chickenrun2 A Tale of Two Chickens

PART 2

A/N: Well, this is a continuation of part 1…that explains a lot.

Disclaimer: Most of the chickens don't belong to me. I just made up a couple- Winston, Katrina, Georgina, Josephine, and Jonathon (which the chickens call Jonnie.) Winston, Georgina, and Josephine are kind of like teenage chickens…Jonathon and Katrina are about Ginger's age…they're young…not as old as Babs or Bunty…you get it, right? They're all close friends of Ginger. Jonathon is Rocky's age…both roosters are best friends.



~Ginger ran as fast as her chicken legs would take her. She didn't want to look back, and she didn't want to look ahead. She looked at the ground. She heard loud, vicious barks behind her. She didn't know how she got here…all she knew was that she had to get away…she had to escape…~

Ginger woke up. She was sweating. She looked out her window. It was nighttime...probably around midnight. She had to go tell somechicken. Not Mac, she would tell Ginger that it was impossible that dogs would chase her when there were no dogs in the area or something like that. Bunty...well, she would just tell Ginger she was crazy. Babs would obviously think that Ginger was just thinking about going on holiday. All the other chickens wouldn't really care that much or they would just get mad at her for waking them up. Rocky. Well, Rocky wouldn't exactly understand but he would comfort her and make her feel better. She got up, put her green hat on, and walked out the door.

Outside it was really windy. Ginger was getting numb from the cold. She walked quickly until she reached Rocky's little cabin. She knocked on the door. It was nice to see that the cabin wasn't empty anymore…it cheered her up a bit.

"Eh? What is it? What time is it? Who's there? Why'd you wake me up? I was having such a nice dream! What does a guy have to do around here to get enough sleep? Geez…" She heard someone saying inside. A light went on and the door opened. Ginger looked up and saw a very sleepy Rocky who was slightly swaying back and forth. He must be really tired, Ginger told herself.

"I'm so sorry, Rocky. I just had the most horrible dream and I didn't know who I could talk to because it was ever so frightening but I decided that you were the only one who would really understand and it's just so strange…" Ginger explained hastily. Rocky stood there, and looked at her blankly. There was a long silence.

"Huh?" He finally said. Ginger laughed quietly.

"I had a horrid nightmare!" She said. Rocky leaned on the doorway.

"Horrid? You had a HORRID nightmare? In other words, you had a scary dream." He said. Ginger nodded anxiously. Rocky stepped back so as to let her inside.

"Oh Rocky! I just didn't understand what it meant! I hope you can help me figure it out!" Ginger cried. Rocky cocked his head to one side.

"Help you…figure it out? I'm not good at those things, Angelface." Rocky responded. Ginger sighed.

"Yes, I thought you would say that. And where did you get the name Angelface? Here in England we just call chickens by their real names." said Ginger.

"Hey, baby, in America we have nicknames. Do you actually have a problem with me calling you those sweet names?" Rocky rubbed his eyes and looked at her questioningly.

"Well, not really but…"

"Great. Then there's nothing else to say so let's end that discussion. Now what happened in the dream?"

"Well, I was running and there were these ferocious dogs chasing me…and I don't know where they came from. They didn't look like those Tweedy Farm dogs…more like…completely black dogs. And they were much bigger." Ginger whispered.

"Right…that's basically it?"

"Yes, pretty much."

"Well, it's okay Ginger. It doesn't mean anything. Just bad memories." Rocky put his wings around Ginger.

"No! I've never seen these dogs before!"

"All dogs are the same. No difference." Rocky squeezed her. "Now go back and get some sleep. Sleep is the one thing I need right now." He let go of her to open the door.

"But Rocky, that's not-"

"Don't fret, Dollface. Forget about it." Rocky gave her a gentle push and closed the door. Ginger rubbed her hands together and headed towards home. Rocky was a big help. She just had to figure this out on her own. But wait- she COULD talk to Katrina or Jon…or maybe even her younger friends- Winston, Georgina and Josephine. But she didn't even have to move because at that moment someone tapped her on the shoulder. Ginger turned around.

"Oh! Georgina! Josephine! How nice to see you!" Ginger exclaimed. The two chickens giggled.

