The next morning, I woke up to find that, for some reason, my chickens had grown larger yet again.
“Why?”
I measured them—they’d grown to about a meter tall.
“Whyyyyyy?!” I exclaimed.
“Why!”
“Why!”
“Why!”
Hey! You tell me!
I did have a feeling they were growing bigger. As of yesterday, they’d been probably about seventy centimeters tall, compared to the half meter I’d measured them at in late April. But since I was spending time with them every day, I thought maybe I was just imagining things. This time, however, the change was so sudden and apparent that I couldn’t write it off as my imagination.
“Should I be worried?”
They’d grown at an absurd pace—it might have taken a toll on their bodies.
“Any growing pains or that sort of stuff?” I asked, tilting my neck, and they copied my gesture. Even at this size, they’re still pretty cute, huh?
“I’m asking if you’re hurt anywhere from the huge growth spurt. Do you hear me?”
“You hear me?”
“You hear me?”
“You hear me?”
“You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you...?”
They didn’t seem to be feeling any pain or discomfort, and they were flapping their wings and tails with no issues. I didn’t know they could swing their tails like that.
“A veterinarian...will probably have no idea what to make of you guys. I doubt I can find one who’s seen chickens with tails like these.”
Previously, I had thought they resembled lizard tails, but these were more like something you’d see on a dinosaur or something. I tried touching their tails—they were smooth, hard, and had bones. They’re basically feathered dinosaurs.
“Doesn’t seem like you can cut these off...”
They were definitely different from lizard tails. I also had a look inside their beaks, and I found they each had a set of sharp, jagged teeth. Scary as hell.
I looked it up, and chickens weren’t supposed to have teeth. To be more precise, sometimes, right after hatching, they had teeth on the tips of their beaks that disappeared after a while. But certainly, they shouldn’t have teeth like these, which you’d usually find on a predator. Just what are you guys?
I wonder if anyone else had bought dyed chicks from the festival that day. Did the other chicks also grow into this? “If that were the case, people would notice that something was off...”
Katsuragi-san also got her dragon at the festival—the same went for Aikawa-san and his snakes. If there were a bunch of people out there raising bizarre creatures like these, I’d have already heard about it on the internet or the news or something. I wonder what’s going on here...
“Anyway, let me know if anything feels off,” I told the chickens. Worrying about it will do no good. I had some shopping to do today, so I weeded the lawn and then headed out.
I didn’t bother pulling weeds by the roots and just gave them a run over with the lawn mower, except for the ones near the house and around the fields. I’d been using that organic pesticide I’d made on the fields, so I didn’t need to worry about bugs. The chickens also stay away from the fields... But come to think of it, they eat bugs. Is the pesticide actually necessary? I do want the crops to grow strong and healthy...
The cucumbers I’d planted had started to ripen, and so had the komatsuna (also known as Japanese mustard spinach), which made me happy. It really is a great feeling, growing your own food. I was lost in thought when my phone rang—it was Old Man Yumoto.
“Hey, you coming over today?” he asked.
“Yes, I’ll stop by before I go shopping.”
“Come over for lunch, will ya?”
“Okay. Oh, by the way, the chickens grew larger again. I’m letting you know in advance so you’re not too shocked when you see them.”
The Yumotos had been very kind to me, and they would often invite me over. I tended to accept their invitations unless I already had something I needed to attend to.
I tried to think of something that would make for a nice gift for them. “Vegetables...are out of the question. The Yumotos grow their own...” Just then, Pochi came over, holding something in his beak.
No way...
“Eh...? A rabbit...?”
It was a wild rabbit with short ears and long hind legs, struggling to escape Pochi’s hold.
I quickly called Yumoto-san again to ask what to do in this situation. “Yumoto-san, the chickens caught a rabbit! What do I do with it?!” He explained that they were considered a nearly endangered species around here, so as long as they posed no harm, I should let them go. Whew, that’s a relief.
“Pochi, go deeper into the mountain and let him go. Yumoto-san said we have to leave the rabbits alone.”
Pochi did as he’d been told and ran off with the wild rabbit in his beak. Many people adored rabbits’ cute appearance and kept them as pets, but they could also ruin crops and eat tree bark, so in some places, they were considered pests.
“Well, we used to eat rabbit meat back in the day...”
If I’m not mistaken, I think it was in the Edo period when Tsunayoshi, the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, issued the Edicts on Compassion for Living Things. These were laws meant to protect “living things,” which included orphans and disabled individuals, but also animals. Birds were considered exceptions, and rabbits were grouped in the same category due to their ability to jump, so the consumption of rabbit meat was legal. Those laws were widely criticized, but they also had positive aspects that were retained, like protecting orphans. Uh, anyway, back to rabbits.
I’m aware rabbits are often considered pests, but I haven’t suffered any rabbit-related damage myself—I wouldn’t know what it’s actually like. I’ve heard they’re a big problem in Australia, and there are states over there where it’s illegal to buy or sell them. They were introduced to Australia by humans, though. Rabbits and deer look cute and all, so a lot of people recoil at the idea of exterminating them, but if they start becoming a problem, then you gotta do what you gotta do. I’d better prepare myself in case that ever happens.
I stuck the vipers in plastic bottles like always. Are there no end to the vipers on this mountain? Then I headed over to Yumoto-san’s place with Tama. Tama’s pretty strict with me, so I’d better behave myself. I don’t know what “behave” is supposed to mean in this case, but yeah.
“Well then, I’m off. I’ll be back before it gets dark, so you two hold down the fort,” I said to the other chickens. They clucked back at me. I’m really happy I’ve got such dependable chickens.