Falling Sky 4
Ignorance is a bad thing, and very dangerous too, but perhaps that which is more dangerous than an ignorant person is an ignorant idle person.
As Chicken and Guinea Fowl spread their foolish tale of how the world was soon to come to a dramatic finish, due to the fact that the sky had decided it was too heavy to remain in the heavens, and had thought it fit to change location downwards, Mouse overheard their shouting.
“What an incredible tale those two spin,” he said to himself, “and one I personally would find a very hard time believing. Nevertheless, it sounds like an interesting thing to say, and so I shall carry it.”
Of course, Mouse carrying any story was particularly dangerous to the sanity of the neighbourhood, and, thanks to his ability to embellish and pad stories beyond what they were meant to be, the gravity of Chicken’s trauma became much more frightening.
Someone heard one thing about a spectral army of ancient dead warriors marching north from the hills in response to the broken piece of sky, which they hoped to capture for themselves. Another heard, from the same Mouse, that the area from which the sky had fallen (and probably killed Chicken while in the process of falling) was oozing out evil spirits and all sorts of other unpleasant and malevolent entities, and anyone that came close would have their insides torn out.
Needless to say, the whole neighbourhood was thrown into a most calamitous disarray, with the more senseless of individuals doing silly things like resigning themselves to fate and the end of the world before the sun’s rising on the morrow, or packing bags and belongings with the intention of traveling to a place over which the sky did not hang.
Eventually, people got to realize that the source of the whole matter was none other than Chicken. Flocking round the hen, and trying to listen to what she was saying, they found themselves frustrated by the unnecessary intrusions of Guinea Fowl, who was very much interested in having a say in the story, even if its events did not include him.
The more astute members of the society wondered whether Chicken had seen the piece of sky that had fallen, or whether anyone had actually seen the army of ghosts from the south, or the portion of the heavens from which the cracked sky shard had fallen.
Initially, Chicken was hard pressed to give a good response to these sensible questions, seeing that a lie, when faced by serious enquiry for the truth, becomes frail. But then, another member of Chicken’s gossip ring, Duck, arose and berated the truth-seekers for their foolishness, commenting that Chicken had no reason to lie, and saying a lot more persuasive things, since she was quite an orator.
In the end, foolishness won out, and most of the people in the community began to believe that the sky had really fallen.
To be continued...
Thanks for coming!
That little boy,