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The door slammed shut behind Shane. The man was panting, panicking. Holding one of the chickens close to his chest. “Shit- fuck. What do I-”
He had found one of the hens acting strange and of course Marnie wasn't around.
As luck would have it, Lisa, the farmer that's been around for a bit over half a year now was walking through Cinderaap forest, axe in hand.
Fuck. He didn't want to ask for help. But… he looked down at the chicken. The poor thing's eyes are shut tightly, its head twitching every other minute, tiny noises leaving her like she was gasping for air. He swallowed his pride.
“Farmer!”
Lisa groaned as she heard him call out. It's not like they were on bad terms or anything. He'd actually stopped telling her to fuck off the last few weeks. But ‘farmer’ still didn't sit right with her. She turned around, her gaze slightly annoyed.
“You know my na-” she froze as she saw him walk up to her, panting and panicked. Holding the chicken tightly. She's never seen him this distressed before. She dropped her axe before meeting him half way.
“What happened?!” Her voice was slightly raised, not able to hide her distress at the sight. She had her hands raised towards the chicken in his arms, but he instinctively stepped back.
“I found her like this-” he started, his voice shaking. “She was all hunched up in a corner…”
“Shane-”
“...refused to eat, didn’t react…”
“Shane.”
His lip was quivering, he wasn’t listening to her. “Marnie isn’t around, and I don’t know what to do… This is my fault… I saw her in the corner the other day but forgot to tell Marnie about it…”
“Shane!”
“Now it’s too late and I-”
“SHANE!” Her hands found his elbows. “You’re holding her too tight…”
He relaxed a fraction, his gaze turning to her, concern across his face. “I…” Lisa nodded, her grip on his arms a bit tighter, making him lose his grip on the hen. “Calm down…breathe.”
Shane took a deep breath and relaxed a little. His shoulders slumped, his gaze focused on the chicken in his arms. “...what do I do, Lisa?” his voice was barely above a whisper, but he said her name. “Let’s go back inside and have a look”. Her hand moved to his back as she guided him back to Marnie’s ranch.
…
They were sitting at the kitchen table, the hen on the table. Marnie would probably get upset about this, but that didn’t matter right now. Lisa had her hand on the back of the chicken, the other was raising its tailfeathers. “Yeah… I think she’s egg bound…”
“egg bound?” Shane replied immediately. Lisa looked up at him, looking confused. This was something that happened with hens sometimes, has he really not encountered it before? “Sometimes an egg gets stuck and the hen can’t pass it. Since they only have one hole that can lead to a whole bunch of problems” she petted along the back of the hen, making it settle slightly. It was fluffed up, swaying back and forth like it was trying to pass the egg.
“An egg is stuck?” he leaned on the desk, his features still concerned. “Can’t we just-” his hand reached for the hen and Lisa instantly grabbed his wrist. “You are not suggesting we squeeze it out are you?” her brows furrowed “what would you do if the egg breaks?!”. Her raised tone made him flinch, his gaze averted as he spoke. “No… sorry.”
Lisa stood up after letting go of his wrist, a sigh leaving her lips. “Marnie probably has some, maybe not… Harvey might… or Emily maybe?” Her hand covered her mouth as she muttered to herself. “Do you know if you guys have Epsom salt around?” she finally asked.
Shane looked up, his hand gently petting the chicken's head. “Salt?” He stood up and walked over to the room next to the entrance. “We have some here that Marnie uses for foot baths but she says it’s not for cooking…”
Foot baths. Yes of course, that makes sense… Lisa sighed.
Shane was holding the hen, watching the farmer prepare a bowl with warm water, dissolving some of the epsom salt in it. “I haven’t actually done this before…” she explained as she put the bowl down. “You need to submerge her butt in this for a while. We can also uhm… ‘rub her belly’ after to help her pass the egg. Hopefully this will help." She did air quotes as she spoke. He nodded, setting the hen in the bowl. She complained a little, but he gently held her down.
They sat at the table for a while. Lisa just watched him, he was so concentrated as he held the chicken down, making sure her lower region was submerged. “She… seems to enjoy this little spa treatment.” He mumbled. That made a smile tug at her lips. He was always kind of rude to others. But he cared about the chicken. That’s cute.
He looked up at her. “What?” he sounded annoyed again, making her chuckle.
“Nothing… this should be long enough.” she stood up, grabbing a dish towel and holding it out for him to place the hen in. She cradled it, gently rubbing the wet feathers.
He stared at her. “Don’t expect her to instantly lay the egg. It’s gonna take a moment.”
She looked around. “It would be best if you keep her in a warmer room than the coop for a while… maybe put her in a box with some towels? If we’re lucky she’ll just lay the egg and… Oh! We should make her drink some water- not the salt water of course…”
Shane watched her as she looked around, holding the chicken gently in her arms, explaining what to do next. He felt relieved… grateful for her help. “I…”
She turned to him “Hmm?”
“... Thank you.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. He smiled at her… a genuine smile, that really caught her off guard and she quickly turned away. “Y- yeah… you’re welcome…” Why did that make her flustered…
They put the hen in a box in Marnie's room before heading out.
“Ah- Lisa, please!” Penny called out the moment they stepped outside. That sounded a little too panicked for her liking and she quickly approached her and the kids.
“Vincent! No-” Lisa ran up to him, picking her axe up. Luckily the boy was struggling to pick it up due to its weight.
“Sorry about that, Penny.” She apologized with a bow. Penny was scolding her and Vincent about leaving dangerous items out and touching them while Jas headed inside.
As Penny scolded her she looked over at Shane who was holding the door open for Jas. His gaze met hers and they exchanged a nod and a smile before he headed inside.
“Are you even listening!” Penny scolded, raising her voice, making Lisa and Vincent flinch. This went on for a while longer before everyone could head home…
…
The next day Lisa was interrupted in the fields when Shane approached her loudly.
“FARMER!!! Hey- “ he stopped running, slowing down to walk instead, a bright smile on his face. “Lisa. Look.”
He held up an egg.
