"I'd like to apply for adoption!"Username: Taxidea
Profile Page: ProfileBank Link: BankCoop Link: CoopChimkin Name: Vengê
Waiting for a magic spell
Sorcery abounds
Will she get what she desires?Vengê shivered beneath the rough hewn ceiling of her makeshift home. Rain splashed in between the boards overhead, and Vengê shifted from foot to foot as she danced to avoid the drops. Wrapping her wings around herself, Vengê did her best to hold back tears. Of all the nights to be chased into this miserable shack, it had to be tonight. The hens had been relentless this time, taunting her and reciting their favorite chants, but with a particular bite that left trembling with anger and frustration.
She closed her eyes and shook her feathers, trying to get the hurtful words out of her head. In a world filled with Chimkins of all colors, Vengê didn't understand why she had to look like the aftermath of two roosters fighting over territory under clouds like the ones currently thundering overhead. When she was a chick, her mother had told her over and over how beautiful Vengê was because she didn't look like the other Chims. At night, her mother would help her preen her tail feathers, commenting on how they were the purple of twilight. And every morning, Vengê would wake to find that her mother had left her a small purple seed, Vengê's favorite food. But one morning, Vengê had woken to find no seed. Vengê searched, but she couldn't find her mother anywhere. Panicked, she frantically called out to the other Chims, asking if anyone had seen her mother. The other chicks, who had tolerated Vengê due to her mother's presence, now began to tease her mercilessly, saying that her mother left because she was ashamed of Vengê and her strange feathers. Vengê told herself it wasn't true, but their words left her feeling lonely and unwanted just the same.
And then, Vengê had experienced her first Halloween. Vengê hadn't known what was happening, just that, all of a sudden, other Chims looked like her. As if by magic, Chims that had been bright colors were now covered in darkness like Vengê, some with highlights of color and others so dark they blended into the shadows. The glowing claws of other Chims lit up the night as groups paraded around, seeing who could scare others the most. Vengê had been taken in by a group of Chims she didn't recognize, and they all praised her for her dark colors and eerie red markings. It was the happiest Vengê had been since her mother had disappeared, and she woke up the next morning with a feeling of joy that left a spring in her step. But when she stepped out of her coop, all of the other Chims were back to their usual brightly colored plumage. The first Chim that spotted Vengê yelled, "Hey, Halloween's over, you turkey!"
After that, Vengê had fallen into a pattern of keeping to herself until the one night of the year she felt accepted. She left her mother's coop and found an abandoned one on the outskirts of the territory. She tried not to hear the chants or the nasty comments, see the sidelong glances or hens shooing their chicks away, but every encounter cut deeper and deeper. Feeling like she couldn't take it anymore, Vengê resolved to cast a spell on herself to change her feathers forever. She knew the only night it would be possible would be Halloween, when magic is strongest. She spent weeks gathering supplies, foraging for the brightest and most colorful things she could find, stockpiling them in the rundown coop she had claimed as her own.
Finally, Halloween arrived, and despite the storm clouds overhead and the smell of rain, Vengê began her ritual. She danced, pecked, and chanted, and slowly the spell began to take hold. Vengê could feel her feathers absorbing the colors of all the items she had collected. Just as she was about to finish the enchantment, the flock of hens that were her usual tormentors stumbled into her area. They stared at Vengê in shock, and just when she thought all her wishes had come true, one of the hens started chanting,
"Vengê! Vengê! She's black as night!
Vengê! Vengê! She'll give you a fright!
Vengê! Vengê! Blood coats her wings!
Better not touch her, glowing claws sting!"
Vengê didn't understand. She wasn't those things anymore! She was covered in bright colors, just like the other hens. But then she looked and realized that the rain, which had started pouring, was washing all her new colors away. The other hens, who should have Halloween-darkened feathers instead had bright spots of color as their costumes washed away. As the realization, anger, and frustration set in, Vengê ran to her coop, the chorus of taunts echoing behind her.
The storm seemed to rage endlessly. Vengê curled up in her coop, wishing her mother were there, wishing she could just be normal. Suddenly, the clouds outside seemed to darken, and the sound of rain falling on the roof ceased. Frightened, Vengê curled herself up tighter. Then, she heard a startled voice,
"Oh! Why you are the most beautiful Chimkin I've ever seen!"
Vengê didn't recognize the voice, and she cautiously opened one eye. Kneeling outside her coop was a strange human, dressed as something Vengê didn't recognize.
"How did one as beautiful as you end up in this old coop?" the human asked, reaching out a hand to gently pet Vengê. Vengê cringed and shrunk down, tucking her head under her wing, never having felt a human's touch before.
"However you ended up here, you should be in a coop that is as beautiful as you are." The human withdrew their hand, and Vengê thought they would leave. After what felt like forever, Vengê lifted her head and opened her eyes only to see that the human was still there, crouched in the rain, gazing at Vengê with a look she had only ever seen from her mother.
"I'm supposed to be trick or treating with my friends, but I think you're the best treat I could ever get. Would you like to come home with me to my coop? I have some other hens that would love to meet you, although I'm sure they'll all be jealous of how beautiful you are!"
Vengê peered at the stranger with suspicion. When Vengê didn't move, the human pulled something out of the bag they were carrying and placed on the ground in front of Vengê's curled form. Vengê's eyes opened wide: it was a small, purple seed.
Maybe, Vengê thought as she tentatively reached out and took the seed in her beak,
my spell worked after all.