MAVIS LAYS AN EGG
On a bright, beautiful day, full of promise, Mavis laid an egg. This was not an extraordinary event since Mavis was a chicken, but Mavis was not pleased.
"An egg? An egg? What do I want with an egg?" said Mavis to herself. "An egg is just not in my plans. I’ll have to get rid of it."
Mavis sat on the edge of her nest looking at the thing for a while, then she went out into the barnyard and picked up a rock. She carried it into the henhouse, lifted it over her head, and was about to crash it into the egg when she heard, "Stop!"
Old Biddy Hen was standing in the doorway. "Child, what on earth are you doing with that rock?"
"I was just going to crack open this egg," she said softly.
"Whatever for?" Biddy asked. "It looks like a perfectly good egg to me."
"Well, if I don’t, my life will be ruined. First, I’ll have to sit on it night and day, and then, it might hatch. I’m just not ready to have a cheeping little chick following me around all the time. I don’t think I can handle it. I want a life."
"Looks to me like you’ve got a life there. Who knows what it will become, the next cock-a-doodle rooster or maybe Mother Hen. Life is full of possibilities. Mavis, everything you said is true, but it sure would be a shame to break such a beautiful egg,” Biddy said kindly.
"I don’t know what to do. I wish it were someone else and not
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