The Pet

The stranger started his silent invasion in the deep night at the Central Farm, which was so immense, so large, so wide, and so crowded with strong hens, that it could have fed a million me. His plan was to stay around only a couple of hours, starting by smoking a cigarette -after having walked from far, very far-, and then proceed to simply escape with two or three hens under his arm. Afterwards he could tell about the great feat, there, in his far, very far land.

It was easy to get into the farm, as the bars and protection were rather rusty and in bad state, and the guardian dogs yielded asleep, asleep already by sunset time. Standing next to the windows he took a peek inside the silent house, a huge house in the middle of the farm, huge as a cathedral, and he saw, through the dirty window glass, the farmers, which were a dozen or many more, yielded resting in dirty, decaying couches, with gigantic glasses full of grain alcohol, gigantic as the farmers themselves, as they discussed and screamed and sang, absolutely relaxed, and defeated by the day’s darkness and the alcohol.

He then reached the heart of the farm and sat down in a warm big stone, reaching his dying cigarettes package, and lighted one, congratulating himself on being lucky that night, with the guardian dogs, the gigantic farmers and the strong hens, all of them so serene, as if they had all colluded to grant him a successful invasion.

He found himself scared at the sight, suddenly, of another man, another stranger, with skin of the color of the night, just as his, a few meters from him, also smoking a cigarette too. That stranger, as a living shadow, raised his hand in an unexpected friendly greeting, followed by a monologue, which almost gave him a heart attack, fearing the night could wake up from its slumber, with such a loud voice:

“Good evening my good sir. There is no need to lose the composure, as there is nothing, or almost nothing, that could incite this night against us. Only the dawn is dangerous, and in such hour not even our best defenses and gimmicks could save from the dogs, the farmers, or the hens themselves, who become aggressive when the grey sun touches their foreheads. So you can lighten up your mood, I will even confess to you that I’m a thief too, almost a professional one, and I am pretty used to come and grab a hen every six weeks, and such feat I have done for almost ten years. Heck, I could even write a detailed guide with all the steps, without any risk of failure. Allow me to get my alcohol bottle, and cheer to the uselessness of the farmers, because, as you will realize yourself one day, even without any care the hens appear and grow strong, as if a magic, invisible hand was making it happen. Can I get you a sip of my alcohol? No? That’s all right, maybe the next time, if it happens that we cross paths here again. Now, now, it’s time to take my hen, as I’m getting hungry, and there is nothing I would love more than having it as breakfast at home, well rested after a long good sleep.”

Having said that, that other stranger walked away singing, keeping our man scared and alert. But everything remained calm and quiet. He later walked around the farm, as large as it was, and even in such darkness, he realized the barn, the shacks, the water bowls were in bad state, and no food for the hens and animals was seen around. Perhaps it was as the other stranger said, and the hens needed no care from the farmers, and they grew strong and healthy by themselves?

He grabbed a single hen, more and more convinced that the tale told by the other stranger was true, thinking he could indeed come back soon to take another hen, and eat the meat fresh and succulent. But curiosity sparked in him, and he went to the huge house where farmers lived, huge as a capital city cathedral, and he looked inside again, observing those enormous men, with their enormous hands, with their hairless heads connected directly to the shoulders, with no neck. They seemed to be rather brute, but at the same time they seemed to live a pleasant, calm life. Kegs and casks full of beer and alcohol were stored right outside the house, in a small open dwelling, and then he imagined himself joining these huge men, living without fear of lack of food, resting all day, and with the body always, always satisfied. He took the chance, and having found dirty farmer’s clothing, right in that open dwelling, he spent the night in washing it, drying it, patching it and adjusting it to his malnourished body.

The end of the night finally reached him, and the farmers woke up at seven o’clock, with the sun raising, with headache, rather dehydrated, and with a bad mood, and saw the stranger, peacefully sleeping, with his dark skin, and the patched shirt and pants, all clean, absolutely not belonging to them. The biggest of them, a monster of unnaturally big ears and horse teeth, howled so loud that woke up the entire farm, furious, ready to strangle him. The stranger woke up in confusion and then sudden deep fear, jumped to the floor, and started running in four legs, as it that was a play. The farmers, surprised at first, ended up finding him funny and entertaining. They talked to each other for a few minutes, listing the risks of adopting that new pet (because that was what it was, evidently), and the possibility of having that wild pet eating the hens they took care of, wild and uncivilized. They decide to get a hen in front of him every evening, to verify he would not bite it nor devour it, and after one hundred evenings he was let loose, all of them confident that was a pet, and nothing but a pet.

The other stranger came back loudly whistling a few months after, as the day started to die, smoking a cigarette outside the farm, and saw this former thief friend running around like as a busy hare, with the tongue outside the mouth. He asked himself how the damned hell could have that man ended up like that. “I am going to bet those damned useless farmers caught him”, said, laughing. That night, as it had been his routine, he stole a hen, as their new pet slept peacefully inside the huge house, at the feet of the farmers, severely drunk as them.