Chapter 12. The Very Best Chicken Soup! EVER!
1959 Words
About fortnight ago, a travelling chicken soup van started.
It was started to fund a children's charity.
They made a large batch of chicken soup from a long lost family recipe.
It was a very nice recipe and the soup sold very quickly.
Word of mouth spread about how nice the chicken soup was.
Only a few days ago they claim to have purchased eight malnourished unhappy chickens.
Although this was the claim, it was not ‘entirely’ true.
More accurately, they became in possession of the eight chickens, rather than ‘strictly purchased’.
The chickens, however, were almost definitely not stolen, per se…
The best possible description might be ‘Captured’.
Unfortunately, some recent localised legal trouble meant that the travelling orphanage had to leave an area fairly quickly.
That local trouble leads them to pick up their first orphans to help.
Today the travelling cart had arrived in a new village.
They brought with them, the eight chickens.
Despite not purchasing any new chickens and making a lot more soup,
They were the exact same eight chickens that they had ‘obtained’ a few days ago.
All their feathers were in very good condition and they were VERY happy chickens!
When you approached the chicken soup van, you could see in a pen next to the travelling fan, with plenty of room and fresh dirt to scratch on, twelve very contented chickens.
Seeing the healthy and happy chickens were made people want even more soup.
They felt that they must be getting a product of excellent quality because of the high quality of the health of the chickens in the pen.
In a big sign on top of the green four horse-drawn cart van was a notice.
“GREN SISTERS”
“BEST CHICKEN SOUP VAN!”
“ALL PROCEEDS GO TO ORPHANS AND ALL CHILDREN IN DIRE NEED!”
Around them were a group of stray children, who travelled with them.
The youngest being six, who loved to make little clay models of animals and was getting quite good and making chicken models.
There was even, among the small throng, a pair of orphaned red-headed twins.
So,
The soup was delicious,
People felt they were getting a high-quality product,
AND that they were doing some good by supporting a children's charity.
So the charity was doing very well, and demand was always much higher the possible supply!
People were happy to join long ques to try and get a taste of this super nice chicken soup!
The business charity owners were three, not unattractive, ladies.
One brunette, one blonde and one redhead.
Apart from the children in their care they ‘semed’ to travel alone.
No other adults could be seen with them.
I am NOT saying, “‘no other adults are travelling with them.”’
I am just saying that “IF” any other adults were travelling with them, then no one ever saw them or noticed them together.
Only “IF”!
The chicken soup van was starting to raise a lot of money that was used to help many and any children that needed it.
They also became fairly well known (although not as famous as the chicken soup!) for mild herbal cures and medicines.
Very rarely, they had even been known to help lift the occasional very mild curse or harmless prank level hex.
Because of this, on a typical busy soup serving day, there was a knock at the back of the van.
A rather annoyed, brunette answer the back hatch.
“The long queue is the other side” she snapped before composing herself and trying again,
“I am sorry, you will have to join the very long queue on the other side, sir,” she said more politely.
A startled young man in medical magic-user robes blinked for a few brief seconds.
The brunette was quite stunning to look at and her initial fierce anger had pulled at his libido like a yo-yo string.
He was the sort of twenty-five-year-old man that found a slightly older, thirty-eight-year-old women, sexually fascinating.
“I am here in a more professional capacity, mam,” He said respectfully, turning slightly red.
“Oh?” Said the Brunette, flexing her forehead.
“There is an older child with a silly practical joke curse placed on his forehead.” Continued the young embarrassed doctor.
“I don’t seem to be able to shift it, and could do with a second opinion.”
“It scared the crap out of our local; priest!”
“Hang on!” Said the Brunette, turning over her shoulder to shout at the others.
“Susan!”
“Vert!”
“I need to step out, a child needs some help!”
“Ok!” one sister shouted back,
“No problem,” shouted the other.
“Ok, then!” Sally the brunette said as she turned back to the young man,
“Let’s go”
Kids are naturally mean to each other.
Even the nicest kids misbehave at some point.
“BUT!” thought Sally to herself,
“IF an adult has cursed some poor child then…”
She checked her rising anger back into place.
“Well then…” she continued to think, “… then there is always room for one more!”
She hated a person that she once was,
And for that reason, she also hatred any adult that would hurt a child, in any way, shape, or form!
Thirty minutes later.
“Well?” asked the young wizard doctor, “What do you think?”
SIDEBAR…
To explain why what happened next, happened, I the writer have to briefly remind you about the nature of people.
People like boxes and context.
So you may say hello and have a friendly chat with someone you see serving at a sandwich shop every day for years.
Yet still, fail to recognise that same person in a different environment and context at a friends birthday party.
If you work in an office with suits and ties and accidentally came across your bosses, boss. But in a swimsuit by the beach while on holiday. Then most of us would not immediately (if at all) work out who they had been talking to for the last hour by the ocean rocks.
No one wants to see you old school history teacher at an exotic strip bar throwing singles at the dancers, especially if you are one of the dancers! That would be, just be creepy!
So, As I said, People like boxes and context.
This is why what happened next, happened!
Sally failed to recognise the fourteen-year-old boy as the very same eleven-year-old she had met only two weeks ago.
She instead only saw a fourteen-year-old lad with what looked like a very large wrinkled boil on his forehead.
