Chapter 11

Filthy Pigs

It was a glorious day! The sun was shining and just a few lovely fluffy white clouds in the sky (which Kev thought looked just as fluffy as his feathers!). You could call it a "mini-break" as Kevin was a little tired of the Big City so he flew out to the countryside. He thought to himself, now that he was a chicken he was a "whole little package". A little bit like a motor home in the sense that he could fly anywhere; he was warm, because he had his own permanent feather duvet. Have wings, will travel!  He exclaimed to the air. He was full of Joy! He waved at the sun, and smiled at the trees, thanked the tickley soft grass, and span in a dance as he merrily went on his way.

"Ah! Oh! Excuse me!" A voice exclaimed. "Do you have a permit?" If Kevin had eyebrows, the left one would have been near the top of his forehead by now. "A what?!?!?!" Kevin turned and said. He stood looking at a grumpy old pig. "Ah, you see, you need a permit for this part of the forest; it's the law." the pig said grumpily. Kevin laughed at the smelly pig - he couldn't help himself and said "Haha, the law? What law? Who's Law?" The pig grunted even more grumpily at this and said "Oh I see, a smart Alec here eh? A law breaker AND a trouble maker eh? Well, there's only one thing for you sunny boy, jail!" Kevin was fast, real fast, and was going to fly away but even he didn't notice another pig creep up behind him and bite into his wing. OWCH! Kevin cried in shock. "You've made me bleed!" Kevin cried out. "See, resisting arrest too; it's not looking good for you sunny boy" said the pig. Off the pigs went, dragging poor old innocent chicken, Kevin.

Kevin thought he was in a real nightmare, but the unfortunate thing was he wasn't waking up. He was thrown into an overturned shopping trolley and watched over by another couple of pigs. Some other animals passed by and looked at Kevin as if he had really bad body odour or something. Kevin smelled quite nice, so he thought it must just be because he was put behind bars. This was guilty until proven innocent. He didn't break any natural laws, yet just because some authority said he was bad, then he was bad. Just to be tarnished by something makes people think you are wholly and fully a bad person? "Why don't people wake up?" he said to himself as he just couldn't believe what was going on at all. "So this is injustice?" he solemnly said to himself. The pigs started laughing, snorting as pigs do, saying "You're not so bright are you? Without laws we'd have chaos, we wouldn't have jobs, safety or security!" Kevin couldn't believe what he was hearing? "Well I'm not safe around here!" Kevin exclaimed. "That's because you break the law!" snorted the pigs in unison. Kevin felt very said. "You'll more than likely have a hefty fine as well", said a pig. The other pig started laughing. "A fine?" Kevin said. "Yeah, to punish you. And the fine goes to pay our wages as well, as we need law enforcement" said the other pig. Kevin got angry, real angry. More angry than he had ever been, even when a kid at school ran past and snatched a chocolate bar out of his hands. "YOU FILTHY ANIMALS! YOU ARE WORSE THAN ANIMALS! Animals live in harmony with nature! You filthy pigs twist nature, twist truth, and then sell it to honest, yet gullible animals! You are so far gone you can't even see how insane you are! The cage started shaking. The pigs looked at each other, startled - they had never seen anyone act like this - they usually just pay the fine with just a slight grudge. "You people won't even change - you can't!  Change is from within, change is taking responsibility, looks like you lot relinquished yours a long time ago and was long forgotten! These stupid bars can't hold me!!" Just then the cart flipped up in the air and landed in a bush. "THAT'S DAMAGE OF PUBLIC PROPERTY!" the pigs snorted at each other. Kevin flew up in the air and circled above to cool down. He perched on a tree branch and looked at the sad scene below. "I know what's going on here" said Kevin. "The real crime is that I am not you. Everything that I do - or anyone for that matter - will be wrong. Wrong just for being there. Wrong is punishable. Punishable by you, the pig, as you the pig have the power, and you are obviously 'right'." The pigs looked at each other and started laughing. "What are you talking about?!?!?!" the pigs snorted. "Ha! Well at least I can go back to where I'm safe. It is pointless talking to pigs like you, utterly pointless. If you stood next to each other your IQs might get into double figures! The only solution is to move on, to live in a place where a disease like you hasn't infected!" And with that Kevin flew away - heading for the grey foggy haze in the distance.

It felt like every centimeter of distance between Kevin and that place made him feel 10 times better. He started laughing at the experience he just had. His wing hurt a lot; but he knew it would mend soon enough. "They can damage physically - but they can't come near me mentally or spiritually!" Kevin exclaimed.

Kevin landed on a ledge of a beautiful building in London. He sat and began to finally. really relax. "OI!" cried a policeman below. "You're trespassing on government property!" Kevin looked down at the familiar sight and sighed, "Oh FFS." Kevin flew off and decided that no matter what was going on, the main thing was that he was happy within himself. He hadn't compromised what was real to him and his inherent feeling of what is "right". He decided that "others have the power of choice of what they choose to believe". He landed on a busy street and low and behold a pound coin on the floor! He picked it up and noticed a shop that sold lottery scratch cards, so decided that a) the coin came by chance, b) there was no way of finding who dropped it c) Lottery was a charity (in Kevin's world that is) where money goes to good causes, d) If he wins he will do something benevolent with it. He wasn't one to gamble, but hey, the odd go can be fun. Off he went and bought the shiniest and most colourful card he could find. He scratched it off furiously and woohoo! He won £20! He flapped around with excitement. He took his winnings and left the shop. It wasn't long until he saw a few homeless people in a doorway (seriously, in this day and age) and decided to buy everyone pizza! They munched and munched and Kevin enjoyed the pizza crust as cheese didn't quite suit him.

no matter if you're down
life can turn around
its a roller coaster ride
thats full of slips and slides
rejoice in the wealth
of being yourself
being true to your goals
no matter how life rolls

Onwards and upwards everyone!

Chapter 10

Kevin the Programmer

It was the most amazing thing Kevin had ever seen. "Even more magical than waking up as a chicken!" he exclaimed. "Well, not quite as good as that", he then said. Kevin was watching a girl in the street using some sort of device, like a phone, which projected in 3 dimensions anything you were interested in. You could ask it anything at all and it would understand it and recreate it in 3D. Totally amazing! The 3D projection looked almost real. It could even show you the inner working parts of things, so you could explore any part of it. And the colours, they were incredible. Kevin thought to himself that there is hardly any difference between technology and magic. He squawked very loudly "I MUST HAVE ONE!"

