump out of the box. And every time she tried to move, she felt ducklings all over her feet.
After a few minutes, the ducklings began to settle down. They gradually stopped chirping and sat down in a tight group underneath Shellie.

Shellie felt her legs growing weary. She was standing in an awkward, uncomfortable position. She wanted to move. But there was nowhere to go.

She finally decided she had to sit down. She bent her legs a little, but immediately felt all the ducklings under her. They didn't move.

Shellie gradually lowered herself a little more. The ducklings still didn't move. If anything, they seemed to crowd closer.

Little by little, Shellie lowered herself all the way. The ducklings shifted slightly around her as she rested her weight on the bottom of the box, but they didn't move away. They stayed packed tight under her and around her.

At least they were now quiet. They seemed to like Shellie.

After about an hour, Paula came back. She looked through the grill and said, "Shellie, it looks like they've taken to you just fine. Now it's time to take them for their first walk."

Paula picked up the box with Shellie and the ducklings. She took it out to the yard. She placed the box on the ground and removed the grill. She gently placed her hand under Shellie, took her out of the box, and placed her on the ground.

Shellie immediately stretched her legs and hoped that that experience was over.
But then Paula started taking the ducklings out of the box and placing them on the ground. As soon as the ducklings hit the ground, they ran straight for Shellie.

Shellie wanted to run away, but Paula placed a hand on her back and held her in place. Pretty soon, all eight of the ducklings were circling around Shellie's feet again and peeping loudly.

Paula finally took her hand off Shellie's back. Shellie took a step. All eight of the ducklings moved along with her. Shellie took another step. The ducklings moved with her again, as if glued to her.

Shellie took very slow steps forward. The cluster of ducklings stayed right with her every inch of the way. They peeped and chirped constantly.

Shellie gradually took bigger steps. The ducklings moved along with her. However, the faster she moved, the louder the ducklings chirped and the nearer they crowded around her. Shellie quickly realized that she wasn't going to be able to get away.
After several minutes of trying different walking speeds, Shellie finally settled into a slow, deliberate walk. The ducklings still stayed right under her, but at least they didn't chirp so loudly and crowd so close.

Shellie gradually started making a circle around the yard. She occasionally stopped to peck at some seeds in the grass. She soon noticed that the ducklings started imitating her, also pecking at the ground.

In the meantime, Paula had poured a cup of chicken pellets on the ground near the backdoor steps. Shellie loved chicken pellets. They were almost as good as corn.

Shellie headed straight for the steps. The ducklings started chirping loudly and ran after her.

When Shellie reached the steps, she immediately grabbed a pellet with her beak. She was very hungry. Looking after ducklings was hard work, she discovered.

The ducklings circled around Shellie. Every time Shellie pecked at the chicken pellets, the ducklings also pecked right where she had.

Soon, the ducklings started picking up the chicken pellets in their little bills. At first, they didn't seem to know quite what to do. The pellets often fell out of their bills before they could do anything with them. But then, one by one, the ducklings discovered that the pellets tasted good. They all swallowed their first pellet. It was just the start.