EPISODE TEN: YEAR END
Jack's first year with his new community had come to a close. It left him feeling very accomplished, although he was still dead broke, and had not upgraded the farm at all yet. He still had a full year and a half left in the small town until his father came back to inspect the property and decide whether Jack was fit to stay.
Gathering at the summit, the townspeople celebrated New Year's Day together with laughing and chatting. Eve stayed very close to Jack the entire time, for they were officially now a couple. It was not easy for the other girls to see, but in time they would learn to accept it.
The mayor stood up and announced that he had prepared a speech.
"I am so proud of you all for another wonderful year. It is my pleasure to announce that in all of my years of being mayor, this is by far the most rewarding. My daughter, Maria is practicing to become a nun, so I would like us all to join together and wish her a wonderful year away. It is unfortunate that I must tell you that we have still not been able to find the priest, we must all assume that he has gone to a better place."
Jack turned to Eve, "I don't think it's all THAT great of a place."
"This year has had its ups and downs," the mayor continued. "We lost a few great people. The first being Eve's wonderful grandfather, who was pronounced insane and then somehow escaped from the mental institution, never to be heard from again. We lost the carpenter to a similar case. The priest, as I mentioned. But we also gained a special addition to the village from the death of a beloved old farmer. Farmer John was a very special man and will always be remembered in our hearts, but now we have his wonderful grandson, Jack! Jack, stand up and take a bow!" the crowd cheered.
Jack bowed gallantly. He felt very uncomfortable at the moment, knowing that it was his fault that three of those four named men were gone. Eve held his hand warmly, proud of him for his year's work.
"A productive fellow, indeed." The mayor smiled. "How much money have you raised this year, Jack?"
"Raised where?" Jack's response was met with laughter. He looked around, unable to understand why they were laughing at him.
"Always the joker." The mayor said proudly. "I'm sure that soon he will have enough money and resources to upgrade the farm not once, but twice! I bet the lad is saving up for the biggest and the best right now, isn't that right, Jack?"
"What is this? An interrogation?" Jack cried outraged. They all laughed again. Eve had taught him that word when she said he asks too many questions.
"Hahaha," the mayor made sure his laugh was louder than the rest. "As a token of our appreciation, we all chipped in to buy you a bit of livestock." The mayor smiled and turned away to grab a chicken from his wife's arms.
Jack ran to retrieve his gift, happy as could be. He finally had a chicken, and all he had to do was defend himself publicly. The chicken could see it in Jack's eyes, this boy was insane, and wanted the poor animal dead. It moved about wildly trying to get away, but Jack gripped the bird hard and proudly made his way back to where Eve was standing.
"Ah, yes." The mayor was glad to see how happy the gift made the boy. "Perhaps now you can get into the livestock business, I'm sure you have what it takes." Jack glared at him for this comment.
Intermission
The festival had been a success, and Jack took the chick home with him, excited at the thought of lopping its head off. Eve kissed him on the cheek and was on her way to her own home.
Jack set the animal on the ground and went to get his axe from the tool shed. When he came back outside, the chicken could be seen running away halfway down the fields.
"Stupid chicken!" Jack yelled and quickly began to chase after it. Ruff followed close behind, barking uncontrollably. The axe was heavy and it made it hard to run. Eventually, Jack was forced to drop it and run after the chicken free handed. The chicken was extremely fast, and it knew that if it surrendered that it would not live to regret it.
Jack was catching up to it, running easily through the open fields.
"After it, Ruff!" Jack pointed at the chicken up ahead of them. The dog's attention had finally caught the bird, and he was now chasing quickly after it at blinding speeds. In seconds, the defenseless chicken had been caught.
It bawked loudly as Jack got hold of it and took it back to where he'd dropped his axe.
"It's nothing against you, really. You're just smaller than me and taste really go so I have to kill you." Jack tried to explain. Picking up the axe, Jack walked back to the tool shed where he shut the door behind him. He set the chicken down on the work table and readied his axe.
This was the end for the chicken, there was no getting away now. It simply looked into the eyes of its destroyer and accepted its fate. Jack began the swing…
Jack couldn't finish.
"Why can't I do this?" Jack wondered as he looked back into the sad chicken's eyes. "I smashed an elf-like thingy who wanted to be my friend easily… why can't I kill this stupid pathetic animal?" Jack attempted to put the axe down, but couldn't do that either.