This was Kevin's new challenge for himself - to learn all there is about technology. But how could Kevin learn about it? He was a brilliant keyboard surfer, but he didn't know about the internals of the machine. Kevin didn't think colleges or universities would accept a chicken either - well maybe to do experiments on. Kevin didn't like that idea and said to himself "nobody is putting soap in my eyes". "But I must learn how to do this!" Kevin exclaimed. The question was how? From where? And potentially from whom? Kevin hesitated for a second and thought about school and his time there. The teacher would talk and talk using long words Kevin didn't understand. By the end of the class he was nearly unconscious and certainly didn't feel as bright as he did before he went in. What was the point of that? And exams, what is the point of those? Not even worth talking about. Another thing school did was dictate most things for him. It told him what classes he would study, told him where to be and at what time. That made him feel disempowered about this new idea of learning for himself. Plus, schools and universities seem to think that it takes a long time to learn something, like silly years. Kevin learned things fast, like how to ride a bike and play football, and also music and art, how to be a writer and reporter - Kevin learned these in days. So Kevin had a lot of experience of school, so at least he knew what not to do. It wasn't all bad, there were some good things at school that he could use in life, so it wasn't all bad. One teacher used to talk about dictionaries and the importance of looking up new words (even sometime looking up words we think we know). One time Kevin was reading a book called "The Wizard Dancer" by James Duke Durrell. The author had included definitions for all words used in the book, like "Gerunjerurrel". The book had it defined like this: Gerunjerurrel (gerr-un-jer-urrel) - "A small magical creature that is a good friend to its owner, but plays tricks on everyone else." So to learn the word Kevin started making up sentences that used it; "That is my gerunjerurrel", "You stole my gerunjerurrel", "Your gerunjerurrel wears hot pants!". Kevin laughed and thought "learning is fun". So that is one thing to keep in mind, but sometimes we need a person to learn from - someone good who has learned a lot. Like a mentor. Kevin began his quest to find a mentor, and soon was on the trail of a great inventor - Professor Tinkle.

Professor Tinkle was working in his laboratory when he heard a tapping on the window. "Oh, that's a funny looking pigeon" said Professor Tinkle. Kevin flew through the open window and exclaimed "I'm not a pigeon, I'm a chicken!" The Professor was flabbergasted. "I heard you're the best programmer in the business and I would love to learn how to make amazing things" burst Kevin. "Well, usually my students fill out an application but I can tell you are a very industrial young chicken" said Professor Tinkle. "Consider yourself enrolled!" he exclaimed. "First things first, lets teach you binary and Boolean logic, the basics of electronics, transistors, And gates, Or gates!" "Wooohooo!" squawked Kevin. They got started straight away and Kevin made notes as he went along (these will be available soon as Kevin is working on his own website as well as a game now). Not only did Kevin learn about programming, logic, problem solving, how to test, he also realised he knew a lot about project management, based on his past experience. He is a total whizz.

It got to a point where Kevin had learned enough from Professor Tinkle that he could start making things. Part of the course was to build something for a real company. These were chosen quite at random, some were for amazing companies, however, some were for not so good organisations. Kevin didn't know it at the time, but his client was a not such a good one. It was for the government. Kevin went along happily and eager to build something great. He met the people involved and they told him about the situation they had.

We have 1000 parking spaces in the centre of our town. The parking is free at the moment. We have 20,000 people who live in the entire city. At the busiest times we have over 1500 people looking for parking spaces. As you can see this is not ideal, so we need a new system. We want a computer system to start charge people for parking. We estimate this system to cost 1 million pounds. We will need to employ parking enforcement staff. We estimate 50 inspectors, with wages of £20,000 per year, 12 managers at £30,000 per year, 30 administrators at £19,000 per year, running costs of the system and any upgrades to be £100,000 per year. So as you can see, we will need to charge people. This didn't make sense to Kevin. "How much would it cost to build a multi story car park? And how much to have an improved public transport system so people wouldn't have to drive into town? I don't think you have thought this through. Charging people for things they should be free to do is not constructive, or leads to any productive or gainful activity. All staff involved would not be very happy as they would not be working on anything worth while. And that is how I feel. Sorry, Kevin the Chicken is not the bird for this project. I hope you take notice of my recommendation, but from experience that is not usually the case. Best of luck anyhow." And with that Kevin flew out the window and headed for Professor Tinkles college.

"I'm sorry professor Tinkle, that project is not for me." Professor Tinkle replied "Kevin, I respect your judgement, and not every project fits the bird. We haven't many options for you now, however you can go off and build something yourself." So off Kevin goes, starting to work on Apps and Games.

"It is not the most exciting world when you are sitting in a room all night, tapping away" Kevin thought. "It's only exciting when you write some code that works, or release something that really takes off."

Kevin is still in his room, working away. He promises to finish this story when the project is released. But the question is, when is the release date? And will it be released on time? There is no budget so that won't affect anything. Will something similar be released before Kevin's and steal all the glory? Who knows in technology world. But watch this space.

Chapter 9

Kevin the journalist

Kevin had only been living in his part of the woods for 3 days when he first heard the noise. Right in the middle of the night he was awoken by "bbrrrrm, crank, crunk, splash, crank, squeak, bbrrrrm." 10 minutes later a smell that came from somewhere Kevin didn't want to know where, filled Kev's nest. "OH MY GOD!" Kevin squawked as he ran around holding his beak. No amount of flapping got rid of the smell so Kevin had to fly away and come back a few hours later. It was then that Kevin discovered what was going on. Some nasty people had came in a big truck and dumped a huge amount of chemicals and waste materials right there in the woods. "This is unacceptable! Something needs to be done about this!" Kevin declared. But what could be done? Maybe the police would help, Kevin thought. So off he went searching for the nearest Police station.

The police were more interested in a talking chicken. They were laughing at him and giggling to themselves. They also asked Kevin if he had a police record, "the sheer cheek of it!" Kevin exclaimed. When Kevin started getting angry they laughed even more. "What sort of world do we live in?" Kevin sadly said to himself. "I'm reporting some terrible goings on and you are behaving like children" was only met with more laughter and "aahhhh"s. This was no good. If the police were not going to listen or do anything, then someone else will, Kevin decided. Kevin left the police station and was quite relieved to do so.

As Kevin was walking along the street he passed a newsagents. There were lots of newspapers on display and that made Kevin think. "Ah hah! Maybe I should tell the newspapers about it?" said Kevin to himself. The people should know about the goings on recently, and then they will do something about it, after all, the people have the power. He decided to ask the newsagent for the address of the best newspaper. The news agent obliged and off Kevin went.

"I wan't to see the big chief head boss of this newspaper" Kevin said to the receptionist. The receptionist must have liked Kevin as she said she couldn't let him see the "big chief head boss" of the newspaper as he was just the owner, but she would introduce him to the chief editor instead - which would be much better anyway. She picked up the telephone and told the Chief Editor that he really should come to the reception desk, there was a very special visitor here to see him.

