Whispers of the South Wind

Chapter 10

He groaned, flipping over in bed for what had to be the hundredth time before reaching for his phone and sighing at the time. He'd been tossing and turning for hours, and now at three in the morning, it felt almost useless. He had to be up at five anyway to get himself and Nugget ready to head over to the fair. He really wasn't sure why he'd signed up to show one of the chickens, but when Larry handed him the flier for the event, he decided it was worth a shot. It wasn't like he really had anything else to do.

He'd never fully planned on owning any type of animal when he moved into his house, but the former owners had left their chicken coop in the backyard when they moved out. He was originally going to just destroy it, but the husband had told him when they closed that he'd built it from scratch. Despite not having a use for it, he just couldn't bring himself to take down something that someone had worked so hard on. Instead, he got himself into gardening, and when he was able to keep the crops alive, he decided to bring home three fertilized eggs to try and incubate.

He watched over those three precious eggs like they were real children, constantly hovering and making sure the incubator was at the right temperature. He set up a webcam to watch them when he had to leave, in case something happened and he needed to rush home. He made sure to turn them often, candling them at the correct intervals to make sure they were developing correctly. He never thought he could care about something as deeply as he cared about those three eggs, finally helping him find a new purpose in life.

And when they finally hatched, he cried, though he would never openly admit it to anyone.

Nugget had hatched first, Keigo just managing to catch it on the camera as he rushed home from the grocery store in a panic, leaving behind his entire cart in the middle of the aisle. She was fully out by the time he got there, her feathers still wet and stuck against her tiny body as she adjusted to life on the outside of her shell. Keigo watched in wonder, totally entranced by the little being as she chirped and trilled. Before long, Tender and Oscar had joined her, and Keigo was absolutely in love from the start.

Nugget's feathers ended up being a brilliant shade of yellow, puffed up and fluffy like a small cotton ball, turning into a more golden color as she matured. Tender, in contrast, was a mixture of fawn brown and white. She was softer than Nugget and certainly far more graceful. Oscar ended up being a sleek black and white pattern with long and beautiful tail feathers. His coloring added a striking contrast to his little trio, perfectly completing his little flock. He was by far the most stubborn of the three, and if Keigo was honest, he was definitely not the smartest.

He spent the next few weeks keeping them happy and fed, making sure they were kept under a heating lamp, cuddling them all as often as possible. He even kept them in a large pen in his bedroom, in case anything happened at night, he was close by, and after a few weeks, he was finally able to figure out that he had two hens and a rooster, the perfect combination.

It was hard to say goodbye, but eventually, they outgrew the pen in his room, waking him up several times after getting out and pecking him half to death for more food. It was finally time to put them into the coop. It had been hard, and he would be lying if he said he didn't spend half the night pacing the house and peeking out the window to make sure they were okay.

It was an adjustment for sure, but in the end, they were happy out there, and he even had a doggy door installed that allowed them to come and go from the house as they pleased.

Nugget was really the only one who used it, coming and going as she pleased during the day. Sometimes he would fall asleep on the sofa and wake up to her nestled against his chest, fast asleep with him. She was a little bit of a daddy's girl, which is probably why he'd decided to pick her to show, though Tender was the prettier of the two girls.