Looking back, he realized that the axe had gotten stuck in the wall behind him when he went to swing.
"Oh! That's why!" Jack laughed as he began to tug at the axe. The chicken went ballistic once more and ran about the enclosed room crazily. It wasn't morals that was stopping Jack from killing, it was just a wall.
Finally the axe cam free and Jack chased the animal around the shed, swinging like a mad man. Ruff watched in confusion, wondering what was happening.
The chicken ran under the work table and caught its breath. Jack began to hack at the table's legs in an attempt to crush it.
When the first leg broke off, the chicken panicked and ran out again. Jack went on the rampage once more, while Ruff clawed at the door to get away from the madness.
"Die, chicken!" Jack was finally able to hack the head off of the poor animal. But then, something happened that Jack never expected. The headless chicken was still running about crazily!
It took a few seconds to register, but then Jack realized what was happening. This chicken was indestructible!
"Aaaaaahhhhhh!" Jack screamed in terror as he ran for the door and continued the scramble to his home.
Jack and Ruff stayed hidden in his house, afraid that the headless chicken would knock on the door any moment and claim its revenge.
KNOCK KNOCK!
Jack jumped. Slowly he walked toward the door and turned the knob. When the door opened, the friendly face of Ann could be seen.
"Hello?" Jack only kept the door open a crack.
"Hi, Jack. I was just coming over to instruct you on how to get the chicken to lay eggs. Lina was my father's favorite chicken and he felt that she would be more comfortable on a farm" Ann explained.
Aha! Jack thought to himself. His favorite chicken, he must have placed a curse on it in case anything bad should happen to it.
"Um, I'm busy." Jack said.
"Oh, it won't take very long, I promise." She pressed.
"I think it's a little mad at me right now." Jack replied.
"Why? What did you do?"
"Um… nothing." Jack lied.
"Well then did Lina do something to you?"
"… It just kinda, lost its head for a moment, that's all." Jack explained.
"Yeah, Lina can tend to go crazy at times. I can show you how to deal with her and calm her down too." Ann smiled happily.
"You can make it not want to kill me?" Jack opened the door a little more.
"Yep."
Jack opened the door and slowly came back outside. He agreed to let her calm the chicken down. Together they walked over to the tool shed and opened the door. The chicken was lying in two pieces on the floor, side by side.
"Oh no!" Ann cried.
Jack couldn't understand what had happened. A few moments ago the headless chicken was still running around aimlessly.
Ann then noticed the broken work table.
"Jack, do you keep that axe on your work table usually?" Ann asked suspiciously.
"Yes…" Jack expected her to lecture him and go home and tell her father what a horrible person he was.
"It looks like the leg gave out and the axe fell on poor Lina. Ooh, the poor thing. How could this have happened?"
Jack looked at her, astounded. "Yes!"
"Aw, I'll go tell father what happened. Maybe I can get you a new one, but in the meantime… fix that table!"
"I will do that!" Jack responded. Ann left, and Jack was left staring at the corpse of the broken chicken.
Ruff entered to join his master in his contemplation. Would this chicken suddenly come alive again now that the girl was gone. Cautiously, Jack walked out of the tool shed and ran in fright back to his house, leaving his dog confused once again.
Intermission
Ann returned a few minutes later with another chicken, Tanya. They sat down and Ann showed Jack how too keep the animal calm, and instructed him on the do's and don'ts.
Ann left and Jack was left alone with his new pet. "Don't worry, Tanya, I won't chop your head off like I did to Lina." He stroked her feathers.
Walking back into the tool shed with Tanya in his arms, he decided that it was time he learned to fix a work table. Jack used a hammer and nailed the leg back onto it as best as he could. The nails were sticking out everywhere, but there seemed to be enough that it would be sturdy on its own.
Admiring his work, Jack patted himself on the back. He looked down at the chicken to his side and said, "Okay, lets get you into your pen."
As Jack turned to walk away, he heard a slam behind him. He turned back only to see that the leg had been too loose, and the table had fallen once again… on top of Tanya.
"Good thing Ruff isn't in here."
Yeer: 2 Munth: 1 Day: 1
I had chikkin fer dinr. It wuz good. I maid it throo mi ferst yeer in taoon and I no that yoo will both be happee win yoo com 2 see mee in… a long tiim.
P.S. Eev luvs mee!
THE END
(The next episode will see the return of a very popular character!)
