Belief

A very long time ago in a little town called Cockadoodledooville, lived a young chick named Sam. Sam’s life was straight out of the stereotypical ‘chicken’s life’ book. His mother, like the other mother hens in Cockadoodledooville, worked in the hatchery and his father, like the other father roosters in Cockadoodledooville, worked in the local pillow making factory. It was a set norm in Cockadoodledooville that every hen would work in the hatchery and every rooster in the factory.

Sam’s father (Rex) loved his job. What a manly job it was to stuff those fragile, cottony feathers into the grainy pillow covers. It made Rex feel more of a man every day and he couldn’t wait for the day when Sam would be on his way to do the same. Sam on the other hand had no interest in becoming a pillow maker. His true passion lied in Cocka-doodle-doo-ing. The thought of waking everyone up the moment the first ray of light hit the sky gave him an adrenalin rush like no other grain of corn could give. He believed that he would excel at it and make a name for not only himself but also for his family and town.

But no one in Cockadoodledooville understood his passion and no one stood by his belief. Everyone abused him whenever he cocka-doodle-d, calling him ‘chicken’. His parents would yell at him, tried to put some sense into him but he wouldn’t budge. He didn’t need the consent of anyone to strengthen his belief system.

One day, Sam decided that it was best to leave this dead end town, where nothing was left for him. He would leave the next day at the break of dawn to the farm a few kilometres away from Cockadoodledooville. So as the sun opened its eyes to the new day, the citizens of Cockadoodledooville opened their ears to the cocka-doodle-ing of Sam; and what a sound that was. It removed any trace of laziness that remained in the bodies of the people of Cockadoodledooville and they felt excited about this new day. Everyone understood it was Sam who was the source of this exquisite sound and realised the folly they had committed. They rushed out of their nests to stop Sam from leaving. But it was too late, they could already see him crossing over to the other side.

Today Sam’s success is still in the history books of Cockadoodledooville. Every chick in Cockadoodledooville now dreams big. Even today they ask ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’ to which everyone unanimously answers ‘Because he believed that he could get to the other side’.