Ellie

“Cock-a-doodle-doo!” the rooster bellowed from under the tall Oak tree. Ellie moaned and rolled over in bed, “Just ten more minutes please Jasper…” Ellie muttered. Jasper was a fine rooster, Ellie’s father had raised him from a chick. Jasper was likely the strongest bird in father’s flock, in fact he had won duels against 27 other roosters and established himself as the top bird on the farm. He loved to burrow under that Oak tree. The juiciest worms on the farm would crawl out from the root systems under the mighty Oak; in summer cicadas the size of your thumb would crawl up. Jasper enjoyed many fine feasts that was for sure. Ellie would have to fight him off when she wanted to collect some bait for going down to the fishing hole.

“Cock-a-doodle-doo!!!!” Jasper beckoned at the flock to rise and meet the morning.

“Rise and shine ladies!” Ellie’s oldest brother, Henry (Hank) yelled as he banged on the door to the room Ellie shared with her two younger sisters. Ellie loved her room. She had a full size mattress that was filled with straw. The family farm grew straw regularly for feed and also for comfort. The key was to maintain a fresh straw ratio so it felt like you were sleeping on clouds every night.

“We’re up Henry, thank you!” Ellie muttered to her brother. She gazed toward the lone window in the room, opposite her sisters’ bunk bed. Five year old Delilah slept on the bottom bunk and of course spunky and feisty middle child Eve slept in the top bunk. Eve was eight years old and had already developed a reputation for picking fights on the school yard. Let’s just say, Eve didn’t let anyone, even twelve year olds pick on her little sister Delilah.

Ellie rolled out of bed and narrowly dodged the porcelain chamber pot near the dresser. It appeared to have gained a liquid and solid deposit from Delilah last night. Damn that little lady had an efficient dietary system...

Eve bolted upright from her top bunk, the pine wood frame bolted to the floor with iron nails purchased from Samuel at the General Store didn’t budge. Eve lept from her bed and sprinted to the window looking out toward the Oak tree. The Oak stood approximately a hundred yards from the house on a small hill. A chicken coop fence ran all the way around the Oak tree to the bottom of the slope in about a forty by sixty yard enclosure. The actual coop or as father called it the “Taj Mahal of chicken enclosures” stood at the end of the fenced enclosure nearest the house. Four hundred chickens called the Taj Mahal home. Forty roosters and three hundred and sixty hens. Every day the girls would go to the coop and collect over 100 eggs. They would cook forty in a large family omelette for supper, deliver 10 eggs to Pastor John at St. Augustine's Episcopal three quarters of a mile down the road; the remaining eggs were incubated with hens to hopefully grow the flock.

“I’m going to get the most eggs!” Eve squealed as she rushed out the bedroom door. Ellie smiled and shook her head. Delilah blinked sleepily and let out a yawn as she turned and locked eyes with Ellie.

“Morning...” Delilah grunted, clearly she was still half asleep.

“Morning my lovely sister, it’s time to get up. Did you sleep all right?” Ellie asked her groggy sister Delilah.

“Yes,” Delilah replied, “I slept well, but I had to fill the chamber pot last night.”

Ellie grinned and shook her head, “you certainly did, it’s quite pungent Delilah, could you possibly restrain yourself, or at least relieve yourself before sundown in the outhouse?”

Delilah giggled; Ellie smiled and ruffled her hair. They turned to look out the window at Eve who was sprinting past mother who was toiling at the water pump. Eve was almost at the chicken coop. Time to hurry, lest Eve get all the eggs.

As Delilah and Ellie exited their room Eve was swinging open the gate to the coop. The horde of six Border Collies that guarded the coop from foxes and wolves swarmed Eve and lovingly licked and nipped at her heels. Eve giggled with delight as she grabbed her one gallon wicker basket and proceeded toward the hen house ready to scoop up some eggs. She was halfway through picking when she turned to see Ellie and Delilah exiting the farmhouse and heading toward the hen house.

