When the Chickens Flew Inside my Mercedes ML 250

We wake up early, around 5 a.m., so we can reach home by noon to see my parents. I think it is - 20 degrees centigrade and the entire country is covered in snow. It is so cold that you won’t even want to think of going out of the house. We take the bags, stuff it in the car and here we are ready for the long road trip.

I am driving, somehow excited and annoyed at the same time. I don’t know why there has to be a fight each time I drive. The music is loud, he is unhappy and there is bright snow everywhere, perhaps two meters high on each side of the road. There are too many
distractions. All I hear is: “you are selfish”, “you are mean”, “you, you, you,” aaahhhhhh it is driving me mad!

After five hours of driving, out of nowhere, an old woman on the road appears, and she is waiting for someone to give her a lift to the next town. She looks frail, dried and is very modestly dressed. She can’t even stand up straight, and it looks like she has a hunchback. Next to her is a low-priced raffia bag. While I’m in the phase of ignoring him, I hear him scream and order me to stop the car. I wonder why. Oh, of course, it is for the old woman.

As soon as I park the car next to her, someone else comes out from a foothill of snow with more raffia bags and stuffs it in the back seat of the car seat. The old woman is so happy. As soon as the door closes and I start the car, I hear the sound of the chickens. I look around and I think I am hallucinating at this point after all the nagging I had to go through for the last five hours. I ask her what she is carrying in the bags. Smiling, she tells me she has chickens and she is going to sell them off. Proudly she opens a bag to show us the chickens, and God know how long she had them stuffed in. As soon as she opens it, three of them jump out of the bag and start flying around the beautiful Mercedes, covering the entire back seat in poop.

Now I can truly say I was happy. I begin to laugh hysterically seeing all the chickens flying around and making all that noise and pooping all over. The music is playing in the background while the chickens are flying, and he is shouting at me to do something about it. The old woman is apologizing, and if we add the filthy smell to the situation, the picture is complete. A mad house would be saner than this, I can assure you.  The poor lady is so terrified and she thinks we will let her on the road with all her chickens.

Finally, he calms down and starts to feel sorry for this old woman. We reach to her destination, and of course she has no money to pay, not that we want anything. From a well hidden pocket, she takes out a small paper cutout and a tiny cross, and she gives it to us with all her blessings. It is a fun road trip after all, I tell myself.