I didn’t expect pops to visit, so I quickly check my phone. Nope, he didn’t call. What’s this about?
“Hey, sorry for coming here so suddenly.”
“No problem… What happened?”
I prompt him to get inside, but he says he won’t be long. Then he tells me what this is about.
“Sleep-talking?”
“No… Apparently they’re light sleepers. They made a lot of noise last night…”
“Ah… Sorry.”
Come to think of it, I’ve heard of chickens waking up in the middle of the night and start clucking. I guess it’s the same.
That happened here at first, but it hasn’t happened at all lately, so I completely forgot about it.
“It’s not a problem for me, but I figured it was bothering the neighbors, so can they come by during the day instead of staying the night at my place? I’ll bring them back at night.”
“So I’ll drop them off in the morning?”
“Yes, sorry about that.”
“All right, I’ll do that.”
“I’ll pay for the gas.”
“Eh? No, you don’t have…”
“I told you you gotta accept it.”
“…Yes.”
Pops is a very honest man. The sun is about to set, but it looks like Pochi and Tama want to exercise.
“Pochi, Tama, make sure to come back when it gets dark.”
I say, and Pochi clucks in response, before the two chickens run out. They’ve been running around the village all day, but they’re still full of energy for some reason.
“This is from my wife.”
Pops says as he hands me some sort of bundle.
“Thank you. Can I drop them off at eight in the morning?”
“Yes… Like yesterday. Well then, thanks.”
“Yes.”
After he gets on his mini truck and leaves, I can’t stop smiling. Pochi and Tama are going to stay here at night, at least. I can’t trade that for anything.
And apparently what she gave me is pickled vegetables. Cucumber and turnip. Thanks.
All of this gets me feeling cheerful at night, but there’s a problem after I go to sleep.
Cocke kokoh! Cocke kokoh!
It’s the middle of the night. There are no neighbors to disturb in the middle of the mountain, but it’s the middle of the night.
Pochi is clucking, and Tama is also letting out a quiet voice.
“S-h-u-t u-p!!”
It’s so noisy, that I send them outside.
“Come back when you’re tired, and go to sleep!”
The glass sliding door in the entrance is unlocked, and they can open doors if they aren’t locked.
Now I can finally go to sleep.
The next morning, I see Pochi and Tama asleep on the dirt floor, covered in grass. But they wake up as soon as they feel my presence.
Oh? Could it be that they were awake at night because they didn’t get enough exercise?
“Pochi, Tama, Yuma, good morning. Pochi and Tama are dirty, so let’s get you cleaned first.”
The leftover bathwater from last night is cold, but not as cold as the river. After I clean them outside, they start shaking and sending droplets flying everywhere. It looks like they’re feeling refreshed. Just don’t do that near me. And after I dry them with a bath towel and have breakfast, it’s already time.
“Ah… I’m sleepy…”
It’s drizzling again today, but last night the sky was clear. I can’t send them outside when it’s raining. That’s a problem, I think, as I head to pops’ place.
“Oh, thanks Shouhei.”
“Hum… What have Pochi and Tama been doing the last couple of days?”
“Hn? The day before yesterday, they patrolled the neighbor’s field… Yesterday, they did the same here, and the neighbor on the other side. They weren’t that big, but they caught a couple of tiger keelbacks, and found eggs. They really did a great job!”
“In two days”
One farmhouse a day… My face turns serious.
“Is there a problem?”
“Hm… It’s not easy to say, but…”
A farmhouse’s fields and paddies are big, of course, but we’re still in a mountainous region, so they’re not as big as you’d think. I estimate each is about a hundred eighty-five square meters.
Meanwhile, I have two mountains, even though I haven’t checked one out at all. The mountain where I live has an area of about twenty seven thousand eight hundred square meters. The other one is about forty six thousand four hundred square meters. Quite a lot, for something owned by one person.
My chickens are always patrolling around my mountain, so I think they were lacking exercise.
“I think we should widen their area of activity. Like having them patrol five houses in a couple of days… My chickens spend all day patrolling around my mountain, after all.”
“Ah, I see! Then they need more exercise!”
I didn’t go straight to the point, but I think he gets it.
“But we already decided the order. We’re gonna have to talk it over again. Sorry I didn’t understand what was going on.”
“No no, I should’ve thought about it more.”
Pops takes Pochi and Tama to the farmhouse they’re scheduled to patrol today.
“I’m sorry Shou. I didn’t notice either.”
“No, I should have been the one to think about it.”
“You don’t have to think about it so seriously, Shou.”
I ‘m offered tea and snacks, and after chatting, I go back with Yuma. Yuma tends to hang out with me a lot, so isn’t it going to suffer from lack of exercise too?
“Yuma, you don’t have to stick with me. You can do what you want.”
I say, and it pecks at me lightly. Why?
That night, pops brings Pochi and Tama back just like he said. They’re going to be staying here on the weekends though.
Thinking about them patrolling the mountains again tomorrow and the day after that makes me smile, but then I think about how they really were restless tonight due to lack of exercise.
Sadly, it’s raining tonight, and I can’t send them out in the rain, so tonight I’m stuck listening to a chicken choir.
It’s rough.