Mother was pumping water into the laundry trough by the family well, four or five gallons would be plenty of water to boil and soak the daily linens. Mother filled the gallon trough five times and shuttled it into the rustic farmhouse kitchen where she would boil the water in a cast iron cauldron. All children would deposit their linens in the pot over the fire after supper. Mother was hunched over the spigot, both her arms were well defined from the constant motion of pumping water from the ground.

Ellie glanced at her mother who was about twenty feet away, Delilah had begun to jog toward her mum, smiling ear to ear. Ellie’s eye caught a twinkling gold shimmer protruding from mother’s frame. The shimmer originated from the way a small heart shaped golden locket caught the morning sun and glistened off of mother’s bosom. The locket had been a gift from great-grandma.

Great-grandma had given all of her granddaughters a heart shaped locket. The locket served to remind them they are the heart and soul of their families. Inside the locket mother kept a pinch of fresh mint leaves from a plant she grew on the windowsill in the kitchen. The mint scent reminded mother of days long past when she would sip tea with her grandparents. They would always pick a fresh mint leaf from Grandma’s garden to “add an element of the exquisite to the tea” as Grandma put it. Ellie watched her sister Delilah embrace mother in a long hug, Delilah’s nose nestled up to the mint laden golden locket around mother’s neck. Oh how Ellie missed the days of being able to hug her mother that way, it was unbecoming for a fourteen year old girl to be so enthralled; yet she smiled broadly upon the scene of Delilah and mother. Ellie looked forward to a day she could have a daughter as beautiful as Delilah.

“BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNRNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!” a high pitched noise enveloped the entirety of the farm, Mother and Ellie clasped their hands over their ears and dropped to their knees in pain from the screeching sound. Delilah began to cry loudly. Eve covered her ears and yelled “Fuck!” under her breath but she squinted while covering her ears and exited the chicken coop to look outside. She saw mother, Ellie and Delilah writhing in pain on the ground, their hands clasped over their ears. Eve turned to gaze toward the Oak tree and saw Jasper was lying motionless on the ground, likely dead from shock, she forced her gaze upward where she saw the sun was about thirty times larger than it usually was...

“Why is the sun so big?” Eve thought, but not even a second after that thought entered her mind the world had ceased to exist. She held her hand out to shield her eyes, but when she squinted out from behind her shield the Oak tree was floating through space, surrounded by rock, dirt, clay and other elements usually trapped deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Eve looked down and realized she was floating. Eve screamed at the top of her lungs to warn the boys and father who were setting small game traps in the woods; her voice fell on deaf ears as a massive fireball engulfed her in flames. There was no pain, only a few milliseconds of sheer confusion. All the inhabitants of the small chicken farm were vaporized into a mist of atoms that floated into the void of space. Predominantly Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen, but a shit ton of other elements swirled around in the flames.

“Sector Alpha, Delta, One, Eight, Three, Four, Earth has been successfully liquidated commander. Ready to commence harvest.” Colonel Yusef Johnson delivered the update to mission commander Admiral Johannes Paulus.

Paulus stood with rigid posture; internally Paulus pictured himself slumped over on one knee balling tears of woe. His operation had, mere seconds ago, ended the lives of billions of human beings, very close ancestors of his personal life form. Paulus maintained impeccable posture outwardly as he replied, “Thank you Colonel. Deploy the magnetic collection modules. Instruct captains to isolate and collect Uranium, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Platinum molecules. Collection of additional molecular structures will be made by squad Bravo.”

“Copy that sir. FOR THE UNIFIED GALAXY!”. Colonel Yusef Johnson spoke in a manner where Admiral Paulus could hear the salute through the voice wave vibrations over the symbiotic wave integration program; all unified galactic life forms had the symbiotic module implanted in their medulla oblongata.

“For the Unified Galaxy!,” Paulus responded, “Your service is once again exceptional Colonel, I applaud you.” Paulus closed his eyes and the symbiotic connection with Yusef shut off. He was now enthralled in the next task. Mission complete, over and out.