Chapter 5 - Shimmer Chicken (8 December 2028)

One dollar each or six for five dollars; the sign by the raffle ticket bin advertised the cost of the tickets. LJ carefully counted out five one-dollar bills to purchase his six tickets and handed the money to the young woman behind the table.

"Thanks; tear the tickets apart and put the one that doesn't say 'keep this ticket' in the bin. Keep the other half for when we read the winning numbers later today," she explained as she handed him a string of six tickets. "Good luck!"

The boy separated his halves from the halves to be deposited in the large wire cage. He folded the string of stubs and stuck them in his jeans pocket as his cousin John came to the table.

"I'm going to win," LJ declared. "Just you watch…"

John smirked, "Not if I win the big prize." He handed over a five-dollar bill for his tickets. "I want to win that big star with all the lights for my Mom," he informed LJ. "You can win any of the other prizes, and I don't care."

"I like them all, even the barnyard animals that light up," LJ shrugged. "If I win the star, I will give it to you for Aunt Dee."

"Thanks, you don't have to do that," the young McGee replied.

LJ shrugged again, "If it makes your mom happy, then I'm okay with giving it up."

Anthony came up to the table with his ten-dollar bill, "I want twelve tickets please." He handed the money to the woman and took his string of tickets. He turned to his cousin and brother, "How many tickets did you get?"

"Six," both boys replied.

"Well, then we have twenty-four among us, hopefully one of us will win something. They have twenty-five prizes in all," he responded. "Ima really likes that small lighted cat decoration for the lawn. Katie loves the polar bear sign. And I heard you talking about the star for Aunt Dee."

LJ grinned, "I'm going to win. I can feel it. Abba bought tickets too and so did Uncle Tim. But I just know that they are going to call at least one of my numbers." He patted the pocket of his jeans where he was safe-keeping his ticket stubs.

~Raffles~

Three hours later, the entire family was gathered for the prize drawings, each had ticket stubs in hand. Most of the kids had purchased six for five dollars; only Anthony had more. Tony and Tim each held twenty-five stubs, having taken advantage of the twenty-five for twenty deal. Jimmy and Breena, as well as Ziva and Delilah also had six tickets each.

"Are we ready for some prizes to be given away?" the emcee got the crowd enthused with the anticipation of winning. "The first set of numbers are…" she put her hand in the wire bin and pulled out a ticket. She read off the seven numbers as the onlookers checked their stubs.

"I won!" a teen-aged boy held up his hand and shouted above the crowd noise. The emcee called him up on stage. Her assistant brought over a large box containing a ceramic Christmas tree which he handed to the teen.

"Next we have…" again a ticket was pulled from the bin and numbers read to the crowd.

Tony shouted out, "ME!" He climbed the steps to the platform and grinned at the emcee as the assistant handed him the lighted cat. He motioned to Ziva, pointing to the cat and then to her and nodding. Ziva grinned back.

"Here you go, Sweetcheeks, your very own lighted lawn cat," Tony held up the box as he walked back to the family group.

"Toda, he is cute. I like his scarf and sprig of mistletoe," Ziva noted before she brushed her lips on her husband's. "Another one for the front yard decorations."

"Shh, Ima, they are gonna read more numbers," Beth was trying to listen for the next winning ticket.

Several more prizes were given away as the family came up empty-handed after the first win. The star was next. LJ moved a bit closer to the platform to hear the winning numbers.

"That's me!" he shouted to the others and ran to the steps. He waved to his family as the assistant carried the box with the star to the boy. "This is for my Aunt Dee, because she really likes it and because I love her."

He carried the box off the stage with a triumphant grin on his face and presented it to his aunt. She pulled him in and kissed him on the cheek, making him blush.

"Thank you, LJ. Love you too," she hugged her nephew. "How did you know you were going to win?"

"Just a feeling… and I got a feeling that I am going to win another one." He turned back towards the stage to hear the next set of numbers and gasped when he matched again. "ME!" he yelled out and ran up on the platform to receive the polar bear sign. Back on the ground, he handed the sign to his older brother.

"Here you go, Anthony; you can give this to Katie," he grinned at the two who were standing side-by-side. "I got another one coming, I can feel it."

Two more prizes were given away and the final item was a lighted chicken decoration called a Shimmer Chicken. LJ held his remaining three tickets and listened intently. The numbers matched one of his stubs and the seven-year-old ran to the stage excitedly for the third time.

"You are one lucky kid," the emcee commented.

"Well, I had to get the star for my aunt, and the polar bear for my cousin," LJ replied with a grin. "I knew I was gonna win two or more prizes. I just felt it in my gut like my Grandpa. Thanks for all the good stuff!" He bound off the stage to applause carrying his new Shimmer Chicken proudly.

"What're we gonna do with a lame chicken?" Rivka complained mostly because she hadn't won anything. "A chicken isn't a Christmas animal."

Tali turned to her younger sister, "How do you know? There could have been chickens in Bethlehem at the manger. You're just unhappy because you didn't win anything here. I'm going over to the other raffle to see if I won any of the ornaments. Tori is coming with me. Didn't you buy tickets over there too?"

Both Riv and Beth nodded and the four girls walked to the ornament raffle with Breena, Dee, and Tim.

"Abba, I want to put my Shimmer Chicken in the front yard," LJ announced. "By the bird bath, I think. Maybe we can get some more chickens, or look here on the box. You can get a rooster and chicks too."

Tony looked at the package, "You could get a whole flock of chickens, LJ."

"Yeah!" LJ grinned. "Maybe one rooster, five or six more chickens, and a few chicks."

Anthony nudged John, "A Christmas flock of chickens? Just what we need on the lawn…"

Ziva gave her older son the Ima glare, "Be nice."

~Shimmer Chicken~

Over the next two years, LJ added to his flock. He had a total of eight chickens in two colors, a rooster, and five yellow chicks when he decided it was a large enough flock. Every year it was put by the birdbath for all to enjoy.

Many, many years later, (2046) when LJ had his own house with his new wife, Tony and Anthony set up the Christmas flock on LJ's lawn while he and Savannah were out to dinner one December evening. The tradition of the flock of Christmas chickens lived on.