POISON KANDIE
(Stories)
Turkey
By: THIRTEENTWO
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Sweet and Sour KandieBook View/ Sign Home
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When Arnold promised his family a Thanksgiving they would never forget, he didn't know what he was getting himself into. This was going to be the first thanksgiving in their new house and he wanted it to be a memorable one. His wife was taking care of all the other food but it was up to him to get the bird. The kids were making decorations and writing early drafts of their christmas lists. He didn't want some frozen turkey from the grocery store, not this year. Arnold found someone he could get a live turkey from. Well, not alive, but fresh. He brought the turkey home on thanksgiving and went straight for the kitchen. He could already taste it. Would it taste different? For the price he paid for this bird, it better, and he couldn't wait to find out. Maybe this could be a tradition. Every year, they would get a fresh turkey while all those other people ate their frozen ones. He opened the bag the farmer gave him with his tasty prize inside. It still had the feathers on it but the head was gone. Arnold had never plucked a bird before, but there was no time like the present to start new traditions and didn't a little extra work always make things taste better? He pulled the first feather and the most incredible thing happened. Nothing. Well, he felt a little weird pulling the feathers out of a dead bird, but it just kinda laid there. But he couldn't help but feel like he was doing something wrong. He was excited but now he just kinda felt guilty. He plucked a few more feathers and this wasn't getting any better. Is this what they did in the old days? Stood around and raped poor, defenseless, dead birds of their feathers? Maybe they wouldn't get a fresh bird every year afterall, the frozen ones weren't so bad. He was just going to pluck one more and if he still felt like he was doing something wrong, he'd get the kids in there to help. Arnold plucked one more feather and thats when the bird jumped. It jumped up and started running around on the counter. He was just standing there, with some feathers in his hand, watching. It ran around on the counter and fell off and landed on the kitchen floor. He stared at the bald spot on the turkey. Just then, his wife walked in. "What happened?" she asked. He just kept looking at the bald spot on the turkey. He threw the feathers away and wiped his hands off on his shirt. "It got up and started running around," he said. "Okay smartass," she said. "Just pick it up and finish what you were doing. This was your idea afterall and if you think you can get me or the kids to pluck it and do all the things you were so excited about---" she stared at him and shook her head. "Your job buddy." "But it really did," he said. "It just...it." She shook her head and the turkey got up again and started running around on the kitchen floor. She screamed and jumped up on the counter. He stepped away, but he couldn't take his eyes off of it. The turkey kept running into things and falling down but it got back up and kept going every time. "Do something!" she screamed from the counter. "What do you want me to do?" he snapped at her. "It's already dead. What did you have in mind? Want me to give back it's feathers and apologize? Invite it to dinner?" The kids came in. The girl screamed and covered her eyes but the boy smiled and said "Cool!" "Get outta here!" Arnold ordered. But they didn't move. The boy just watched and the girl split her fingers and watched too, it was kinda cool afterall. For them anyways. After a while, the turkey stopped running around and fell over. The boy poked it a few times with his foot and the dead bird didn't seem to care. At least it didn't move or twitch. Arnold put the bald bird back in the bag and tied it up. They ate out that night. Nobody ever believed the story of the turkey, nobody except the man Arnold bought it from. He had a few stories of his own and even Arnold had a hard time believing them. |
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