Yesterday was amazing. The response to my latest article on Backyard Poultry Magazine was beyond overwhelming. In fact, it went viral so quickly that the traffic took out the servers at Swift Digital for a while. My readers are truly incredible! I went to bed last night with such a smile on my face.
This morning I heard my husband’s alarm ring and wished him a good day. Then I promptly fell back into a very deep sleep. About 30 minutes went by and I was jarred awake by someone yelling my name. Consciousness returned like a harsh wave and I looked around to see who was there. I saw no one. I waited to see if they called again, but no sound came. My attention quickly turned to the little silkie rooster on the chair beside my bed. Leo had not been acting like his feisty self the last 2 days and we suspected he may have gone at least partially blind although he seemed to be able to see food and water. So I let him sleep in a little covered cat bed on the chair beside my bed. He was perfectly happy to be there. I reached over and touched him, but he didn’t move. I turned on the light and moved him around a little. His head was in the back corner of the bed and he was breathing very heavily. He was obviously too warm from being in that position, so I rearranged him and his breathing returned to normal in less than a minute. His eyes were bright and he looked at me as if to say, “Is it time to get up mom?” So I turned off the light so that he wouldn’t begin his morning routine which I feared might involve crowing. I went to the bathroom and came back. I crawled under the covers and started to drift off. He fluttered and I heard him land on the floor. Poor guy must have been trying to get comfortable and rolled off the chair. It has happened before. I turned on the light to collect him and get him resettled. But when I picked him up, I realized he was dead! He must have been sicker than I realized. I guess he had a heart attack. Poor guy. 🙁 But now the lingering question is where did the voice come from? And did it awaken me to alert me to the fact that Leo was ailing? It is a very eerie feeling to say the least.