The Chief Editor was a very busy man, time was an asset he savoured and was shared sparingly. However, when Sheila the receptionist spoke like this he knew it meant one thing - a very important guest. 

It wasn't long before the chief came down and introduce himself. Kevin felt like he was in the middle of a tornado, but a nice one. The chiefs language painted pictures in Kevin's mind, and Kevin admired this quality immensely. Kevin couldn't get a word in edge ways. "I've met a lot of chickens in my time Kevin, but never one like you" exclaimed the chief mid-flow. "Kevin, tell me, can you write?" the editor bursted. Before Kevin finished his sentence the editor exclaimed "yes! Good, Kevin I have a story for you to report on. And we will do a great story on you." Kevin splurted "I already have a story to report!" Kevin started then was Immediately interrupted with "You see Kevin! You're a natural! Come let me introduce you to the team!" And off they went to the top floor.

The entire floor was filled with telephones ringing, chatter and banter, and the crunching of keyboard keys. Kevin was introduced to lots of people like a video fast-forwarding, until they came to the top reporters desk. It was more like a hospital Kevin thought as the woman was surrounded by plastic, in a mini plastic room that surrounded her desk, with a large pipe that went out of the window. The reporter was addicted to cigarettes. She looked about 75 but she was only 24. It was illegal to smoke cigarettes inside any building, but somehow the woman managed to get her space classified as it's own building, like an airport being international land, just so she could smoke and write at the same time. She was that good at persuasion and getting what she wanted. "Welcome to the team Kevin" the woman growled. It must be all those cigarettes she smoked, thought Kevin. "I will be your mentor and get you up to speed" she continued. "My secretary will get you set up." As soon as she had finished she put her head down and continued typing at an incredible rate. The secretary took Kevin to his new desk. He had all the kit set up for him. A big shiny computer, telephone, the lot. Just think, he was sitting in a tree 1 hour ago.

Kevin got stuck straight in writing the article about the dirty polluters. Kevin had used a computer before, when he was a boy, but now, the home keys were not home anymore. "asdf" and "jkl;" just didn't cut it. Without fingers Kevin needed to use the 6 feather tips on his wings, and use his right foot for the space bar. It wasn't long before a machine gun tapping sound started overtaking the other office tapping. Chicken brains may be small, but they work faster than human brains.  He was able to do 180 words a minute. The office workers started gathering around his desk staring in awe. The big chief saw through the blinds in his private office and decided to take a look at what was going on. Within a couple of minutes of the chief coming over Kevin had finished his piece. The whole floor applauded at Kevin's first article. Kevin was elated and did a little dance on his desk. The editor asked Kevin to email him the article, and his next job was to write an article on something very important. Kevin couldn't wait for his article to be printed.

3 days passed by and Kevin's article about the dirty polluters hadn't appeared in the newspaper. However, 3 articles Kevin wrote about "current affairs" had appeared. The stories Kevin wrote just reported about bad things that were happening, and the solutions Kevin had suggested in the post had been removed by the editors. This is not good, Kevin could smell a rat - or a fox or two. Kevin burst into the editors office. "I'd like to have a word with you" demanded Kevin. Since working at the newspaper Kevin didn't beat around the bush. "I've written 4 articles so far, my first one has been swept aside. The other three are doing no good for society, only giving people bad news and upsetting them. This is not what I signed up for." "Kevin, Kevin" began the editor, "you have a lot to learn about our business" he continued. "We are all a demographic, a statistic based on our age, education, location, and many other variables. We are a stimulus response mechanism conditioned from day 1. Our emotions are played to, dreams are given to us that are not ours, false standards and metrics of success. All these things the media uses to suggest and direct your views of the direction we want society to go. 90% of the views people have are not their own. The people don't want to know the truth, or hear good things. They want to be told how bad things are, because they "know" things are bad. If we told them good things they wouldn't buy our papers. It makes them feel good that the bad things that are happening are happening to others and not themselves." Kevin was stunned. "So newspapers just want to make people upset and helpless? And you plug ways people can "do something about" the bad things they see such as "make a donation" or "let the government bomb places". This is not good at all! This cannot be right?" Kevin said. The editor said "Kevin, I'm afraid it is." Kevin couldn't believe it, and felt very sad. "Well, this might be the way things are now, but it is not something that I am going to contribute to, and it is not how things are going to be. I'm leaving. And I'm going to find a newspaper that fits in with my ideals." Kevin didn't even listen to what the editor had to say as he flew for the closest window.

Kevin did find a newspaper that did good things, the "Feel Good Times". It is a newspaper that reports the best of mankind, the resilience of the human soul, paradigms of ethical behaviour, respect and integrity. All of the wonderful and good things happening around the world. The newspaper itself actively calls to arms and organises groups, petitions, boycotts. Generally doing something about it. It actively brings around positive change. They published his article on the dirty polluters, and the people reported the company who dumped in the woods. He continues to regularly contribute to the "Feel Good Times."

Chapter 8

Kevin had a dream

There were lots of people in a huge pile, all holding on to each other very tightly so they looked like a single entity. They were all complaining about how others were holding themselves down, that they individually were poor little people who have no power, and the problem was that others were holding them back. I went up to them and said "You are all holding on to each other, just let go of each other and you will be free." They all snarled at me saying I was "stupid", "just a chicken" and "what would I know". I noticed a man who was standing on his own, with a smile on his face like a cunning fox. He came over and started agreeing with the people and saying that the real problem was with everyone else and not the people individually. The people liked this, and they held on to each other even harder. I stated getting angry with the man and told him to tell the truth to the people, then the man told the people that I was their enemy, and they believed him. I felt sad and had to fly away. Then I woke up. Sometimes you have to "pick your battles" - meaning that it is good to "win" and bad to "lose", so choose the things you will win at. Choose things that will challenge you, not break your heart. Kevin felt happier and more determined now, so the dream didn't affect him, he learned from it.

Chapter 7

The hypnotising chicken

One day, Kevin was walking down a busy street in the city centre. "Young man!" A voice said to Kevin. Kevin looked up and saw a very smartly dressed man who had a funny grin and who's eyes were sparkly. The man said a few words to Kevin whilst waving his hand in front of Kevin's eyes. Then the man asked Kevin to think of a number, a colour, and a type of job. "4532, green, policeman" said Kevin. The man waved his hand around and then pulled out of his pocket a small envelope and asked a woman who was watching to open it and read it aloud. The woman opened the envelope and started reading. "4532, green! A policeman!! OMG!" she said excitedly. The audience clapped in amazement and Kevin couldn't believe it too. "That's AMAZING! What am I thinking now" said Kevin as he closed his eyes and thought really really hard, picturing a cabbage. The onlookers all started laughing. The man noticed this and had a thought of his own, maybe he could use Kevin in his act? "I can't say in public" the man said. The audience laughed. The man continued "Some sort of leafy vegetable" the man said. Kevin's eyes opened wider than they had ever been opened before, and he had seen some amazing things. "A cabbage!" the man exclaimed. The audience laughed. Kevin squawked. The man smiled. The audience clapped and put lots of money in the mans hat. Once the show was over, people started leaving, but Kevin was really interested in how the magician could do what he did. Kevin was just going to ask the man a question when the man said to Kevin "how would you like to be in a show I'm working on?" "WOOOWWEEE!" exclaimed Kevin. "Will you teach me how to do what you do?" said Kevin. "Of course I will" the man smilingly answered. Off Kevin and the man went to start training and rehearsing for the new show.

