Big Chick

Once upon a time a boy who lived on a farm found an egg. Apparently it had fallen out of its nest. The boy brought it home and placed in one of the nest in the chicken coop outside of his house, together with all the chicken eggs.

Very soon all the eggs started to hatch.One by one. Until there was only one that had yet to hatch. All the hens gathered around and speculated amongst themselves as to why the egg had yet to hatch.

"perhaps mother hen failed to sit on it properly", one said.

Another offered this,"It is too big. Bigger eggs take longer to hatch. That's why that one has yet to hatch."

The wisest of all the hens surmised that perhaps that egg was not fated to hatch. It was a bad egg. And everyone knew bad eggs never hatched..ever. Upon hearing those words all the other hen's nodded in agreement, as the Old Wise Hen has never been known to be wrong.

One by one all the hens left the coop. Except for poor mother hen. She still held out in hope that some way, somehow that the egg would hatch. Days turned into a week, and then something started to happen...

The egg started to hatch! Out of that big egg came the oddest little chick anyone had ever seen. It was different from all the other chicks that lived in the coop. It was somewhat bigger than any chick. And it lacked the nice yellow feathers that any normal chick has. All the other hens gossiped amongst themselves regarding the matter. Mother hen and her chick hence became a topic of discussion everywhere they went.

A few months passed, and Big Chick grew even bigger and even stronger. Very soon he found himself popular amongst the other chicks. But being big than most, he was most aware of the extra danger he was in. He would indeed make a tasty morsel for snakes. Ever so often snakes and their kind would come and take one of his brethren away. So the entire chicken community lived in fear of the day that they would be the one to end up a meal for a hungry snake.

Big Chick did all the things chickens do. He definitely walked like one. He ate like one. He even ate like one. All in all Big Chick was a chicken in every way. But Big Chick was not happy. He always felt different from all the other chicks. He may have lived like a chicken but he sure did not feel like he fit in.

How Big Chick longed to be like the eagle he saw soaring high above the farm. Free to roam the world and not having to stay on the farm. How he longed to be able to fly high,high above the clouds and look down upon the world beneath. But he knew that chicken do not fly far, let alone as high as the eagle.

But everywhere he went and everyone he told, told him that being an eagle was not a good thing and that he should forget about trying to be like an eagle. Eagles fly too high and build their nests up in cliffs. Not things that any self-respecting chicken would do.

But still Big Chick did not feel like being a chicken much. It was not much fun being on the ground, not being able to fly and nothing really interesting ever happens except the odd snake attack or two.

One day Big Chick decided to run away from the farm. He did not know where he was going to but any place but the farm would do. So Big Chick walked...and walked,in a chicken sort of way. A shadow cast on the ground caught his eye. It was the eagle again. So Big Chick decided there and then to go to where the eagles lived and to see for himself what life as an eagle was like.

Up the mountain Little Chick climbed. As fast as his little legs could take him. By midday, Little Chick was nearly at the top of the mountain. Now he was closer to the eagles above,than the farm, which lay below like a mere speck. For the first time Little Chick realised that his world was so much bigger than the world he once knew down on the farm.

By now Little Chick was at the highest point of the mountain. He could now see for the first time the eagles up close. To his amazement,despite all that he had been told about them, eagles were not so bad after all. They seemed just like any of the other birds he had seen. Yet at the same time the eagles had a certain air about them. A certain dignity, confidence and maybe even a sense of knowing not apparent amongst any of the chickens he met before.

Little Chick had always longed to be like an eagle. There was no way back now. He could never bring himself to go back to the farm. It was his destiny to be an eagle. Even if realising that dream meant he could never be a chicken ever again.
Little Chick stood at the edge of the cliff. Far down he could still see the farm and the fields where he had spent all his days up to this point. Little Chick spread his wings. He had seen how the eagles made flying seem so effortless. Now even up close flying seemed even easier said than done. He flapped his wings hard but nothing seemed to happen.

Just then he felt a strange yet almost familiar presence. He turned around, and saw the biggest bird he has ever seen. It was an eagle. They look so much bigger, so much more stronger up close. His first emotion was fear. But soon that fear gave way to peace. This eagle seemed so far removed from anything that he had been lead to believe. Eagle's were supposed to be bad. No chicken had ever encountered an eagle and lived to tell the tale. Little Chick thought it best to say something. But before he could speak, the eagle started to speak...

"To fly you need to learn to let go,little one. To learn to let go of your fear of falling. To spread your wings and let the winds carry you to where you need to go."

To this Little Chick replied," But how will I know where I need to go?"

The eagle said in a most reassuring tone," To know where you need to go,first you need to know where you are and where you came from."

Little Chick was perplexed at the words the eagle had spoken. Yet in his heart he knew that everything that the kind eagle spoke was true. He had always known this yet everything he was told since that day he came out of his egg was at odds. How could he,a chicken ever be like an eagle? Even if he did not let his fear grip him there was still the little fact that he was a chicken. Chicken's do not fly, at least chicken's do not the way eagles do.

The eagle sensing Little Chick's apprehension proceeded to speak once more.

"For the longest time I have watched you from above. Acting like a chicken.Living as one of them. But you always knew that you were meant to fly. That is the only reason you are here now.If you cannot believe in your ability, you can still believe in me. I once thought as you do now. I saw eagles fly above from my nest. But look at me now. .."

With that the eagle walked up to next to where Little Chick was. Little Chick was now closer to an eagle than he ever thought he would be this morning. The eagle stood at the cliff edge and spread his wings wide. And just like that the eagle leaped off the cliff and was up and away. Little Chick peered over the ledge to see that the eagle he had spoken to was now ascending up towards the clouds. And then he was a mere speck as he flew out of his sight.

Little Chick felt courage swell up within. He spread his wings. And waited for the right wind to come. And when a strong enough back wind came, Little Chick left off the ledge with all the strength he could muster....

Up and up and up the winds lifted him. He did not even have to flap his wings. Little Chick was flying!
Little Chick allowed the wind to carry him to where he needed to go. Down below Little Chick spied the farm where he had once lived. That life now seems so far away...

Down below, a young saw Little Chick soaring above and thought to himself," How I wish I could soar like that eagle..."
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