She gave an incredulous stare at the doctor,
“Really?”
“It is is just a big boil, just lace it and be done!”
“It is not a boil,” Said the young doctor.
“That!” He said pointing “Is an eyelid!”
Sally looked again,
“Oh yes!” I see it now.
“Can he open it so I can see what we are dealing with?” she asked.
“I am NOT going to be opening it!” said Rats Stars!
Rats Stars had not recognised the fresh-faced, healthy-looking, handsome woman.
The last time he had seen Sally Gren two weeks ago, she was a pale ragged hag with a complexion that showed a lifetime of extreme drug abuse and dark magic.
PLUS, He was a bit preoccupied with the fact that he had a third eye on his forehead!
‘So what the flush, were those lumps on his shoulderblades going to turn out to be?’ Rats wondered worryingly.
I addition he did not feel like seeing and perceiving the entire conventional and magic energy spectrum again, yet.
It was a disarmingly disconcerting turn of events!
He needs time to get used to the idea!
So neither recognised the other as anything other than total strangers.
SEE!
Told you!
People both like and rely on boxes and context.
Sally said,
“Well if you won't open your eye then I can't help you!
“Can I!?”
Rats stared defiantly back.
“Not going to happen!”
“Can you at least tell me who did this to you?” Sally asked.
“No!” Said Rats
“No you can not tell me or No you won't tell me?!” Said Sally evenly
Rats stayed silent.
Sally turned to the doctor.
“Well, it is a new one for me.” She told him.
“I have never come across any such similar curse before”
“But he seems healthy enough. There is no immediate danger and you are better much qualified than me anyway,”
“So…!”
“So?” Prompted the doctor.
“So, Nothing!” Sally continued,
“If he decides to cooperate and let us help him, then come get me back here.”
“Until then…” She shrugged, as she turned to leave.
Rats Stars was allowed to leave and go back to the master blacksmith.
There seemed to be no immediate medical danger and it was simply assumed the harmless prank would just wear off in a few days.
Rats Stars did not tell master blacksmith about the third eye and kept is covered.
That evening the “BEST CHICKEN SOUP VAN” packed up and left the village.
The story of the weird third eye boy was thought of as little more than a mildly interesting daily antidote that was soon forgotten.
Eventually, The Gren travelling orphanage stopped and made camp for the night.
As always, they had sold out of their famous soup today.
So to try and keep up with demand the sisters made an extra-large batch for the next town.
First, They Fed and cared for the eight chickens.
Then they made an extra-large batch of the Best Chicken Soup Ever from the recently rediscovered ancient secret family Gren recipe!
When they finally got all the kids to bed and got some sleep themselves, there were STILL eight chickens happily living in their large unpacked travelling chicken run and coup!
No new chickens had been ‘obtained’.
These were STILL the very same eight chickens that had originally been “Obtained” a few days ago!
No magic had been used!
The Master of all Evil Chaos snarled in this own dimension.
He knew what the Sin Eater was.
Although how one of “THEM” got there, he did not know.
He had explicitly tried to tell some Witches “DO NOT KILL HIM!”
And they had messed up!
Luckily ‘It’ had survived and escaped!
This ‘thing’ could screw up the whole bet!
Espeasahhy if it died on that planet!
That would draw VERY unwanted attention!
He did not consider or suspect that the Master of all Evil Void had anything to do with this!
Not THIS!
He knew that the Master of all Evil Void would, obviously, try and cheat, somehow!
They were both source Evils after all!
But no way that Void would put that ‘thing’ in there!
There are some things that even sources of All Primal Evil would not stoop to!
The Evil Void was also watching.
It had been hard getting Sin-Eater to that planet.
The fight had cost him a few of his most powerful hell legions!
But seeing the events unfold was worth it.
What he needed the Sin-Eater to do now, was to get killed there!
That would most definitely screw up the plans of Evil Chaos and let Evil Void win the bet!
But so Void was not caught cheating, it would have to be someone or thing that was not directly connected to the void.
Preferably by one of Evil Choas’s forces!
Evil Order was also watching.
He was the third of the three multiversal forces of the source of all the Evil in the entire Multiverse!
He was the one that had scrambled the signal Evil Chaos had sent to the Witches.
He just wanted to find a way to upset and humiliate both the other two!
They never invited him for drinks!
These are the forces of Evil Order, Evil Choas and the Evil Void.
The Tri-Evil.
The Trumivite.
However, their opposite number,
The three forces of holiness and light have not yet deemed to notice yet.
They were supposed, (just as the Trumivite) to be all-knowing and all-seeing through all of time and space in the entire multiverse.
But for some reason (Nudge, Nudge, Hint, Hint!) they seemed to have a blind spot on this planet, place and time, at the moment!
Meanwhile…
That night the eight chickens contentedly dreamed.
They dreamt of being bigger and taller.
They dreamt of having fewer feathers.
They dreamt of being male instead of female.
They dreamt of being powerful!
They dreamt of red sticks, of green fires and lights.
Even though chickens should be colourblind!
They were very confusing dreams for a chicken to have.
But chickens are not smart enough (or maybe too smart) to let confusing dreams worry them.
They just clucked happily, huddled and laid the occasional egg.
- Writer
