All the beautiful...chickens

I’ve been talking about stealing chickens for a long time.

It was a joke, mostly. I wouldn’t steal chickens… even though I hear it was common practice for kids in the earliest days of Auroville. But the chickens at Lumière are all so…boring. White and brown. Dull.

Whenever I go to the office, I’m taunted. I dismount the Unicorn and find myself surrounded by such gorgeous cocks. Full of vigor and color. Teasing and tempting me with their beauty. It’s not fair.

I tell people about the pretty chickens and they think I’ve finally lost it.

I fantasized about how to do it. Could I catch a cock and bring it home in a Small Steps bag? Would I order a taxi? How do I ensure he’s the one making babies? Lock him in the coop with a hen or two? Or is it better to ask the community caretakers for baby chickens? They’d fit better on the bike.

But then it hit me: I’ll take the eggs. So in the most civilized manner possible, I waited for one of the Lumière hens to lay eggs (which we immediately took for delicious breakfasts), and purchased the eggs of beautiful chickens from the office’s community. And without Mamma Hen realizing what happened, she suddenly has ten eggs to hatch, and I’ll (hopefully) have ten beautiful birds on the Land.

Yup. It’s official. I have lost it.