Fiction
As I have gotten older I have developed a love for children's books and find joy in slowly creating my own personal collection of them. This fictional piece, Papa's Pet Chickens, is my first attempt at creating my own children's book. The fun loving personality of papa, and the excitement two little girls have for his pet chickens is something that I hope will bring joy to both children and adults.
As I have gotten older I have developed a love for children's books and find joy in slowly creating my own personal collection of them. This fictional piece, Papa's Pet Chickens, is my first attempt at creating my own children's book. The fun loving personality of papa, and the excitement two little girls have for his pet chickens is something that I hope will bring joy to both children and adults.
Papa's Pet Chickens
By: Ashley Horsfall
By: Ashley Horsfall
Papa was a silly man, he was creative, adventurous, and you never quite knew what he was up to. He used to play pretend with my little sister and I and he would help us make the best forts ever with all the couch cushions and blankets that were in he and mama’s house. One day my little sister and I went to mama and papa’s house with our mom and dad. We drove past cornfields, ponds, and big red barns. We saw cows and horses, but when we finally got to mama and papa’s cozy house in southern Illinois, there we discovered papa hard at work on a project out in the back yard.
We watched him through the window as he built this miniature house on stilts. We thought he was making us a playhouse, but we noticed the door wasn’t big enough for us to fit through. Before we left that day we begged papa to tell us who the little house was for but he just smiled and said, “How about in 2 weeks you two come and stay the night with mama and I, and then I will tell you who it is for”.
Two weeks sounded like forever, but when we finally got to mama and papa’s house that night I raced into the house to find out who the miniature house was for. When I rounded the corner from the door into the kitchen, there I found a brown box with a lamp over its top. Inside the box there were 1,2,3,4,5 yellow baby chicks and then it all made sense…Papa had built a house for them. Papa met me at the box with a big grin on his face and said, “SURPRISE!”
He went on to explain to me that the house was called a coup, and when the baby chicks got older they would be called Chickens and get to move from the box into the coup. I spent the rest of the night camped out next to the box just watching the 5 fluffy baby chicks. Papa even let us hold them which was fun. My little sister was only 2 so she accidentally grabbed a few of the chicks by their neck, but papa and I were able to help the poor yellow fluff balls escape to safety.
After I went home that weekend I called papa every day to check up on my new friends. Each time I visited mama and papa’s the chicks were a little bit bigger and they stared to change colors. They grew and grew and grew and grew some more until one day… THEY BECAME CHICKENS!!! They were beautiful. Each chicken had red, yellow, white, and brown on their feathers. They now lived in the chicken coup papa built. But if you ask me it was more like a mansion for chickens. My sister and I used to run around the yard with papa playing a game we called chicken chase. I never caught any of the chickens because they were so fast, but just like when the chickens were little baby fluff balls, my sister was able to chase them down and often lifted them off the ground by their necks, but this time papa and I found more humor than panic in the situation. Although I could never seem to catch them, Papa was good at catching them. They all loved him and would sit on the arm of his lawn chair as he sat in the yard and read each morning. They were without a doubt papa’s pet chickens.
A few months later, just as summer was ending and fall was beginning, my sister and I made another visit to mama and papa’s. Papa told us there was a surprise waiting for us at his house. We weren’t sure what the surprise would be but as soon as we got there papa took us out to the coup. He told my sister and I to lift the lid on the end of the chicken coup and reach in, so we did! When we reached our hands in we felt something round and warm. We each grabbed what we felt and pulled it out wondering what it was…. to our amazement they were eggs!!! Papa’s pet chickens had laid two eggs!!! They were brown and speckled and just what we needed for dinner since we were having breakfast for dinner, one of grandmas specialties! It became our chore to collect the eggs each time we visited, and although it has been some time since I first saw papa working on the coup, the trill of watching him and his pet chickens has never left.
We watched him through the window as he built this miniature house on stilts. We thought he was making us a playhouse, but we noticed the door wasn’t big enough for us to fit through. Before we left that day we begged papa to tell us who the little house was for but he just smiled and said, “How about in 2 weeks you two come and stay the night with mama and I, and then I will tell you who it is for”.
Two weeks sounded like forever, but when we finally got to mama and papa’s house that night I raced into the house to find out who the miniature house was for. When I rounded the corner from the door into the kitchen, there I found a brown box with a lamp over its top. Inside the box there were 1,2,3,4,5 yellow baby chicks and then it all made sense…Papa had built a house for them. Papa met me at the box with a big grin on his face and said, “SURPRISE!”
He went on to explain to me that the house was called a coup, and when the baby chicks got older they would be called Chickens and get to move from the box into the coup. I spent the rest of the night camped out next to the box just watching the 5 fluffy baby chicks. Papa even let us hold them which was fun. My little sister was only 2 so she accidentally grabbed a few of the chicks by their neck, but papa and I were able to help the poor yellow fluff balls escape to safety.
After I went home that weekend I called papa every day to check up on my new friends. Each time I visited mama and papa’s the chicks were a little bit bigger and they stared to change colors. They grew and grew and grew and grew some more until one day… THEY BECAME CHICKENS!!! They were beautiful. Each chicken had red, yellow, white, and brown on their feathers. They now lived in the chicken coup papa built. But if you ask me it was more like a mansion for chickens. My sister and I used to run around the yard with papa playing a game we called chicken chase. I never caught any of the chickens because they were so fast, but just like when the chickens were little baby fluff balls, my sister was able to chase them down and often lifted them off the ground by their necks, but this time papa and I found more humor than panic in the situation. Although I could never seem to catch them, Papa was good at catching them. They all loved him and would sit on the arm of his lawn chair as he sat in the yard and read each morning. They were without a doubt papa’s pet chickens.
A few months later, just as summer was ending and fall was beginning, my sister and I made another visit to mama and papa’s. Papa told us there was a surprise waiting for us at his house. We weren’t sure what the surprise would be but as soon as we got there papa took us out to the coup. He told my sister and I to lift the lid on the end of the chicken coup and reach in, so we did! When we reached our hands in we felt something round and warm. We each grabbed what we felt and pulled it out wondering what it was…. to our amazement they were eggs!!! Papa’s pet chickens had laid two eggs!!! They were brown and speckled and just what we needed for dinner since we were having breakfast for dinner, one of grandmas specialties! It became our chore to collect the eggs each time we visited, and although it has been some time since I first saw papa working on the coup, the trill of watching him and his pet chickens has never left.
Fiction Media Piece
Here is a video where you can listen to me read my story called, Papa's Pet Chickens, as well as see the illustrations I created to go along with the story.
Here is a video where you can listen to me read my story called, Papa's Pet Chickens, as well as see the illustrations I created to go along with the story.
Additional Information About Chickens
Raising Back Yard Chickens
If you are interested in raising Back Yard Chickens just like Papa, click on the heading "Raising Back Yard Chickens" to find out more information!
If you are interested in raising Back Yard Chickens just like Papa, click on the heading "Raising Back Yard Chickens" to find out more information!