As the morning dew set, a truck rumbled on the dusty roads. The truck had a delivery to a farm.
As the sun rose, Chanticleer crowed and sang to his beloved sun. The farm animals rose like any morning, to hear the sweet song of their beloved rooster.
In this story of Chanticleer, the sun always rose for him. He was the king of the farm and the rooster on the scene. He sang sweetly to the hens he looked after. But his heart never beat fast for them. He usually sat next to Patou in the sun and watched the little ones flock over him and try to be the best rooster.
The truck rumbled in and the farm animals were in a frenzy.
Patou sniffed the truck as a man brought a crate from the back to the house. The farmer signed a form and thanked the man and carried the crate to pens where the animals were.
The patted Patou's head "Take care of our new guest Patou."
With that the crate was opened and the farmer left without another word.
The animals gathered around the crate as Patou sniffed inside. In the back corner was a hen of pure gold. Her eyes were set in fear at the dog. Patou smiled.
"It's okay lil lady. I don't eat my friends."
Chanticleer was on top of the hen house, trying to act cool, but one eye was on the darkened box.
The next moment his breath was caught. In the sun the new hen sparkled as she was introduced to the other animals. The pigs smiled and the horses neighed. The other hens clucked around her, a soft smile never left the new hen's face.
She looked up at him and smiled. His response was to puff put his chest and ignore her. The smile faded a little from her beak.
Patou glared at the head rooster.
When the sun was setting that very day, Chanticleer and Patou were sitting together, talking about life and such.
"That new hen sure noticed you Chanti."
"Yeah I saw her staring."
"The older hens finally gave her some clothes to wear. Last I saw her she was in a button up shirt and some of those shorts. She's a pretty one."
Chanticleer nodded at Patou's remark.
At the last of the sun's rays, the farm went to sleep even the rooster himself.
A few hours after the sun had set; Chanticleer was woken up by a sweet sound. He ruffled his feathers, combed his hair, and followed the sweet lullaby he heard.
He walked around trying to sound the animal that could sing like him. He found Patou staring at something the in the darkness.
"Patou what's going on?"
"SHhhhhhh! You don't want her to stop do you?"
Chanticleer had no idea what he was talking about, but the singing was loud near Patou.
"Listen Chanti. This new hen can really sing. Look."
Chanticleer sat next to Patou and found the new hen looking up at the moon.
Her song was starting again:
If I never knew you
If I never felt this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
And if I never held you
I would never have a clue
How at last I'd find in you
The missing part of me
In this world so full of fear
Full of rage and lies
I can see the truth so clear
In your eyes
So dry your eyes
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Chanticleer felt the need to sing with her. He walked to where she was. She jumped at his voice but didn't stop singing.
Chanticleer started singing the next part of her song:
If I never knew you
I'd be safe but half as real
Never knowing I could feel
A love so strong and true
I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
The new hen joined in with him.
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Somehow we made the whole world bright
They both sang in harmony for the last of the song.
I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong
All they'd leave us where these whispers in the night
But still my heart is singing
we were right
If I never knew you
If I never knew this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
There's no moment I regret
since the moment that we met
If our time has gone too fast
I've lived at last...
I thought our love would be so beautiful
somehow we'd make the whole world bright
I thought our love would be so beautiful
we'd turn the darkness into light
And still my heart is singing
we were right
We were right
And If I never knew you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Empty as the sky
Never knowing why
lost forever
if I never knew you
Patou clapped for the duet.
"That was good Emma!"
The duet smiled at Patou. Chanticleer smiled down at Emma.
"I never knew your name before."
"You never asked."
Emma smiled.
Patou smiles at the pair "Come on you two. It's late and I need beauty rest."
Emma giggled "Well goodnight Patou. Goodnight Chanticleer."
With that she walked toward the hen house.
"Goodnight" Chanticleer whispered.
He and Patou walked back to the farm animals. Each snored a little differently.
With the next sun's rays, Chanticleer's crowing woke the animals as usual. After his crowing, Chanticleer tried finding Emma.
When he couldn't he let himself drown in the sea of hens. In the back of his mind he wanted to see Emma again. He wanted to see her beautiful feathers that sparkled in the sun and moonlight.
Emma made her appearance in the afternoon. She clucked a little and the rest of the hens arrived around her and clucked gossip around her.
Chanticleer watched her and puffed up his chest, "Hey Emma."
Emma fluttered her eyes, "Hi Chanticleer."
The hens flocked away and the two looked in the other's eyes.
"Be a good hen and be mine."
"No."
"What?!"
"I said no. Besides I was only visiting."
She leaned up to the shocked rooster and gave him a peck on his beak.
"I'm being picked up by my farmer" she looked at Patou "Thanks Patou. The letter described him a perfect detail."
With that she left the farm, the truck from earlier picking her up in her crate and stealing her away from Chanticleer forever.
He turned to Patou in a fit of rage, "WHY?"
Patio shrugged, "It was about time to keep your swelled ego down for a short time. She's a dandy and a good one at that. She played you. She's a rooster scrambler. The best looking hen makes any rooster fall for her and drops them when the love her most."
Chanticleer was near tears, "Ego deflated."
With that he flew to the top of the hen house and stayed there for the rest of the day, watching Emma leave his sight forever.