Thunderfunk the Superchicken - Chapter 26

Transportation

Casting a baleful look back at his passenger, Straw lifted the Harrier jet gently into the air, heading straight up 10,000 feet and then with a light touch on the controls he began the descent, coming down in the neighbours yard. Looking over his shoulder at their own home no more than 200 yards away, Straw was caught off guard when the ground beneath gave way, sending the jet plunging towards the gaping maw of a lava pit. Years of instinct kicked in and seconds later the jet was rising once again. As he settled in a more appropriate spot a dozen metres away, Thunderfunk murmured from the back seat. “Nice save, lad.” They hopped out of the jet and walked to the edge of the pit. “It’s a good thing you reacted as quick as you did. If we had splashed down there, the lava alligators surely would have ripped us to shreds.”

An odd expression crossed the young pilot’s face. He glanced sharply at the chicken, and then peered down at the lava pit. Bubbles of hot magma burst at the surface as the lava rolled over itself, almost like a living thing. Indeed there seemed to be some log like objects floating around the surface. “Those aren’t lava alligators,” he began, only to be cut off by his companion.

“You’re right of course.” The chicken looked down the pit more intensely. “Those are lava crocodiles. Entirely different.”” He turned on his heel and started walking towards the house.

After a moment of stunned silence, Straw hurried to catch up. “That’s not what I mean,” he said breathlessly. “I mean that lava alligators and lava crocodiles do not exist.”

“And yet,” countered the Superchicken, “there they are in all of their glory.”

Straw stopped, closing his eyes as though trying to banish the oddness of life. When he opened them, he was still facing the back of a giant chicken, mere feet away from a gaping hole filled with lava. As the cover to the magma trap began to slide into place, Straw hurried after his boss. There was much about the world he did not understand, but he was pretty sure he would be needed by Thunderfunk’s side when he met his rival.