"The first thing to learn about the mind Kevin, is that whatever you focus on, you get" said the man. Kevin didn't really know what the man meant, and it must have shown because the man continued "Let me demonstrate". He started to make something, he got a pencil, tied some string around the end, then tied a coin to the other end of the string, making a pendulum. He gave the pencil end to Kevin, telling him to hold on to it for a moment. He then got a sheet of white paper,  a very thick marker pen, and he drew a large cross it and placed it in front of Kevin. "Kevin, hold the pencil at the end, and put the pendulum about an inch over the cross - make sure you don't rest your wings on the table." "OK" said Kevin. Kevin did, and the man asked Kevin to choose one of the lines on the cross, and to only think about that one. Kevin did, and a few moments later the pendulum started swinging back and forth over the line that Kevin was thinking about! "WOOWWEEE!" said Kevin. Now the man drew a big circle surrounding the cross. The man asked Kevin to concentrate on the circle. Again Kevin did so, and to his amazement the pendulum started swinging in a circle! Kevin was amazed. The man explained that people are really very powerful, and they create the things and the world around them. But, most of the time people have been convinced that they are weak, irresponsible, and that things around them just happen, and that is "just the way it is". When people believe that they are powerless, you can convince them of things which aren't really true. You can become an "authority" - like a government. Kevin got excited because he remembered the Fox, and that he did that type of thing to the little chickens. "So is what we are doing with our mind tricks bad then?" Kevin asked the man. "Well", said the man, "it depends on the intention. If you are knowingly trying to make someone believe something false, when you know it is true, or make them do bad things in the name of good, then that is bad. What we are doing is using it for entertainment. We can play around with it for fun, doing nobody any harm." "Good point" said Kevin. "So why aren't people getting what they want in life? If they really create the world around them? My parents were always saying they wanted more money but they never got it." "Well, they got exactly what they focused didn't they?" said the man. Kevin was confused again. The man was smiling. "You said they were always saying they wanted more money, correct?" Kevin nodded. "Well that is exactly what they got wasn't it? They were always making it so they wanted more money. They were always saying they wanted more money, so they created around them a scarcity of money. What they created was a state of wanting, and that money was hard to come by for them." Kevin still didn't quite get it. "OK, say you want an ice-cream" "ICE CREAM! I LOVE ICE CREAM" Kevin exclaimed. The man laughed and continued "if you say I really want an ice-cream, will you get one? Will it magically arrive?" "No" Kevin said. "OK, so how do you get an ice-cream?" the man said. "Well, I guess I say I will have an ice cream, that there is one in the shop that is mine, and that I need money to buy it." "Good!" the man exclaimed. "You see, you said you already have the ice-cream, it's yours already." Kevin sort of understood. "You mean I have to pretend?" said Kevin. "Yes" the man smilingly said. "Everything is pretend really. Things become serious if you pretend to get serious one minute, and then forgot that you actually pretended to be serious in the first place." Kevin's eyes went a bit funny, but Kevin understood. He was always playful and could imagine amazing things to happen in the future, and most of them did happen - apart from the magical unicorn running through a rainbow. But maybe that will happen, somewhere. So Kevin started to have lots of fun with this new idea. It opened a whole universe of potential. He learned not to imagine the world in the future somehow "becoming" nicer, but he decided that the world is a nice, peaceful, happy, loving and caring place now. It is already here.

Kevin learned lots from the man, and learned really fast too. They put together an amazing show where they did amazing things. At the start of the show Kevin would fly down on a magic carpet. Kevin also did a knife throwing act, whilst standing on a tightrope blindfolded (he had excellent balance as a chicken). They both did mind reading tricks with the audience, and the girls loved Kevin. As a finale, an explosion would happen and the man and Kevin would disappear. They started to become really popular.

One day the government secret agency found out what the man and Kevin had learned about the mind and people, and wanted to learn it too, so they could use it to "protect people", they said. Kevin and the man were taken in a car to visit the agency, and when they got there, they were told that they couldn't leave. Kevin and the man thought that the agency were going to do experiments on them and decided that they would use their magic powers to escape. It was easy to hypnotise the agents because they were not very clever. And after hypnotising lots of agents on their way out, they decided to split up for a while to let things cool down. Kevin and the man said goodbye for now, and they would meet up soon. Kevin took a look around, felt which way the wind was blowing, and flew away towards the sunset.

Chapter 6

The travelling life

It was a hot day and Kevin stopped off at a nice little stream to get a drink. As he was drinking, Kevin was looking at his little face in the water when he noticed the reflection of a man on the other side of the stream. Kevin looked up and saw a friendly looking man who was smiling.

 
"Hello" said the man. "Hello I'm Kevin" said Kevin. The man said he was getting some water for a cup of tea and would Kevin like to join him. Kevin said yes as he loved tea. The man was a travelling man and lived in a caravan which was pulled by a big strong horse. It had all the comforts of a regular home except that it was on wheels and the man didn't have to pay called "tax" to the government. After they sat down to a cup of tea and a scone the man asked Kevin "so how did you end up in this part of the woods?" Kevin told the man all his adventures so far, and then asked the man the same question. The man began to tell Kevin his story.

When I was born I was different to other babies. I had these big red birthmarks on my face and all over my body.  The friends I had when I was a small child always knew me this way, so always treated me as who I am. They never treated me any different as we got older, just the friend they had always known. When I was 8 my father got a new job in a big city, so we all needed to move away. I started a new school and was looking forward to meeting new friends, but on the first day everyone was looking at me - but not in a nice way. Some started making fun of me, others kept away from me as if I had a some sort of disease. It was like that for the rest of my time at school. I really missed my old friends. I felt so alone. By the time I was old enough to leave school I couldn't wait to go. At the same time I left home too, not really sure where I wanted to go or what I wanted to be. I traveled from place to place until I stumbled upon some people who lived in caravans, like the one we are sitting in now. The people welcomed me, gave me food and water, and didn't even mention my birthmarks. It was like they looked into my heart and saw me for what I am. They taught me many many things. How nature provides for us, if you know what you are looking for. They taught me about travelling, about nature, about the sun and the moon, about the stars, about clouds and rain, about the wind, about people, and about life. They understood that people have a natural way of not liking something or someone that is very different from themselves. People tend to like other people who are similar to themselves, whether it is age, height, sex, colour of their feathers, or any other reason. We all need to learn that if we have feelings of differences, the way forward is to understand the other, to understand both sides and grow, not to stay small and feel negative.  Kevin told the man that he had experienced a lot of that type of thing, both as a boy and now as a chicken. Kevin also told the man that he himself had sometimes acted in ways like the man described, that he had been unkind to some friends at school, and his parents. Kevin felt a little sad. The man smiled and said that he too had done things like that. "It's part of being who we are Kevin", the man said. "There is nothing that we can break that we can't fix", the man smiling said. "It's all right if we can learn from it. We just need to constantly keep alert to negativity creeping in to our lives" the man said.