"Sorry to bother you, Ginger, but it looks like something is wrong." Josephine, who was a kind, outgoing, white youth, seemed to have been the one who tapped her on the shoulder. Georgina was a light brown chicken with white spots and she was more of a mischievous, humorous chicken. (Can you guess who she's like, Harry Potter fans? She's like one of the twins! Fred and George…Georgina…she's a chicken, girlish version of George Weasley!) Josephine and Georgina were best friends.

"Well, you're right." Ginger took a deep breath and explained her dream. The two girls listened intently.

"You used dogs and running and YOU in the same sentence. That's not good at all." Georgina commented. Ginger nodded nervously.

"Being the nice friends that we are, Ginger, WE will help you. Rocky never helps at all." Georgina declared. She and Rocky also were best friends. You could tell she was sort of Rocky's type. Josephine and Rocky weren't as close as Georgina and Rocky. Sometimes Georgina disappeared from Josephine's side because she was joking around with the cheerful rooster. Ginger found that funny.

Winston also sometimes accompanied the girls when he wasn't stolen by Mac, who enjoyed explaining all of her inventions to him. Winston wasn't too happy about that but he didn't protest so as not to be rude. He was a nice, red rooster. He was still growing up, though, since he was still pretty young.

"Oh, Ginger, that IS very frightful!" Josephine said softly. She was shaking and clinging to Georgina's wing. Georgina rolled her eyes.

"Yes, of COURSE. But that's not really the case right now, is it? We have to find out if Ginger's dream has anything to do with real life. There might be dogs waiting in the forest, trying to find the right time to attack us." Georgina replied. Ginger's jaw dropped five feet.

"Georgina! I never thought of that! It could really happen!" She said.

"Oh, Ginger! You shouldn't have scared us like that! Why did you tell us your dream?" Josephine scolded. Ginger stood there looking at them, puzzled.

"Well, you wanted to know…" She said slowly.

"Oh yes, you're right. Sorry." Josephine apologized. She let go of Georgina. "I guess we should figure this out. But first, let's GO TO SLEEP. I'm ever so tired!" She decided. Ginger sighed.

"One more question, girls. What were YOU doing this late at night?" Ginger asked.

"Josephine swore that she saw a wolf outside our house, drooling and licking it's lips." Georgina explained. She yawned of boredom. "The things Josephine sees…you'd think she's seen monsters and scary things all of her life! Josephine is so paranoid."

"So you wanted to check it out?" said Ginger.

"No, we didn't want to. We HAD to." Josephine said angrily, glaring at Georgina. "And stop making fun of me, Georgina! I really did see a wolf!"

"Let's not start an argument now, ladies. Go back to bed. It's too late to be up. You need to get some sleep." Ginger waved a goodbye and the chickens went in their opposite directions.

* * *

The next morning, Ginger headed straight for Babs's little hut.

"Babs, dearest, I'm so sorry for insulting you." Ginger said to Babs' door. The door opened and Babs appeared, knitting hurriedly.

"Insulting me? When did you insult me?" Babs asked, confused.

"Well-oh, never mind. Anyway…have you seen Katrina anywhere?"

"No, Ginger, I haven't seen anyone today at all. I haven't been out of the house at all!" Babs told her. Ginger buried her beak in her wings.

"Babs! I mean, have you seen Katrina lately? Like yesterday or something? I was out the whole day gathering wood to add on to my cabin! So I was just wondering if you saw her in the last few days!" She said in a muffled voice. Babs gasped.

"You're adding on to your cabin? How simply wonderful! But yes, I have seen Katrina."

"Where?"

"Yesterday."

"Not when, Babs! I said, WHERE?"

"I don't remember."

"Oh dear…"

"Well, Ginger, I don't really like deer…" Babs commented, as she handed Ginger a beak warmer. "Here, Ginger, I made you a beak warmer just like Rocky's. Now, you two will match!" Ginger groaned and snatched the beak warmer.

"Babs, thank you so much but I don't need it." She explained but Babs wasn't listening.

"It's such cold weather these days, Ginger! I suggest you put it on right now!" She said excitedly.

