Extra Crispy Takes a Trip
winner of our February flash fiction contest
David kept six chickens in a coop and run in his backyard. They were just about as normal chickens as could be, that is, until last Sunday. After evening service David walked out to feed the birds and only found five of them. Extra Crispy was missing. He searched the coop and run. He looked all over the yard to see if she had flown out. But Extra Crispy was nowhere to be found. Frustrated and tired, he figured a hawk had struck and went to bed.
David woke up at 2 a.m. to an ungodly ruckus coming from the cabinet under his bathroom sink. With his mind still fogged from sleep he went over and opened the cabinet and there was Extra Crispy looking back at him.
A myriad of explanations occurred to him. Maybe she had gotten out of the run and he had left the door open at some point? Maybe a friend was playing some kind of prank on him? He didn’t remember leaving the door open and the only friend with a spare key wasn’t the pranking sort. David eventually chalked it up to one of life’s unexplained mysteries, took her back to the coop, and went back to bed.
The next evening she went missing again.
He stomped to the bathroom grumbling and confused but there was no chicken under the sink. He checked other cabinets to no avail. He looked under beds, behind boxes, and everywhere he could think of. Finally he gave up, despairing of finding the chicken.
David woke up at 2 a.m. to an ungodly ruckus coming from Extra Crispy who was somehow under his bed.
The next day David grabbed a beer and his old camp chair and stationed himself outside the run. He spent several hours watching Extra Crispy. The day wore on and the light faded and he was about to call it a day when she suddenly disappeared. If he hadn’t been watching her closely he wouldn’t have noticed it.
David fixed the spot in mind and carefully approached the area. He took a step and suddenly his foot was missing. He jerked back and his foot reappeared. His heart calmed while his mind raced. He carefully put it forward again and it once again disappeared. He stretched out his hand and watched as it disappeared as it broke the same invisible plane. He took a deep breath and, with more guts than grey matter, took two more steps and passed through whatever it was.
He found himself still in the chicken run, but as he surveyed his surroundings a few odd differences arose. Firstly, all the other chickens were gone except for Extra Crispy who was walking around a few feet from him. Secondly, the dimming light of a late fall afternoon had been replaced by a brighter, more consistent light, though David saw no sun in the sky. And lastly, the fence around the run and the coop had taken on a hazy quality, as if they weren’t quite there. He watched as Extra Crispy walk straight through the fence. David took a hesitant step and walked through the fence as well.
He hadn’t planned for anything like this and was unsure of what to do next when out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. At the tree line was some kind of creature, though nothing like he’d ever seen before. It looked like a fish floating in the air with tentacles dangling down from its belly. Its large black eyes were focused on Extra Crispy. He may not have ever seen anything like that but he’d seen coyotes with that same look. He reached for the shovel he kept by the gate and his hand passed through it. He was about to try again when the thing launched itself at Extra Crispy with an incredible speed.
David’s rage at this predator boiled up in him. Again he reached for the shovel as he launched himself at the thing. A small portion of his mind was surprised when he felt solid wood in his hand. He planted his feet and swung as the creature was about to collide with Extra Crispy. The metal rang out and the wooden handle splintered.
The creature went hurtling through the air before stopping itself and twisting to look at David. It opened its mouth and let out an unearthly roar, revealing rows of needle teeth. It came at him like a bullet and David knew this was it.
Lightning struck from the sky and coalesced into the form of a man in front of David. The man raised a spear just in time for the charging creature to skewer itself on it, dark ichor marring the pale white wood of the haft.
He turned to David and in a voice like thunder harnessed and forced into syllables he said, “DO NOT FEAR.” David saw that the man’s face was like that of a lion. He wore a white robe and his exposed skin bubbled with eyes. Despite the insanity and madness before him, David was not afraid.
“WHAT IS YOUR NAME AND HOW DID YOU COME HERE?” David croaked out his name and a brief explanation of what had happened.
“YOU ARE WELL NAMED DAVID. THOUGH PERHAPS NOT THE WISEST TO TRESPASS HERE. YOUR STORY IS CONCERNING.”
David felt the wind pick up, ruffling his hair and the being’s clothes.
“I SEE. THE CAUSE OF THE FRACTURE IS YET TO COME IN YOUR TIME. BUT I WILL CLOSE IT AND YOUR ANIMAL WILL NO LONGER FIND HER WAY HERE. GO IN PEACE DAVID.”
The being began glowing and light engulfed David.
David woke up at 2 a.m. from his odd dream before rolling over and vowing to never again do that much day drinking. The next day Extra Crispy didn’t disappear and David quickly forgot the whole ordeal, though he did have to go buy a new shovel handle the next day since his old one broke somehow.