Death Wish And the disappearing chickens.

[Korderekid]

We have rather reluctantly accepted that Death Wish has come to stay. Her friends are a different matter. They have disappeared.

Each night all three chickens were shut in the greenhouse, it has no way in or out once the door is closed. The door closes with a sliding catch.  Two days after Christmas, I went to open the door early and it was unlatched. Death Wish was on her usual perch on the top shelf with the herbs but Big Knickers and Baggy Pants were not there.

The greenhouse is 4metres by 3. It offers no hiding place for a chicken. The only possible conclusion is that the chickens have been abducted.

We searched everywhere, no chickens. Our neighbours joined in the hunt, one looked worriedly at the mountains and said 'we are going to have 5 days of bad storms, not good for lost chickens.' I was so impressed, how could he tell that by looking at the mountains? Another mystery of Turkish village life. ' how do you know that ?' I asked. 'I looked at the weather forecast on the computer this morning' he replied.

One very elderly neighbour told us that without doubt they had been taken by demons. The Mountain range dividing us from Bezirgan is a well known haunt of demons and sometimes they leave the mountain and carry out demonic acts. Apparently they eat chickens live. His wife told us to take no notice. The only demons he sees come out of a bottle , when he finds where she has hidden the money she makes from selling vegetables and sneaks into Kalkan to
buy Raki.

Despite all the modern ways here and easy access to computers, the internet, mobile phones, education, there is still a vestige of shamanism in the beliefs held by many old people.

They believe that everything is alive and is connected. Everything has a spirit and if the spirit is disturbed or destroyed, there will be consequences.

Many elderly people believe that the destruction of so many olive groves in and around Kalkan has destroyed all the spirits which were in the trees and they have become demons, causing havoc.

There are elements of similar spiritual beliefs in Islam. The tree of life which is depicted in so many Islamic symbols is also present in countless other religions. We have no personal experience of demons, alcoholic or otherwise but we are keeping an open mind.

Poor Big Knickers and Baggy Pants may or may not have been abducted by demons but we are determined that Death Wish will be protected.

So we have moved her from the greenhouse to the garage and at night, she is put into a secure cat box. The greenhouse is also home to our Kangal, who would eat an entire army of demons if they tried to enter and as we have mentioned before, the biggest spider in the world, probably.

We Did put up an extra security light to catch demons in the act but it was triggered so frequently by passing wild boor that the next day everyone in this locality was talking about the extraordinarily localised storm with lightning as bright as day, which had raged all night just above our house.

The cats are sent out on regular patrols to look for either missing chickens or demons but so far have had no success with either.

Boncuk, the Kangal is not keen on sharing her sleeping quarters with Death Wish because she keeps her awake at night scratching to get out of the cat box.  She is starting to look at Death Wish in a speculative way, sizing her up as her next meal. Death Wish is of course oblivious to the potential danger.

So for the time being we are considering putting Death Wish in the cat box and then putting the cat box in the boot of the car overnight.

We could never have dreamt that one scrawny chicken would cause so many problems but we are now determined to save her from whatever dangers lurk in these wild hills.

KK



Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=10610.0

[samson]

  a chicken is not "for life" its just for christmas!

[kalkan4eva]

Oh no!!!
Do we need to dispatch Miss Marple to Kalkan, forthwith? She'd see through that Demon ruse straightaway - and whilst I do have some sympathy with the local beliefs and traditions, its a pretty clear a demon wouldn't need to open the greenhouse door, they enter by other more etheral means...surely?
You do right to protect DWC - although its fair to point out she was left behind in the first abduction

I hope Big Knickers and Baggy Pants somehow find their way back to you - however unlikey

[pw]

Abducted? Sounds like fowl play to me..........

PW

[onelove]

Fab, love your posts 

[itstime]

OK I've been rumbled, it was actually me who made a flying demonic visit to your property as I desperately needed Big Knickers and Baggy Pants to cover up my overindulginces (is that a word?) of the festive season. My own Knickers and Pants were no longer  big or baggy enough to cover my ever expanding "bits"  so needed bigger ones.
Rest assured they are being put to good use and are coping well with the shivery Scottish Winter. If my planned healthy eating regime ( jaws wired up ) goes well I will return said Big Knickers and Baggy Pants on my next visit.

Seriously hope they both turn up