Kevin realised that life is a constant learning activity. "Can you teach me things that your people taught you?" asked Kevin to the man. "Of course I can" the man smilingly said. "I'm on my way back to my family, I can teach you along the way" the man said. The man told Kevin that he had met his wife many years ago and they had 3 wonderful children together, but life being life his wife had sadly passed away. "We are on a journey Kevin, our paths cross and intertwine, say hello and goodbye. Our memories will last forever, and we will meet again" the man said. The man had been spending some time alone with nature, but now he decided it was time to go back to his people.  Kevin was very excited to travel with the man and to learn about how to find out about navigation using the stars, to learn about nature, animals, and life.

Kevin travelled along the road with the man, learning as much as he could. He visited the camp where the mans family and friends were and had a great time. Kevin thanked the man for his friendship, hospitality, and love before bidding farewell and continuing on his journey.

Chapter 5

The Joy of creativity

After a long invigorating flight Kevin decided to land. Kevin saw a funny looking man, dressed top to toe in black but with a little white square at the front of his neck, who was looking at him, and and then started walking towards him. "No chance!" Kevin exclaimed and jumped back into flight. 

As he flew, Kevin could hear some beautiful music that made him feel like electricity all over, making his feathers stand on end and his eyes widen. He followed the music came to a building it came from and circled overhead. Kevin had never heard music like this before and had to find out more. He landed on the window ledge of an open window on the house. 

The house looked like it was in need of some love, but the music was amazing. "Oh hi Mr Chicken" a friendly voice from inside said. "Hello! I'm Kevin the Chicken, I used to be a little boy!" "How cool" said the man inside, "I used to be a little boy too" he continued. "Come in, I've just made a lentil stew. We're all vegans, so you are safe here chicken boy" he said. Kevin was really hungry after all that flying, and vegans only eat vegetables and Kevin was a vegan too. And lentil stew sounded perfect for a hungry chicken. Kevin felt much better after the delicious meal. The man explained that he was an artist, made music and painted beautiful things, but that people who worked in factories or shops made more money than he did. He lived in something called a "squat", but Kevin didn't know what that was. It is a house that is not being used, so people decide to use it and look after it. Kevin didn't know why there was a special name for that. There were special names for lots of things Kevin thought. "Would you like to help me with some art?" said the man. "Oh yes please!" exclaimed Kevin. The man had lots and lots of canvasses around his room and a very large one was lying flat in the middle of the floor. It was covered in splatters all the colours of the rainbow. Kevin tried to get a closer look and before he realised it he had walked through some paint and had his foot prints all over the canvas. 

When Kevin realised what he had done he felt a "Oh No!" type of shock but the man said excitedly "That's it! Genius! I was looking for inspiration and this is it!. It is nearly finished, Kevin can you keep walking?" It wasn't long before the painting was finished. The man told Kevin about how art can come from anywhere, from inspiration, from copying, from life, or nature, or just starting and seeing where it takes you. He told Kevin that everything you want to do can be broken down into little steps, and each step done takes you closer to where you want to go. Sometimes you have to do some research before you start, and you have to know where you want to go to know that you have arrived. You just start, and then continue, step by step, until you reach the end - and then you have a celebration if you want. Kevin liked little steps as he had little chicken legs. Kevin and the man painted one picture step by step, and then they painted another, and then another, and kept going until they ran out of paint. Along the way the man had taught Kevin all he knew about painting and how to break projects down into little chicken steps. Both Kevin and the man were very excited and the man said they should get the pictures exhibited. 

It wasn't long before the exhibition and Kevin and the man were very excited. Kevin got a little beret hat from an old army doll he had and put it on Kevin. The exhibition was a great success and there were lots of people there, and journalists from art magazines and newspapers. They started asking Kevin questions. "Kevin, where do you get your inspiration from?" Kevin answered  "I just open my imagination and let things flow. It's not something I have to force, it is like it is always there I just need to feel free and let it flow. And sometimes an accident works out really well. The great thing about art is that you are really free to create. We create things out of nothing, our imagination is free and is the most wonderful thing. Art is like life, first an idea comes, or you imagine something, and then you turn it into reality. Sometimes it becomes real straight away, sometimes it takes some time." Kevin remembered what the prime minister said and that how Kevin disagreed, so Kevin felt like he should say something so he continued, "People naturally get along together, they don't need big banks to make them do hard work just for the sake of it. Art is like that, we create things from nothing. People can have fun and work at things to make the world a better place." The journalists were very excited at Kevin's points and they had a lot of material to use for their newspaper. A lot of people read their publications and people would believe anything they wrote, it could either work out well or bad for Kevin, but Kevin was true to himself and had his own opinions, and also respected the opinions of others. A man approached Kevin and took him aside. He was a very impressive man, very well dressed and smelled like some kind of flower, and said to Kevin that he could make him rich if he came and made some art for him. All he would have to do would be to do what the man says and he would be rich. Kevin felt angry and said to the man that Kevin is free to do what he wanted, when he wanted, and that money is very low actually and the man might think he was doing well in life, but that he really wasn't. Kevin stormed off and went to his artist friend. "We have had a great time, met some lovely people, and spoken how we feel to people who are interested and listened. Can we go home now?" Kevin said. "Of course we can" said the man, and they said goodbye to their friends there and then made their way back home. 

The man had taught Kevin all he knew, even how to play the guitar and they both sang songs together. One day some people came to the house and said that Kevin and the man couldn't be there anymore so they both had to leave. The man and Kevin had to say goodbye to each other and both continue on their journey through life. Kevin said that he would see the man some time soon and he would have more art to show him. They wished each other luck and left.

Chapter 4

Onwards and Upwards

Kevin heard a sad little chirp, as if a tiny little chick was crying. And there was. Kevin followed the sound and soon he came across a little chick that must have fallen out of a tree. "Oh dear" said Kevin, "I'm Kevin the chicken, I'm going to help you." 