"Babs-"

"When you go on holiday, it will be ever so useful! You can show it off to other chickens!" Babs sighed dreamily. "Maybe you could advertise my beak warmers and birds from around the world could visit me and I could have my own business…" Ginger rolled her eyes.

"Really, Babs, I don't think that's the point right now…the point is that I want to speak to Katrina. But you keep changing the subject!" Babs blinked.

"I thought Katrina was on holiday." She said loudly.

"Holiday?" Ginger scratched her head, extremely flustered. Then she remembered that Babs ALWAYS talked about birds going on holiday…so that would mean that Katrina was NOT on holiday. "No, Babs. I don't believe she's on holiday. But I really need to speak to her!"

"You know, I almost got killed, once…" Babs said suddenly. Ginger opened her beak to say something but before she could say a word, Babs began digging through her sewing bag. Ginger sighed. "We were standing in line to have our eggs counted…oh, it was scary...I knew that I had laid a lot of eggs..." Babs threw a few objects out over her shoulder as she kept looking.

"I know, Babs, I was right there with you." Ginger reminded her. Babs just smiled to herself as she took out something that looked like a pair of gloves.

"Mrs. Tweedy stood in front of me, suddenly, and-"

"I know, Babs, and what are those mittens for?" Ginger exclaimed. Babs handed the gloves to Ginger and began knitting again.

"Give those to Katrina when you see her, please. I made them just for her." Ginger slapped her forehead.

"Babs, you are impossible." She grumbled and turned to walk away.

* * *

Ginger knocked on Katrina's door. Hopefully, she was home unless she was in the forest again…looking for a new species of worms. No one answered. Ginger walked up to the small window and looked inside. She saw Katrina's bed, some other furniture, and odds and ends thrown all over the place. It was a really messy home, but that's the way Katrina liked it. There was a big lump in the middle of the floor, though, near Katrina's nest. Ginger knocked on the door again…louder this time. Still, there was no answer. What was Katrina so absorbed in that she couldn't answer the door? It was rather rude, but Ginger forgave her…being the chicken that she was. She was very forgiving when it came to her friends. They all had their own unique things that they got involved in and it wasn't rare for them not to answer the door because they were extremely busy. All of her friends had hobbies…except for her. Ginger thought for a moment. Didn't she have a hobby of some sort? Of course…she liked to explore sometimes because she was an active chicken but other than that…oh well, she'd have time to think of something. For now, she had to yell at Katrina to open the door. Or maybe she could just see if it was open so as not to waste time trying to catch Katrina's attention. She pulled on the handle. It was not shocking that the door was open. Katrina never realized that her door was open or closed but Ginger never tried to find out. She was a polite hen.

She stepped inside.

A chicken looked up at her with a surprised look on her face.

"Oh, hullo Ginger! I didn't hear you!" Katrina said in a shocked tone. Ginger laughed.

"I was knocking pretty noisily! What are you doing?" Ginger sat down next to her. Katrina was almost buried in a bunch of papers.

"Well…I had gone to the forest to visit one of my squirrel friends and she had found a lot of human stories that were typed on something called…I think it's called a type-a-writer or something like that. Anyway, she told me they were very interesting stories…that someone had wrote. She gave them to me since she wasn't one for reading all the time. They are very long, but I like them." Katrina told Ginger. Ginger bobbed her head up and down, showing she understood.

"Wow." She said simply. Katrina giggled.

"I'm…what people in the forest call…a bookworm. I think that's funny!" Ginger grinned at Katrina's sentence. A bookworm- well, she liked to read human books and she DID like searching for new species of worms so it fitted her perfectly. Ginger told her so.

"Yes, you're right Ginger! It is perfect!" Katrina's giggles turned into big, uncontrollable laughs. Ginger joined her.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you something." Ginger said once the two hens had calmed down.

"If you want to ask how many eggs I've laid, then to answer your question…none. I'm sorry but I was so busy…" Katrina said apologetically. Ginger shook her head.

"That wasn't my question. Well, you see…" Ginger told Katrina about her dream. Katrina opened her eyes wide throughout the whole story.

"I think that you will meet those dogs sometime soon. I read somewhere that dreams can predict the future or show your fears or emotions. You fear black dogs. And you fear the future." Ginger was satisfied with Katrina's answer. At least she had told Ginger something that could be true. Ginger and Katrina discussed the topic for a while, and they only ended the conversation when Ginger's stomach growled with hunger.

