Saturday, October 25, 2003 :::
 


Knowledge Is Power



Stuart the Chicken, smug and with his little chicken head held high, strutted along the courtyard, his behind swaying proudly from side to side. No one seemed to notice him though, all resting away from the heat of the midday sun.


Ignorant fools, thought Stuart to himself, all only too concerned with the present pleasure. He shook his head slightly at what he saw and felt a tinge of pity for them.


Stuart had always prided himself on being discerning, willing to sacrifice a little effort and time to plan and prepare for what is to come. He always wondered how the others could sleep when momentous events are underway, especially now when the chicken farm is experiencing major changes. Realization struck him, and Stuart felt suddenly very important, now that he was the only one who knew about it. Damn, he thought as he admired his own shadow, I should be the leader of the chickens.



Shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun with his wing, Brian stepped out of the penthouse, having yet again failed to negotiate with his coop-mate. He was frustrated that he was sharing a coop with a chicken much larger than he was, and he took up so much space Brian could hardly open up his wings to stretch himself. But it was worse when Brian went to bed early, awaking only to discover that the other chicken had made himself very comfortable in the coop and he could not move or even manoeuvre at all, unless he left first. Brian had on many occasions tried to reason with him, but with his meagre size, it was more often a one-sided affair. This irked him off.


After he was adjusted to the sudden light, Brian removed his wing from his eyes, and when he looked up, he saw Stuart walking by, deep in thought. Stuart always came up with good ideas, he considered, maybe he could provide some help. Thus, he half-flapped, half-ran his way excitedly over to Stuart, his body blobbing up and down with the exertion of the run, his wings flapping wildly to maintain his balance, making such a big ruckus he was certain Stuart wouldn't miss him. He was anxious to get Stuart's help this time. He always seemed so busy.

" Hey Stuart dude, my coop-mate is giving me problems yet again. Do you think you can do anything to help me? "

Stuart stopped abruptly in mid-step, startling Brian. He turned to face Brian, a scowl already on his face.

" Is this all you ever think about? You? Yourself? Your own comfort? " "No, no", Stuart murmured to himself as he shook his head, " I haven't got time for matters as frivolous as this. I need to tend to something more important. Something you needn't know. Something that will affect the whole farm. "


With that, Stuart gave his head a sharp twist back, his vision forward and aloft, and continued walking in the bask of importance.


Brian, his curiosity obviously aroused, his problem almost quite forgotten, started to cluck incoherently as he tried to match the pace of Stuart. Pleased with his new-found following but not showing it, Stuart walked a few more steps, and halted. Brian followed suit. Stuart studied Brian for a moment, assessing him from his chicken head to his chicken claws, and being satisfied with what he saw, he finally dropped his arrogant countenance and smiled.

He leaned in close to Brian, whose excitement was barely unnoticable, before saying, " If I told you a big secret, can I trust you to keep it a secret? "

Brian nodded eagerly. Stuart leaned in even closer, while his eyes darted to the sides to check if anyone was eavesdropping. When he was sure that they were indeed alone, he spoke in a low tone into Brian's ear.

" Seems like the old man, Joe, is in some kind of trouble himself. " Stuart paused, letting the tension build up. " Bill from next door came with a lot of papers, saying that this land, " Stuart stomped his feet to accentuate his point, " belongs to him. " He continued, with a twinkle in his eyes, " looks like Joe can't hold on to this farm any longer. "

" Oh no! This is bad, so awful! What are we going to do? " Brian wailed loudly, obviously distressed.

Unexpectedly, Stuart's wing came up high into the air, and with a forceful thump, whacked down on Brian's head. " You idiot! Is there any wonder why they always call you Brainless Brian? This is good! Very good in fact, don't you see? "

" Imagine, we are the only ones who know about this, such epochal events. " Stuart swept a wing over the penthouse. " Look at them, sleeping their lives away. "

He looked at Brian angrily, " now tell me, do you want to be like them, never seeking to increase on what they have, choosing instead to be forever under the servitude of others? "

Brian shook his head sheepishly, rubbing on where it hurt. Stuart cast a condescending look, and sighed, " I should never had told you this, you just don't appreciate the power that comes with it. "

Keen not to look clueless, Brian retorted, " sure I do. That was a pretty piece of information. I just meant how we are going to make use of it. "

" Like I said, knowledge is power. We are empowered, and because of this, we have the ability and the liberality to choose our reactions to it and make preparations. "


Brian listened intently. He always admired Stuart. Stuart was only slightly older than he was, but he seemed to know so much. What he said made so much sense. Why didn't he think of it earlier? He was thankful Stuart was there to guide him, to lead him along, otherwise he will never know what he will be missing out on. A thought struck him.

" What about the others? Should we tell them too? "

He was sorry the moment he asked. Stuart spread his wing slightly apart to make himself more imposing and threatening, and stood square facing Brian.

" I thought we just made an agreement to keep mum about it. " He thrust his wing until it was just a whisker away from Brian's face. " If I ever find out you leaked this information to those fools, rest assured that you will be the last to know about everything from now. Understand? "

" Yes! Understood. " Relieved that Stuart gave him a way to wiggle out of the embarrassment of his inept question and did not henceforth shut him off, Brian heaved a out sigh. He definitely did not want to be a fool.


Realising the other chickens were slowly awaking for their meals, Stuart quickly put his countenance of non-chalance back on, lifted his head up and perked up his behind. Brian, seizing his opportunity, imitated Stuart's posture, strutting down the courtyard alongside him.

Brian went dizzy with his new-found importance. He was sure the other chickens noticed that too, noticed that he was different from the chicken he was before, noticed that he knew something they didn't. He couldn't fathom how, but he felt very distinguished, a chicken of the world, higher than the rest. " Knowledge is power " , he thought to himself, that must be it.

When they came around a bend, and were out of sight, they exhaled deeply, their puffed-up physique contracting. Brian squealed in deliriousness, " You are right Stuart! I could feel it in me! Knowledge is indeed power! "

Stuart let out a little laugh, " Of course. "

" Look, I got to go now. " He gave Brian a private, knowing smile. " To search for more knowledge. "

As he watched Stuart take his leave, Brian blurted out, worried, " what are we supposed to do now, now that we know that Joe, and most probably this farm too, are in peril? "

Brian looked on hopefully, at the back of Stuart as he walked away, his claws kicking up a trail of loose dust in his wake. He thought he heard a faint reply.

" Nothing. "


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::: posted by Richard Wan at 3:49 PM