The Chicken Story—The Sequel

It's been a little over 2 years ago since I posted the fictional account of a colony of birds entitled The Chicken Story. But I left that story hanging in the end, much the same way how many movies are made these days. You see, movie makers sometimes deliberately leave their stories without a proper ending to keep the option open for possible sequels. If a movie turns out to be very successful and profitable, then the movie maker can make more stories in the hope of making more money! Well, I did not make any money from my chicken story 2 years ago, but this is the sequel of that story anyway...

So the alpha rooster has been enjoying his reign as the king of the colony. Other roosters had, on several occasions, attempted to dethrone him. But each time the challenge ended in failure because the king still commands the support of the majority of the birds. It is unclear, however, whether that support was because of confidence in the leadership, or because of fear of the king. As a matter of fact, there have been talks of disfavour; of wanting a new leadership.

Some of the daring young roosters teamed up to form an alliance, and then embarked on a mission to garner support from the flock in the hope of dethroning the king. At first it was done rather discreetly. But when the support for a new leadership gained traction, the fight for the throne became more open.

Nevertheless, power is a very intoxicating and addictive thing—when one has it, or even just the prospect of having it, one can quickly lose his mind; and the original reason for the fight can swiftly be overwhelmed by personal agendas which are not necessarily for the good of the colony as a whole.

The roosters, supposedly working hand in hand to overthrow the king, suddenly turned on each other, alliance notwithstanding. The strength arising from the alliance rapidly diminishing into nothingness. The king, having prepared for the worst, watched his rivals self-destructing themselves in amusement, because of course it is amusing!

Sometimes, a king is a king because he is right for the job. But sometimes a king is a king not because he is the best for the job; rather, it's because all the other roosters in the flock, despite their brilliant leadership quality, can't convince the colony that they really want to do the job. All they do is whine and quarrel with each other; yet they expect everybody to choose them to be their king.