I was having lunch yesterday with a friend who related a telephone conversation she’d recently had with her animal crazy daughter, Shalene who works on a ranch in California, USA. Now bear in mind it was long distance, Jill is a real softy, and as she told the tale, tears ran down her cheeks which set the stage for suspense!

The call woke her and, to add to her stress levels, she could just make out the distraught voice of her precious daughter Shalene who was clearly in a bad way and struggling to choke back her tears. It seemed this was ‘the’ call mothers all over the world dread receiving … and panic set in as she tried to figure out what had happened.
Jill could hear her own heart pounding in her ears as she  steadied herself, took a deep breath  and in her calmest ‘I’m going to have a nervous breakdown myself” voice , pleaded with  Shalene to tell  her what had happened.

“Mom, Mom  …..” Shalene sobbed, trying to catch her breath, “It’s Sally and Harry!”
“Oh my gosh, Shalene … how awful!” Jill exhaled for the first time since the phone rang,  overcome with relief that her daughter was in one piece and not lying in hospital mortally injured, in a far eastern jail or suffering from a fatal illness!

Waiting for a lull between sobs, Jill timidly asked,
“Who is Harry and Sally, darling?”
“My chickens Mom!”  came the stunned  reply.
“You know they weren’t just chickens, they were my children and …..” she wailed, “…. well Levi ate them!”
“No …  the old devil!” was all Jill could think of to say, feeling very guilty that she was not devastated by the tragic passing of Harry and Sally. Instead, the black cloud of impending doom had lifted, and she burst into a fit of  nervous laughter.
“I’m just so relieved” she told her daughter … “I really thought something dreadful …”
“Maaah! How could you!” interrupted Shalene in disgust,
“Those weren’t just chickens …. they could sit!”
“Oh, they had eggs too?” Jill faked a funereal tone, trying desperately to get into the spirit of Shalene’s grief.

“You  don’t understand … you see, every morning when I went to feed the horses, the dogs,  the chickens and  the cats walk with me, and when I stop I’ve trained them all to sit on command  … including Harry and Sally!”
Life won’t be quite the same without you Harry and Sally -  may your dear souls Rest in Peace.