Helen's Story - William Maynard
Helen’s Story by William Maynard was the First Place Winner of the 2021 Murrumbidgee Short Story Competition in the Under 12 Category.
My name is Helen and I live in the Riverina. I was once a very happy free-range chicken living a peaceful, wonderful life with my 3 sisters Ebony, Eva and Cheeseball. But then something terribly awful happened … THE DISAPPEARANCES!
It all started off on the 22nd of May 2019. I was only 1 when it happened but I still remember it like yesterday. My sister Eva was taking a walk around the bushes exploring outside the coop but then it hit like a blazing ball of fire. Next thing we know, she’s lying dead just outside the chicken coop. My sisters were squawking around saying what killed her, who killed her? Sadly, all too soon they too would find out.
It was six months later on a warm summer’s evening and me and Ebony were rushing to get the best spot in the coop. I was running past the saltbush when I saw a flash of orange but then it was gone. That night, only two of us made it back to the coop. We never saw or heard from Cheeseball again but what we did know was that she was never coming back!!!!!!!!!!!
From there on in, me and Ebony were never the same again. We would never have as much fun as we used to. We knew that if we didn’t look into every nook and cranny we passed by, we might die. After one year of being paranoid, Ebony said we should take a day off. If we hadn’t have done that, she might have survived.
Then it was only me. Every day I would hide in the bushes waiting till dark fell to get back to the coop. If I made it back to the coop before dark, heaven might not call my name.
The days went on whiling away until the 4th of July. That day I saw what all my sisters had. The killer drifted by my coop growling and scowling at me but I knew that the devil’s dog -the fox - couldn’t touch me in my coop. The next day, I thought it wasn’t safe enough in my coop so I ran across to the Farmer’s house across the field. When night fell, I heard the growling coming from the bushes and I felt a sinking sensation in my belly. This was it! The Farmer came out of his house with a gun and shot the horrid beast away but unluckily he only hit the beast’s foot and didn’t kill him.
After the house incident, I didn’t feel safe again so I ran around the forest hiding and running about the bushes.I made friends with the wallabies and the kangaroos but they said they couldn’t go to war with foxes because they didn’t want to endanger their mobs. After weeks of running, I went back to where it all began and where it all ended for me. My story is over but if anyone finds this diary, please help chickens like me.
Helen and Ebony.
