Harlen knew Lester had a heart condition. That’s why he worried. As he pulled up to the farmhouse he breathed a sigh of relief. Lester stood there, waving.
“Damn, son!” said Harlen, joining Lester on the porch. “You had me worried.”
Lester offered him a beer. “Sorry about that. I see now you’ve been calling.”
“Yeah. What happened?” He took a long pull from the Coors.
“I blame it all on Jerry.”
“Your six-foot tall rooster?” At Lester’s request, Harlen agreed not to post videos of the giant mutant chicken on YouTube. “Did he finally go berserk? Chase you into a corner?”
“Naw, nothing like that. Jerry’s a good ol’ boy. So friendly he likes to stick close to me all day.”
“But I drove by. You weren’t home.”
“Yeah I been in town getting a hearing aid from Doc Swanson.”
Harlen leaned against a post. “Uh huh. And…?”
Lester collected another beer. “Well, you know normal roosters are small animals but very loud.”
“Right, but Jerry’s huge.”
“Yep. Jerry don’t just wake the farm when he crows, he wakes the dang county!”
Harlen’s face fell. “Oh…”
Lester nodded. “Dang bird blew out my eardrum!”
_____________________________________
Written for FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER: https://flashfictionforthepracticalpractitioner.wordpress.com/2017/06/22/538/
Nothing like trying to muffle your snorts of laughter at 2:45am — especially when you’re drinking “Sleepy Time” tea π
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Haha! Well, it’s good to know you’re laughing. And I love, “Sleepy Time.” That’s one of my faves. Thanks so much, Lyn! π
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Brilliant! Love the punchline. Definitely something to (er) crow about… π
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Haha! I just threw that out on a wing and a prayer. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks Matthew! π
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Coors?
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Well, I wouldn’t drink it. My characters don’t always have the same tastes in beer as me.
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Another case of someone getting an exotic creature for a “pet” without thinking it though. π
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So true. Things could be worse though. At least Jerry isn’t a Giant Mutant Burmese Python. π Thanks Joy! π
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Ha ha, good point!
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I say.. I say.. that be a dang big rooster son! πππ
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Haha! That’s right. I should’ve named Jerry, “Foghorn.”
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Just a thought, but perhaps Jerry is working on the side for the hearing aid companies!
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What? Are you claiming there’s collusion between Jerry the Giant Rooster and the “Rooster Cogburn Hearing Aid Corp”? π
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Perhaps! Maybe an investigation is in order. π
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Great take!
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Thanks very much! π
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