PETRA'S LEGEND

PETRA'S LEGEND

On top of a small hill in Goriška Brda there lived a young Eurie Woman named Petra. Her house was full of sunshine and happiness and all around outside the trees and vineyard and meadow responded graciously to her care.  She also had a barn in which her Grandmother kept cows but now it was used as a wood store.

Down the hill and around the corner, almost out of sight, was another farm house with a chicken coup. This is where Legend was hatched with some sibling chickens all looking like small, red feathered hens. The coup allowed a small area of free range but Legend often sat on a fence post and wondered about the Outside, in particular, the sunshine surrounding Petra’s house.

Legend was bored by chicken conversation which was about as interesting as swapping knitting patterns for socks.  She also disliked the production line attitude to producing her Egg in a commercial egg box and the impatience of other hens who always wanted her to hurry up and get it over with, there were others waiting.  Legend liked to think about laying her Egg. She had mystical thoughts about giving out from herself something as beautiful as an Egg and it was important in a golden sort of way.

With all these thoughts in her head Legend stretched her wings, gave a gentle flap, escaped the chicken coup and landed in a patch of nettles.  It crossed her mind, but only briefly, that there might be Dangerous Things outside the chicken coup which was comfortable but very familiar.  Then Legend looked up and saw Petra’s house on the hill and made a Very Big Decision – that is where she belonged – in the sunshine.

Legend stretched her cramped legs and slowly but surely up the hill with only a few chicken deviations.  And then she was there in the sunshine with peace and quiet all around, everything neat and tidy. Legend felt bliss for the first time.  Petra has a basin of water with a branch across it for the small birds and Legend appreciated her thoughtfulness.  There were two interesting green things parked by a veranda post but after a few pecks Legend decided they were not edible but there were a lot of things around that were most delicious.  Legend began a new life.

In the early afternoon she felt it was time to lay her Egg so she carefully looked for a beautiful place where she could be safe and comfortable. Legend found the old barn and a space beneath the barn doors. She inspected the wood carefully and neatly stacked and found a shaft of sunlight on the worn, earthen floor.  Within minutes she had scratched a soft nest and settled into it to contemplate the dust fairies in the gentle beam of light.  For the first time in her young life she felt relaxed and happy while producing her Egg.  Afterwards she made quiet little clucking noises and slipped out under the old barn door.

As the afternoon deepened Legend knew her first Special Day was nearly over and she must go back to the mundane conversation in the chicken coup.  All night she perched a little separately from the other chickens and a little after picanini daylight she flew the coup for the second time.

Meanwhile, Petra had come home from the place where she went often (the Unseen University of Neo Gormanghast) and while fetching wood by torch light she found Legend’s little nest and today’s special Egg.  Carefully Petra took the Egg to her kitchen and lit her fire.  While she had happy thoughts in the crackling fire light she played her guitar (which she does particularly well).  The next day Petra purchased a bag of bio-organic chicken food in her lunch hour.

Legend escaped the coup and enjoyed a beautiful day in the sunlight and Petra collected her Egg in the evening very carefully and put it next to the first Egg in her refrigerator.  In the morning she put out some bio-organic chicken food before she went to work.

Now there was harmony in the chicken coup as Legend was no longer holding up the production line in the egg box.  The farmer was perplexed because when he counted chickens in the afternoon he was one short but when his wife counted roosting chickens at night they were all there so the poor old farmer put it down to his afternoon shot of schnapps.  And Petra had lots of Eggs accumulating in her fridge.

On Saturday afternoon Petra was sitting quietly playing her guitar on the veranda and saw Legend busy doing hen things around the garden before popping into the old barn so Petra took photos of her chicken – really her chicken because Legend entrusted her Egg to Petra every day as a special Thank You for the Quality of Life in the sunshine around Petra’s house.