"Thank you, Katrina. You're a big help."

"Oh, no problem Ginger. You're worth it! You saved out lives, you know. If not for your spirit, we could have stayed at that chicken farm forever."

"Oh, no, no, Katrina…you all helped too…it really was Fowler and Rocky that-"

"Oh, Ginger, stop giving all the other birds credit. Anyway, I think you should be getting home now. It's almost near lunchtime." Katrina insisted and got up to open the door. Where she had sat lay a round, cream-colored egg. The two hens froze, gaping at it.

"That's your first egg in months, Katrina!" Ginger whispered, staring at the egg in awe.

"I-I-I can't believe this…" Katrina shook her head slowly. "How could that happen? I laid an egg while I was talking to you? But… that's not supposed to happen!"

"It happens, Katrina." Ginger opened the door herself while Katrina stood there, gawking at the egg.

"Yes…bye, then." Katrina waved without looking at Ginger. Ginger left and shut the door. She headed for Rocky's house.

Obviously, she said to herself. I can't live without visiting that rooster at least once a day.

Knock. Knock.

Knock! Knock!

KNOCK! KNOCK!

KNOCK!!!! KNOCK!!!!

Ginger moaned. Why wasn't Rocky answering the door?

Then, a rooster appeared at the door, yawning.

"Don't tell me you just woke up, Rocky. You had a whole morning to sleep! You should be up by now!" Ginger said hurriedly before Rocky could say anything. She wanted to have the first word before he could change the topic.

"Huh? No, I'm just tired because you woke me up at MIDNIGHT last night. Can't you have at least SOME consideration for my health?" Rocky complained. Ginger chuckled.

"Sorry, Rocky. That was…an emergency."

"I would hardly call it that."

"Well, if we're talking about you…of course. You are the only chicken I know that likes to exaggerate way beyond the truth. You're always like that."

"Oh, come on…"

"Anyway, I came here for a reason." Ginger was the one to change the topic. She was surprised at herself for doing that. She had been hoping that they wouldn't- well, too late now…

"What's that reason?" Rocky asked. He stepped aside to let Ginger in.

"I wanted a hug from you."

"Aw, how cute!" Rocky hugged her. "There, happy? Now do you want to leave because right now I'm thinking of going for a dip."

"SWIMMING? You're going to swim? It's freezing outside!" Ginger shouted. Rocky laughed.

"In the U.S., we go swimming whether it's cold or not. We Americans don't care in the least. Now, baby, if you'll move I can go get my bathing suit…" Rocky headed for a small wooden wardrobe in a corner of the room. "Also, could you at least close your eyes? I don't want you to see me getting dressed, obviously! I'm a GUY." Ginger turned around and covered her face. "Thaaaank you!"

"Are you done yet?"

"No, Gingey, I'm not. I didn't even get the swimsuit out yet."

"Are you done NOW? I'm getting really bored…"

"1 second passed and you want to turn around already. Gee, Ginger, does patience run in your family?"

"No. Unfortunately, I wasn't blessed with patience."

"Uh- huh…"

"So you're done?"

"NO!"

"Rocky, how can it take so long to put on a swimsuit?" Ginger whined.

"An hour, about."

"ROCKY!!!"

"Just kidding…"

"Rocky, I'm serious, I don't have any time."

"Oh? Whaddaya doin' that's requires you to leave?" Rocky took Ginger's shoulders and turned her around so she faced him.

"I'm going to visit Jon."

"Why?"

"Well, why not? I told him that I'd go to him at a certain time and-"

"Stay here. Please. For just a little bit." Rocky pleaded. And before she could say anything, he pulled her to him and kissed her.

Awww....how sweet!

Whoops, the narrator isn't supposed to make comments. Oh well!

Ginger pulled away.

"What is it?" Rocky asked, a bit hurt. Ginger sighed.

"We should be going now. I wanted you to walk me to Jon's but we're taking too long. Soon, it'll be too late."

"Too late? Why?"

"You ask too many questions. You nosy little thing, it's none of your business."