Restart, Reset

Chapter 7

   Chickens are assholes.

   Not even gonna sensor it.

   Winter opened the door and Everysingle one of them little assholes flew at my face, pecking eveyywhere till one of the found the feed bucket, 

   Thankfully an experienced chicken feeder shoed them off me.

  "Thank you, Winter" I breathed. Its a really good thing I had heavy winter clothing on. Otherwise, i would have had scratches and peck marks everywhere

   "Not a problem," She stated. "They do the same thing to me, its why I stood behind the door," she laughed.

   "Oh why thanks" I sarcasticly stated

    She laughed a bit more. "Alright Brantley, see the bucket on top of the coop?" 

   "Yeah" I affirmed. Looking up to the feeder"why?"

   "You need to dump the bucked of feed into it" She informed me.

   "How?"

   "There's a latter up to the the roof in the back of the coop, theres a trapdoor to make sure the chickens don't get up to it"

   I sighed, Picked up the bucket of feed. "It was more like a how am I gonna get through that coop without dying"

  "Just down startle them, and you should be good" Winter tried to reassure. Dont know how how much reassuring it did, but good advice none the less

   I took a deep breath and stepped up to the door, beginning to slowly open it. Peering in I could see the chickens moving about. As soon as the door was open far enough to fit the five gallon bucket through, I slipped through. A chicken from behind the door cooed away in alarm.

  I felt my stomach lurch up into my chest. "holy crap" I whispered. Okay mabey it wasn't quite that exact wording.

  I slowly continued to move through the coop.

  "The hell is that" Winter shouted in confusion

 Now here, here is where I idioted.

  "The hell is what?" I shouted,  Turning and swinging the bucket.

 ONE chicken, Just one  got startled, screamed in alarm and flapped its wings. In turn startling every other bird in the coop. with is at least 15.

  I stood as still as possible, wincing evertime I heard the call of a chicken or felt the flap of a wing.

  "Nothing, I was just testing you,"  She laughed.

 "Ha ha, very funny" I snarked. Then as smoothly and fast as possible made my way to the latter. making sure I made as little sound as possible. That was hard, due to the straw and creaky floorboards.

 "There's a rope for the trap door," Winter shouted.
 "Aight"
   Hold up, Hold up. What the hell was that? 'Aight' what ever happend to Alright, Brantley. Oh great, I'm Starting to talk like them now. Never Have I ever thought I'd say something off like that.
   I pulled on the rope, and slipped the loop in the middle of the rope over the peg on the latter, simply throwing what I said to the side of mind. I peeked my head over the top of the ceiling. Well the ceiling and the 5 inches of snow. The lid to the feeding system was covered in snow as well, but not to much.
   I hauled the bucked of feed up the ladder. And that feed bucket has to weigh at least twenty pounds, So it's safe to say I had my issues ascending all the way up.
   I trudged to the feed system, opened the lid and dumped the feed into it, which took the better part of a minute to do. Finished I threw the bucket off the roof.
    "Woh there buddy, dont hit me!" Winter called out.
     I cringed moving towards the hatch. "Sorry," I shouted
     "It's alright, just watch out next time, I don't want or need a goose egg on my forehead" she stated
     I decended the ladder. Here's where I idiot again.
     I just slip the loop off the peg, not having a care in the world. That is untill I realize my mistake, go wide-eyed and feel my stomach bolt into my ribcage. The Plywood trapdoor slamed shut under gravity. Yet again, all hell broke loose. Wings, legs, feathers, whole birds, feet, and any other type of chicken part was everywhere it could be.

     There wasn't a way in the world i was staying in there for as long as i did last time. I ran through the coop, luckily not crushing any chickens or eggs and burst through the door and dove into the snowpack.

     Winter slammed the door shut before any poultry could escape. "Yeah i'd recommend not doing that again," she paused, walking towards me. She was laughing. Like, not just a little 'haha that was pretty funny', it was more like 'Holy crap, I can hardly breath' Then proceeds to fall over, squirming in the snow. 

       I rolled belly up and sat up, spitting snow and wiping it out of my eyes. "I'll note to never do that again,"

      "Here"she said, stifling her laugh, and pulling herself out of the snow. She held out her hand. I took it and in a group effort, threw me up on my feet. "I did the exact same thing my first time, so don't worry about it"

       I brushed off the snow from my jacket and pants. "Okay, Thanks" I said

      "Hey wanna go see the fort I build last summer?" Winter asked. I glanced over too her. She was looking off into the woods

       "Sure, How far away is it?" I agreed, but not wanting to walk miles to find it.

       "Quarter-Mile at most, and we need to check on it" She stated

       And with that we were trudging through the woods in 6 inches of snow. It was along the shore of the small lake, so could turn ans see David looking out the window, on his phone. 

       A short time later

        Winter lead us halfway around the lake before we cut into the woods. I checked my watch               

                                                                              4:43

       Its early March, so can figure sunset is around 5:45. 

       "We got about an hour" I told Winter.

        "Then its a good thing we're here then" She stated, stopping in her tracks and scanning the area.

         I looked around, seeing nothing. not a building in sight (minus the house, which was a ways away). "Where is it then?" I asked confused. I moved to the top of a small hill and scanned the area once more

         She walked behind me, I spun around to watch where she was going. at the base of the hill, she started digging through the snow.

         I was puzzled at first. Stepping off the mound I sat next to her and watched as she dug. Eventually a particleboard sheet could be seen, then hinges, and a handle. And in the end I realized that the Fort was the mound. Winter removed a metal bar across the handle that acted as a lock. She opened the door. It plopped down in the snow.

          "You were standing right on top of it silly" Winter stated laughing as she dropped in the doorway.      

WC: 1169