I suppose the day had to come - I just didn't think it would happen to a coop like ours.
It's strange how you can wake up one morning and know that everything is just so; not much different from the day before and probably fairly similar to the one before that.
Then - out of nowhere, something bursts in on your cosy little world and upsets the whole balance. Here enters the wily reynard, the fantastic Mr Fox. Roald Dahl knew his leading beau fairly well and with hindsight so should we. But we foolishly believed the fox had become tired of seeing his dinner locked safely inside the purposebuilt coop and had gone window shopping elsewhere. We were guilty of being happily relaxed about their bedtime, pushing it back later and later.
Sadly for Sue Chicken, Mr Fox does not live in our blinkered world where everything has a naive sense of mutual respect. Mr Fox has to find his dinner. Everyday. Tesco does not deliver.
So, Sue has gone to the big Chicken Coop in the sky where I hope it rains corn and slugs grow on trees. I suppose we have to give the wily old fox some credit for his staying power; but certainly not this week.
