Every morning, without fail, Rory the rooster climbed to the top of the fence post.
Looked at the horizon.
And crowed.
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOOOO.
The sun came up.
The farm woke up.
Everything was correct.
Rory had done this every single day for three years.
Until the morning he didn’t. 🐓
🌾 The Farm Without the Crow
The sun came up anyway.
Suns do not wait for roosters.
But the farm did not notice the sun.
The cows slept.
The pigs slept.
The horse slept standing up, which horses can do, which is impressive.
The dog slept on the doorstep.
The cat, who did not follow schedules, was already awake but was not telling anyone.
The farm was quiet.
Too quiet.
An hour too quiet.
The farmer slept.
And slept.
And overslept.
🐓 Rory Wakes Up
Rory opened one eye.
Looked at the light.
Oh.
OH.
He fell off the fence post.
Flap flap flap THUD.
Scrambled to his feet.
Ran at full rooster speed to the fence post.
Climbed it.
Took a breath.
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOOOO!!!!
Every animal on the farm woke up at once.
MOO. OINK. NEIGH. WOOF. BAAA. CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK.
The farmer sat bolt upright in bed.
The cat walked away slowly, having known all along.
💛 Chloe Finds the Chaos
Chloe arrived to find the farm in a state of very loud activity.
Everyone doing the things they were supposed to do an hour ago but all at once.
The cows moving to the gate.
The pigs stampeding toward breakfast.
The horse trotting in a confused circle.
Rory on his fence post looking extremely guilty.
“What happened?” said Chloe.
“I slept in,” said Rory, with great dignity.
“You slept in?”
“Once,” said Rory. “In three years. Once.”
Chloe looked at the chaos.
“Everyone does it sometimes,” said Chloe.
“Roosters don’t,” said Rory.
“You did,” said Chloe. “And look — the farm survived.”
Rory looked at the farm.
Chaotic. Noisy. An hour behind.
But surviving.
He ruffled his feathers.
Fine.
But he set three mental alarms for tomorrow. 🐓