[Note: This is a story, a fable of sorts, told from the point of view of the lone rooster at my host’s house, who had a bad experience going over to the neighbor’s house to court their hens. This is based on a true story, making the rooster a bit more articulate than he would be on his own with his squawking and clucking.]

How did things get to this point? Here I am, a prisoner in my own coop, all because the neighbors have threatened to kill me if I go across the fence again. Oh, I suppose I should tell my story, for I cannot understand why anyone would want to harm me. I’m a friendly rooster, and mean no harm to anyone, after all.

Well, the trouble all started a few months ago. I was alone, like I am always alone, and I wandered over across the fence. I guess that was my first mistake, a bit of exploring, the hope of meeting some other chickens to alleviate my loneliness, and at first things went well. I saw a few lovely hens that I wanted to get to know a little bit better, and so I went up to talk with them.

This is when things got really bad. The beings over the fence seemed upset at me, yelling and flapping their wings at me. At first I thought they were going to kill me right then and there, but then they locked me up in their chicken pen. On the one hand, this meant I got to talk and get to know some of the hens I had been looking at, but while they looked really good, they did not seem to want to meet any strangers. Some hens just don’t like friendly conversation from people they haven’t known well for years and years, I guess. Well, I thought that it was a bit of a disappointing chat, and I thought it would end like that.

Only it didn’t. When the beings on my side of the fence came back, I was taken rather rudely from that coop and moved to my coop. I could hear their squawking, threatening to kill me if I ever went over across the fence to chat up their hens ever again. I believe them. They looked like they would kill me if they ever saw me in their space ever again. So now I’m stuck all alone in my coop, and for my own safety I’m not allowed to run around in case I cross over some line by accident. I wish that I could have some hens here to talk to of my own, so that I wouldn’t be so lonely and that other birds wouldn’t assume the worst about me all the time. That’s not too much to pray for, is it?