The first thing people noticed wasn't the silence.
It was the emptiness.
No dogs. No birds. No cows.
Just people.
"KUCKDOOKOOOO!"
Pushkar looked down at the chicken in his room.
'yeah, that's not good.'
Outside, footsteps gathered.
Then,
BANG. BANG. BANG.
"OPEN THE DOOR!"
Pushkar froze.
"what the hell...?"
The banging got louder.
He grabbed his phone.
News flooded the screen.
"Global emergency: Most animal species have disappeared overnight."
'huh?'
His eyes slowly moved toward the chicken.
The banging intensified.
"WE KNOW YOU HAVE ONE!"
Pushkar didn't think.
He dragged a chair. Then a table. Then whatever he could find, pushing it all against the door.
His heart was racing.
His brain wasn't.
'of course this happens today.'
'the day after she got a boyfriend.'
"yeah... makes sense."
He walked into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of liquid soap, and stared at it.
'flammable, right?'
Pause.
"...probably."
He poured it near the door anyway.
Not because it was smart.
Just because it felt right.
The banging slowed.
Sirens replaced it.
Pushkar peeked outside.
Police.
'ah... great.'
A voice came from outside:
"By order of emergency law, open the door. We are here to confiscate the animal."
Pushkar smiled.
"Sir! Quick question!"
Pause.
"What's the scientific name of a chicken?"
Silence.
Two officers looked at each other.
"What?"
Pushkar grinned.
"Exactly."
The door shook again. Harder.
"We are entering by force."
"Yeah... figured."
Pushkar picked up his guitar.
'background music makes everything better.'
~ "SHOOOOM… KCHHHH - KRAAAANGGGG!" ~ 🎸
CRASH
A drone smashed through the window.
~ "twaang… shoooo…" ~ 🎸
'...my chicken is exposed.'
The door burst open.
Officers rushed in, and immediately slipped.
Soap.
Everywhere.
"WHAT IS THIS"
The chicken moved.
Fast.
One officer lunged, missed.
The other tried, slipped again.
"WHAT IS THIS THING?!"
The chicken jumped, spun mid-air, and kicked.
Pushkar blinked.
'...karate?'
It dashed into the corridor.
People screamed. Doors opened. Chaos spread.
"CATCH IT!"
The chicken kept running.
Then suddenly stopped.
Sunlight poured in from a window ahead.
It looked up.
For a second, it just stood there.
Inspired.
'...bro don't.'
It jumped.
Straight out of the window.
"BRO"
Pushkar ran, reached the edge, and looked out.
A small dot, rising.
Right in front of the sun.
The chicken glowed.
Like some discount phoenix.
'woahhhh!'
It went higher.
Higher.
Then stopped mid-air.
And laid an egg.
Down on the street,
His crush walked past.
Hand in hand with her boyfriend.
Laughing.
~ "tkk… CRACK!" ~
The egg fell.
And landed right on their hands.
"WHAT THE"
They jerked back, shaking the gold off.
AND THEN
the ground shook.
Pushkar stumbled.
A bark., A long mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
Then another.
Wings flapped across the sky.
The world rushed back.
Noise returned.
Everything returned.
Pushkar looked up.
The sky was empty.
No chicken.
Only noise.
' Ohh, hey... who was that chicken anyway?'
~ "Tring Tring." ~