The little chick stopped crying and looked up at Kevin sadly said "really?" "Yes of course" Kevin said smilingly. "It looks like we need to get you back up to your nest up there?" said Kevin as he pointed up to the top of a mighty oak tree. "It looks so far" said the chick.  "Everywhere looks so far away until you get there, and then when you look back it doesn't ever look as far as it was. It looks too far for me to fly you up there. I think we need to build you a ladder." Kevin explained what a ladder was and that it was just like building a very long nest, as that is the only thing that birds built. After warming the chick up under his wing, Kevin began collecting sticks, twigs, and anything that could be used. Kevin loved playing with building bricks back home, and making towers and buildings and spaceships and cars, and imagined himself being an architect or an engineer. If only he had some of those bricks now, but he didn't. He had to use whatever was at hand. Kevin worked and worked and worked. As he foraged for materials he came across a hedgehog. "Hello, what are you doing?" asked the hedgehog? "I'm collecting things to make a ladder" said Kevin. After explaining what a ladder was and what it was used for the hedgehog said he would help. Kevin was very pleased, and soon lots of different animals were volunteering and helping out - just because they wanted to. Kevin was amazed.  By nighttime the ladder was really coming together. As the sun set, Kevin and the chick settled down under a small bush for the night. "Will I ever see my home again?" said the chick. "Of course you will!" said Kevin. "I hope so" said the chick and then asked if Kevin would tell him a story. Kevin couldn't remember most of the stories he'd heard over the years, but he had a good imagination and lots of recent experience in life. So Kevin began to tell the story:

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who lived in a magnificent kingdom. It sounds beautiful, but there was one problem, she was all alone. Everywhere she went there was nobody there. She played alone, sat alone, ate alone, lived alone, there was nobody there, not even birds or animals. One day she was feeling especially lonely so decided to try and travel as far as she could to find someone else. She walked for miles and miles and came to a lake and found a boat moored. She didn't know how to sail, but it couldn't be that hard, plus she was desperate. Off she went sailing over the lake. Hours and hours went by and she could see the shore. She became very excited and climbed out onto the land, only to realised that it was the same place she left from. She couldn't believe it. Back on the boat she went again, and deciding that she would put a lot more effort into steering this time, even though she had done before. Hours went by and she saw land again. Again it was the same land that she left from. She decided to go home and the next day decided to try something different. Off she went in the opposite direction. She travelled for hours and hours only to come to the foot of huge cliffs. She walked for hours and hours trying to find a gap in the cliffs, but to no avail. She went back home and fell asleep. The next day she decided to go to the library in the castle where she lived to look for some maps or some information about how to get out of the kingdom. She went to the library and rummaged through lots of books until she came to a very old and special looking book. The book was a description of what happened to her and her fathers kingdom. People in the kingdom were very friendly people, but an evil witch put a magic spell on the kingdom that made people start to fear and not like each other. This got worse and worse until people started to disappear. The curse made them still live in the same place, but not to see anyone else. It was like each one of them had separated into their own separate world where they were all alone, and yet everyone else was in the same world, but they just couldn't see each other. This made the princess think, how can we bring everyone together again? She had an idea - to build something that would bring everyone together; she wanted to build a magnificent tower that would stand for all time to remind people that it was good to love each other and that could shake off all evil spells. The next day she began digging  the foundation for the tower. Then day after day she kept working on the tower. It was a hard and lonely task until one day the tower had seemed to have been bigger than it was when she left it the day before? The other people in the kingdom began to see the tower being built and started helping add to it. As they did this they all became aware that there was other people around but they just couldn't see them. One day, soon after, a person appeared in plain sight of the princess. She was overjoyed. As each day passed more and more people appeared and the tower grew bigger and bigger until one day the tower was built and every person who had disappeared had returned. The last person to appear was the King. The evil witch had realised she had failed and saw the magnificence of the tower so left the kingdom to somewhere nobody knew. The people in the kingdom lived happily ever after.

On the last word the chick had fallen into a deep relaxing sleep. Kevin made sure the chick was safe and warm under his little wing. 

The next day Kevin and the other animals continued to work on the ladder until it soared up in the air, finally reaching the nest. Now was time to take the chick back home to his mother. The chick clung on to Kevin's shoulder. Kevin was hoisted up onto the back of a rabbit, who in turn was on the back of a badger to get a perfect lift for the long climb up. 

Kevin climbed and climbed until they reached the top of the ladder. Kevin stood as tall as he could, and leaned over so the chick could climb off into the nest. With a tiny leap the chicken made it home, and at the same time Kevin leaped off and glided in a spiral all the way down to the floor of the woods. The tiny chick leaned over and waved at Kevin and the animals and let out a happily high pitched chirp. All the animals were pleased with what they had a achieved and would long continue to describe what a ladder was to unbelieving animals. Kevin made a lot of friends and found a nice place to live, but he understood the importance of finishing things that he started, so off he went continuing his adventure. 

Chapter 3

Forever changing world

Kevin flew right over the top of a very tall house and landed on the pavement outside. He was loving his new ability to fly. He felt his muscles growing in size and felt a little bit macho, like a chicken version of superman. "Superchicken! Kevin the Superchicken!" he thought to himself as he walked along the street. 

"Oh hello there little chicken" said a man in a suit holding a clipboard. "Hello, I'm Kevin" said Kevin. The man was taken aback and exclaimed "good lord a talking chicken!" "Of course I can talk, I'm really a little boy" said Kevin. "A little boy? "How old are you in boys years?" said the man. "Eleven" Kevin answered. "Eleven boys years, well that makes you thirty three in chicken years Kevin" said the man and smiled. "Well Kevin, I can tell you are a very clever boy/chicken, so the world is your oyster. Have you ever considered a career in politics? We need people like you" said the man. Kevin loved seafood but didn't understand what oysters had to do with the world. And politics? What is that all about, he thought to himself. "I'm sure that just makes people angry?" thought Kevin. "Kevin, you could help us make a real difference in this country. This is an important time Kevin, the people need true leadership, jobs and economic growth, and a brighter future for us all! Isn't this the type of thing that you would like to help with Kevin?" Kevin couldn't disagree to what the man said, as he had heard teachers, parents, and lots of other people say that these things are good to have, and a lack of them makes people sad. Kevin liked things that were good, and didn't like things that were bad. Kevin also felt a bit lost on this unfamiliar street. "Yes, I will help out" Kevin to the politician. "You have made a very wise decision Kevin, I would expect no less from a chicken as clever as you. Now, let me take you and show you the houses of Parliament where we will begin our new campaign towards a brighter future." "A brighter future" Kevin said to himself  and his eyes lit up - that is all he was imagining for himself and his friends and family all this time, and wanted them to share it with them. Off they went in a chauffeur driven car that was paid for by people paying tax. 

