A chilly breath of air pricks my skin, tramping boots munch the ground with rubber jaws. Hedgerows moist with fragrant leaves and blankets of moss reach the air, robed in briars. Goose honks echo in the snapping. Flapping of chicken wings, lively with the wild nature of flying on and off trees. My hens’ cackling ripples the air, their glowing red faces alert and excited, their legs scurrying on strong pattering feet, being cheeky or joyful, in the green haven of fresh, rich grass, while flashing cockerels battle with pounding wingbeats, stirring the sweet, earth-scented air.
This is my life, trickling with birdsong, clear, radiant notes perfuming the air with their songs of spring.
Starlight, my Polish hen, races through some brittle grass, cocking her exuberant black and white crest with intention.
Amethyst, another hen, sways over to me, and chuckling in soft warbles, skips off with Starlight. Her grey and black plumage glimmering blue and purple in the sun.
Rubbing my brother’s cat Milky, I soak my hands through silky hills of fur. She rumbles around me with fierce purring. Starlight paces near, jealous of my attention to the creature she loathes. Milky slinks away from me but bounds back. Starlight watches, waiting to gain me, her sleek black body quivering in the sun, accentuated by the inquisitive cock of her head.
I crouch in the shadows of the pussy willow tree trying to tear away from Milky, but she sucks onto me like a magnet. Starlight’s crest sags and she sees I need help, and for a split second, Milky leaves and her opportunity is opened, but the magnet returns. I leap away from Milky and in her fury, she strikes, lashing her thick paws at Starlight. Starlight clatters the air with screeching and dashes away. Then, standing her ground, begs me to follow and I do.
“Starlight!” I call, and her head shoots up but Milky thrusts herself on me, blocking her with walls of fur.
Oh, I just want to be with Starlight, I can’t express the pleasure of weaving my fingers through her satin-like feathers. Just one lush moment to be at peace with her on my lap.
Starlight, furious, bats Milky away with her wings, a wild, fresh sense of joy builds inside, we are free.
‘Escape from Milky’ was originally published in Issue 2 of Paper Lanterns, when Lucy Hood was 16.
