Chico got tired of living in his downtown apartment. The sounds of music, hollering, and traffic woke him up all night long. So, he moved into a trailer on the outskirts of town. There were three other trailers nearby, one right next door. Within a couple of days, he had the place swept, mopped, and cleaned to his satisfaction. He had the cable hooked up, air conditioner cranked to a polar setting, and cold beer in the refrigerator. Feeling quite satisfied, he settled back in his recliner and found an old Rambo movie to watch. It was peaceful in this neighborhood - not like his place in town.
Just as he was about to nod off into a pleasant dream state, he heard shouting. So, he stepped out the back to see what was going on. The couple next door were hurling insults back and forth and arguing about something Chico could not understand. Finally, the man jumped into his big red truck and took off, oversized tires squealing and radio blaring “Highway to Hell”. Chico hoped this wasn’t a sign of things to come.
A rooster woke him up early the next day. He looked outside and saw that the big red truck was parked next door and all was quiet, except for the zealous crowing. Then, Chico left for his job at the motel and didn’t think about it any more that day. He cleaned the pool, changed out two air conditioners, fixed a leak in the deluxe suite, and steam cleaned the office rug. By the time he got home, he was worn out. He shoved two frozen macaroni and cheese dinners into the microwave and sunk thankfully into the soft cushions of his recliner.
Early the next day, Chico was awakened again by the loud sound of a rooster. He got two pillows off the couch and laid back down, pillows pressed to both ears. The crowing continued. Unable to go back to sleep, he pulled some jeans on and walked outside to look for the annoying rooster. Although he could hear chickens nearby, he could not see any.
That night, he was awakened once more by angry shouting next door. The truck was cranked up, with radio blaring again, but this time it stayed in the yard. A man and a woman stood outside in their underwear, calling each other names and swearing in very imaginative terms. “Them or me!” the woman kept hollering. Since Chico didn’t know or care what the issue was about, he went back inside and eventually went back to sleep.
The next morning, right when the sun was creeping through the pines, Chico was awakened by the sound of hammering and the piercing whine of a skill saw. This sound reminded him of a dentist’s drill, which he couldn’t stand. All of this noise was punctuated by the insistent crowing of the rooster. So he sighed in frustration and went to put on some coffee.
That evening, when he got home from work, he saw that the man was working on a large square structure. He walked over to see what it was, but couldn’t tell by the looks of it. Finally, out of curiosity, he approached the man. The man looked up from his furious hammering with a red faced grimace. “What in the heck are you building?” asked Chico as politely as he could.
“I am building the finest pen you ever seen for my dern chickens.” replied the man.
“It’s a very big pen! How many do you have?” Chico inquired.
“Twenty, including them biddies!” the man answered proudly.
“That’s a lot of chickens! Where have you been keeping them?” asked Chico in between bursts of hammering and sawing.
“Well, them possums got me worried. Then I seen a fox prowling around in the bushes. So I brought my chickens in the house. That’s when the trouble started with my wife. She claims they’re stinking up the place! Then, she threatened to cook every dern one of them!” complained the man.
Chico just shook his head and walked away, thinking that a chicken dinner sounded pretty good right now!