Kevin was really excited about this new adventure, it was like all he imagined in the past was becoming real. It wasn't long before they were driving through very tall buildings and seeing all types of people. As they drove the politician was explaining that he would introduce Kevin to the Prime Minister. "WOW! The Prime Minister" said Kevin excitedly. The politician was very enthusiastic in telling Kevin that he the government would really appreciate Kevin's help. The flashy car went through a security gate, and through to the Houses of Parliament. Kevin's feathers fluffed up with pride as they were saluted as they came in. A meeting was set up for Kevin to meet the "cabinet". Kevin had a cabinet at home and it was pretty wooden and lifeless, so why would he want to meet one now? When he got there, there was a couple of cabinets in the room, but nobody paid much attention to them, instead there was a huge table with lots of people in grey suits and looking sad and were all as plump as Kevin with fluffed up feathers. "Maybe it is a difficult thing to do, running a country. There are lots and lots of different people, with different attitudes, different beliefs, different skills, surely it must be hard to make everyone happy all the time" Kevin thought to himself. Kevin was introduced as a very pleasant young man who is going to help the new campaign. "Hello everyone! My name is Kevin and I'm 33 chicken years old. I used to be a little boy but now I'm a chicken. I'm going to help make the world a better place by helping people be happy and using their imagination and being creative and happy." A few people mumbled what sounded like "here here" which Kevin didn't know what that meant. "Maybe I'm here to help these people here first?" Kevin thought. Kevin was then introduced to the Prime Minister. "Hello Mr Prime Minister!" exclaimed Kevin. "I'm going to help you make the country a better place by making it easy for people to be more creative and have fun and imagine amazing things and play together!" said Kevin excitedly. "Well well Kevin, that sounds great" said Mr Prime Minister, "first we have to train you in our new plans for making a more productive and lucrative future." Kevin wasn't sure what that meant, but it must be nice if the Prime Minister said it. "And we need to improve the image of a few wars we are involved in as people are not really understanding how we need to help people." Kevin felt a bit sad on hearing this. "How can war be good Mr Prime Minister?" Kevin asked grimly. "Come come now Kevin, we are making peoples lives better, actually saving real lives Kevin. You want to help save lives don't you Kevin?" said the Prime Minister. Kevin had a funny feeling inside that he didn't like, a lot like when the fox spoke to him. "I like to help people and want to save lives, but Mr Prime Minister I don't think war is the answer. When there is a fight at school the teachers break it up and make each person shake hands, why should we take sides in a war?" "A very nice sentiment Kevin and I'm touched" said Mr Prime Minister, "maybe that part we can keep for later. In the meantime the world needs workers to work and make enough money to pay off the huge debts we have to our friends the bankers. The bankers print paper money for us, which we repay with interest. We simply cannot support the workers as we have to pay off our debts, so people must work harder and endeavor to pay off their debts." Kevin's head felt a bit funny. "That simply does not make sense Mr Prime Minister? I'm an 11 year old boy - 33 chicken year old chicken and that doesn't make any sense to me? These bankers are not our friends if they do things like that to us? It sounds like some people with power are greedy and are making decisions based on greed to keep things the way they are for them and us. They are not being nice to others, or really themselves. People should spend more time with each other having fun, imagining great things, making inventions, laughing singing, doing work that needs to be done in a fun way for the pure satisfaction of doing it and not focusing on rewards. My friends at school want to be rich for no reason and I think I am one of the richest people in the whole wide world with my imagination." "Kevin, who have you been speaking to?" said mr Prime Minister. "Nobody Mr Prime Minister, I am a free thinking individual, and it seems like I am dangerous to you. I'm sorry that you are working hard with your campaign, but please make sure you are doing it for the right reason and you are doing the right thing. I'm sorry, but I can't help you. I think I have to find other people like myself, and it seems like there are not many like me around." Kevin sighed and his feathers flattened. He looked outside at the people working hard and felt sad. "I think I have to go now Mr Prime Minister" Kevin said. "I hope your cabinet gets fixed." And with that Kevin jumped out onto a window ledge, took one look back at Mr Prime Minister, and took off over the sunny midday city of London.

Chapter 2

At least it is warm at night

Kevin loved his new ability to fly. He could only manage being airborne a little bit at a time as it was very tiring. He literally got carried away with his new abilities and almost forgot about his previous life as a little boy. Night didn't seem as dark as it was normally as Kevin's eyes were different. He landed somewhere he thought looked nice for a chicken to land. It was a cold night, but Kevin was warm and snug in his new coating of feathers. He was quite pleased with himself said "It's not bad being a chicken". A voice came out of nowhere and said "SSSSHHHH". Kevin was startled and looked around but couldn't see anyone. "Keep still" said a voice beside him. "Who's there" Kevin said. "SSSHHH" went the voice again. "Be quiet". Kevin froze and didn't flicker a feather. Kevin heard a slight rustling of grass and then saw a Fox poke his head through a fence just in front of Kevin and paused. 

Kevin froze so hard he thought time had stopped. He suddenly realised that he was actually walking food, and Kevin was partial to a bit of chicken too as he liked to go to BenMuckity's Special Chicken Kitchen. He liked the food when he was eating it, but sometimes he; didn't feel well afterwards. He hoped that thought might put the fox off. What seemed like an eternity passed before the fox slowly withdrew its head and faded away. Kevin was standing in front of some fly-tipped rubbish, in particular a feather pillow that was split open. 

That was lucky. Kevin quietly turned around and gazed down on a starling. "Oh hello there" Kevin said quietly. "You're not so clever for a peacock" said the starling. Kevin quietly laughed and said "I'm flattered, but I'm not a peacock, I'm a chicken" said Kevin. "No you're not, your one of the Peacock family who live over there" said the starling as he pointed through the trees with the tip of his wing. "We better get going, come this way" said the starling and turned and hopped into the bushes. They climbed through some bushes and came to a chicken coup surrounded by a very tall chicken wire fence. "There, that's their home" said the starling. "I'm not sure how you're going to get in there though, but you better do it soon before the fox comes back" the starling said. Kevin always liked a challenge so he backed up, said "watch this!", started running and then flapped his wings with all his might, even though he was tired. Kevin almost went vertically up like a rocked he always imagined. Over the fence he went and did a little swirl as he landed. "See, I didn't even catch a feather". "Well done!" said the starling. "what's all that commotion out there?" said a voice from inside the coup. "OOhhh it's a little fella!, come and have a look girls." Kevin didn't like girls, but not in a way that his father criticized people on TV for, just that they were a little bit boring, apart from the ones who were like boys and liked climbing trees with him. But, he was in no place to be picky, and after all, he was a very friendly little chicken. "Hello I'm Kevin" he said excitedly. "Oh and were did you come from?" said one of the Peacocks. "I wished to be different and I woke up as a chicken." "You mean a peacock?" said all the chickens in unison "we're all peacocks". Kevin didn't laugh this time. Kevin knew that birds had, well, birds had bird brains, but not even knowing what they themselves were seemed very strange even for someone with limited intellect. "It's way past our bedtime, come in Kevin and we will make a nest for you." Kevin felt nice and cosy in the peacock coup and was well looked after by the peacock family.

