Karl lurched awkwardly across the sun-baked patch of earth. He had noticed the crumb first and quickly gobbled it down even as a hopping marathon of his feathered companions surged behind him like a clucking tidal wave. Disappointed that Karl had not miscalculated his sustenance-facilitating peck, the assemblage of famished fowl disbanded to continue scanning the soil but not without a petulant bristling of feathers. His brain too small to comprehend the fleeting disdain of his contemporaries, he wandered towards the edge of the fence and stared into the setting sun. The amber hues of afternoon mingled with the blue dusk at a meteorological cocktail party. The sun finished his champagne and was saying his goodbyes just as evening walked through the door flicking her ash on the horizon.
As this cosmic light show was projected on Karl’s obsidian eyeballs, an inexplicable thing happened. Perhaps it was some divine miracle or a time released evolutionary leap, whatever the case Karl stood bolt upright like a porcelain chicken statue. His perpetual quest for food was forgotten as he stood transfixed by the waning ball of fire in the distance. A word came into his simple mind and brought with it emotions, sensations and urges which had nothing to do with survival instincts, the preening of feathers or procreation.
The word was “Beautiful”.
Karl’s beak hung open, his abrasive tongue lolled out of one side like a forgotten pickle in the caf? of wonder. The ducts in his eye sockets, which supplied his segmented orbs with moisture, began to overflow. Torrents of tears ran down his cheeks saturating the white and black speckled feathers of his face. He knew somehow in that one overwhelming moment what it meant to be alive. As the epiphany coursed through his body he convulsed with awareness, every inch of pulsating poultry tingled in the chill of impending night. Then abruptly he stopped. A profound calm washed over him.
Karl had seen the face of god.
Not a god burdened by dogma. Not a bearded white man or a majestic goddess. He had none of those narrow-minded references to pervert his enlightenment. He saw god as no human could on earth or beyond. Karl saw god as life itself. In every blade of grass, antelope, drop of water, human, and cloud of pollution. God was also in every laugh, orgasm, bowel movement, love poem and tear. And yes of course God was even in a small salt and pepper chicken.
Karl had attained the knowledge which philosophers throughout the ages had gone to their graves wondering. He truly knew the meaning of life.
The sun had retreated completely and all of the other chickens were shuffling into the warmth of the coop. He stood blinking for a moment longer then turned around indifferently. He noticed something in the distance and jogged eagerly, yellow claws scraping against the packed dirt. The crumb slid down his throat unceremoniously. Karl lingered for only a moment head craning from side to side in search of another convenient morsel. Then he waddled eagerly into the darkness of the coop, content.
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