In our last Copper Chronicle, Lady the Hen left her “farm” to find her friend, Copper. She didn’t like the commercial food pellets they were not as fun as chasing bugs and digging fresh worms. She didn’t like her cubicle, where she was confined in the name of efficiency. Efficient for whom? She wondered. It doesn’t seem like any creature can be “efficient” in a cubicle, unless you give them lots of caffeine, sugary treats, and a looming mortgage to make them so.

The right to be free from boxes seems universal. Lady is just a hen, and she senses that to be true. It’s not clear why human beings are still living in cubicles. Perhaps they have no choice?

Lady followed the wide road that led to Holyoke. She was hungry and went to a Red Robin where she saw a few stray people wandering into. They seemed hungry, too. She slid up to the bar very casually and took a seat. It was fun to see what humans see and do what humans do. She hoped by acting casually she would fit in, and no one would notice she was a hen. The human being behind the bar was very friendly and happy. It’s not clear why.   

Maybe she had never seen a hen in a bar before? Hens are happy and lovable by nature when they are free to live and breathe and roam as hens should. Every person who knows a hen knows this. A hen is a friend if you believe them to be so and treat them so.

A friendly man on a stool aside Lady ventured to say hello. He seemed also a soul on a quest looking for refuge. He mentioned the empty buildings and homeless people, the drugs, and broken families. He reflected with great contentment about the well-being of his own family. But he was still sad for everyone else.

Lady understands this, too. Lady knows what a family is like from her happy days with Copper. Copper looked after her hens diligently. Hens were never alone- were happy and free to do what hens to best! Hunt and peck, scratch, and shuffle. Lady misses those days. Seems like missing happy days is also universal (for hens and humans.)

If Lady continues this train of thought, she may never make it out of Red Robin. Bold quests require bold courage. She wished the friendly neighbor and bartender well and continued out the door to see the world. The world beyond her happy pen- away from her friends- where everything made sense and every day was fine.