After a breakfast of various grains, which somehow tasted great, even without lots of hidden sugar and then more sugar poured on top (as recommended by the sugar companies). After a hearty breakfast naturally fortified grain, it was play time. "So what games do you play?" asked Kevin to the Peacocks. "Oh, we don't really play games anymore, we are too busy pruning and admiring our beautiful peacock feathers." Kevin was stunned. The most amazing thing about being alive is all the fun games and play you could do, and exhilarating fun as a result. He was sure that even chickens must have fun and play games?

It wasn't long before Kevin got onto the subject of how they became known as Peacocks.  He was certain that Peacocks were male after all. "How did you come to be called the peacocks?" Kevin asked a couple of hens. They all had differing stories and then began challenging each other as to the true answer. "How very strange" Kevin thought to himself. This turned into quite a commotion, and even Kevin was blamed for starting the arguments that ensued. Then there was even more of a commotion. The fox had appeared, probably heard all the noise and was looking for an opportunity, and was poking his face into the chicken wire. All the chickens started running, Kevin behind them. "You're new" said the fox to Kevin as he was running off into the coup. Kevin paused and turned. "What beautiful feathers you have, you are a fine example of a peacock." Kevin first felt flattered and proud, but then was hit with reality - the fox was really the source of the peacock lie. Kevin realised that the fox has been coming around and telling the chickens that they are really peacocks and so beautiful. His plan must be to get either the chickens to come out of the coup and show off their beautiful feathers, or, to help the fox get in to the coup. He must have been working on that plan for a very long time. "I know your game!" said Kevin to the fox. "The game is up! You are trying to trick the chickens, and they are chickens. They are beautiful, loving, fun creatures and will not be lied to by you, you stinking fox!". "Get out of here or we will make enough noise for the owner to come and then he will get you!" The fox ran away. At this point the chickens came out of the coup. They heard what Kevin had said and they all awoke from their trance. Kevin said "you are all beautiful creatures no matter what. The fox is a manipulator because he wants to eat you he is laying down plans to get you in a state of confusion so you make the wrong decisions. You should be proud of who you are. I used to be a little boy and now I'm a chicken. I am really a little boy, but that is another illusion. I can, like you, be anything I want, just one thing at a time." "We won't listen to that horrible fox anymore!" said one of the chickens. "We will play, have fun, and love and admire each other from now on!" said another. And they would have fun and play nice games, but Kevin knew it was time to move on. He was starting to feel homesick and understood the types of pressures his parents were on. He wondered how many other type of fox there were out there in the world. At least now he knew what to look out for.

Chapter 1

Kevin the Chicken

Kevin is a boy, and his heart is full of joy. He loves to play, to run skip and jump. If there are any ways have fun, Kevin is interested in them. He likes his toys and puts them where he likes. His mother doesn't seem to understand as she moves them around or puts them away, or worse - makes Kevin put them away. Kevin's Dad is also told what to do by Kevin's mother, and that is even when Dad comes back from work, where Dad is also told what to do. Dad looks sad. When Kevin grows up he's going to be a pilot, or maybe an astronaut. He is going to swim with dolphins and climb mountains too, in his spare time. At school Kevin and his friends are told what to do by the teachers. They are also told what to do by a bell that rings. The bell means that they have to move from one place to another. His friends at school all behave differently depending on what has been on TV the night before. Kevin doesn't understand why his friends all want to be rich and famous. All that means is they have a lot of money, but what is the point of that? Kevin has all the money he needs right now. It costs him nothing to be a magician or a king (he also makes all his friends kings too) and he builds castles at the top of mountains and visits magical worlds. Kevin doesn't watch TV much and his favourite way to start a sentence is "Imagine ..."

What Kevin really likes to do is fight with dragons or fly his space ship to the moon, or ride on a magic carpet. The teacher keeps telling him to stop daydreaming and come back to "reality." Well, Kevin's imagination is very real to him so he doesn't understand what the teacher means.

Kevin's mother tells him to stop daydreaming too, but Kevin can't understand why people don't want to fight dragons and rescue a princess or fly a spaceship to the moon? Kevin sometimes likes to fly a magical unicorn through rainbows, but he likes to keep things like that to himself.

One day Kevin's teacher became very upset with him for a reason that was unknown to Kevin. The teacher wasn't very nice either because she told his mother about what Kevin did. When they got home Kevin wasn't allowed to play with his toys. This made Kevin feel sad, and thought to himself how strange people were acting, and was not sure what they were trying to accomplish. He decided adults are not very good at solving problems. Kevin was told to go to bed as a further punishment. When he put his pyjamas on and got into bed, he started to make a wish. I wish people would treat me differently and I wish I was completely different and didn't have to go to stupid school. Little did Kevin know that a magic fairy, who liked to watch Kevin play, was close by and heard what Kevin said.

In the morning the bedroom seemed a lot bigger than it usually did. It must have been very early too as the sun was just starting to rise. Kevin felt an incredible urge, he couldn't stop himself. COOOCCKKKAADDOOODDLEE DDDOOO!

kevin was very surprised. He then burst out laughing "Hahahahabahbahbak bak bak bakkeeehhh" Kevin stopped. He looked down at his feathery body and froze.

A thump thump thump noise was coming along the passage way and the door swung open. "What's all this AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH! Peter! There's a chicken in Kevin's room! And Kevin's gone!" "Mam! It's me, Kevin" Kevin squaked. "OH MY GOD ITS TALKING!" screamed his mother. Kevin's dad, Peter  rushed in and cried "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" "DON'T JUST STAND THERE GRAB IT" Kevin's mother cried. The father bent over and started chasing Kevin. Kevin was laughing and laughing, he had never had so much fun like this with his parents before, and had no one told them it is very very difficult to catch a chicken that way? His parents were getting frantic and screaming, bumping into things and making a mess of Kevin's room. To bring some sort of order Kevin jumped into the air and flapped his wings with all his might, after all he had never flown himself, he had always using some sort of vehicle like a space ship or flying carpet.

He landed on the top of his wardrobe and span round and when "BAAKK BAAKKQQUUIIIIEEEETT AND CALM DOWN!", but they didn't. His mother fell to her knees and Peter dropped and put his arm around her. Keven felt really different, as if he didn't belong there anymore, so he flew over the top of them, down the stairs, and out through the back garden, and into a new world.