Sydney's First Egg

Sydney was feeling extremely anxious about going to school today. This was going to be her first egg, and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to handle it well if she was still at school when it came.

Her mother had offered to let her stay home, but Sydney also knew this was something all coming of age hens had to deal with, and she knew if every hen decided to stay home every time she thought she might lay an egg, nothing would ever get done.

Plus their was Omar. Perhaps today was the day she'd finally find the nerve to talk to him. For young roosters, he was the nicest guy in the school, and extremely cute.

When she got to school, she felt her stomach. So far so good. If she felt anything coming on, she would just reserve herself to the bathroom. She'd often heard some of her classmates in there screaming as they laid their own eggs. Remembering their cries didn't ease her discomfort, but at least she knew where to go when it happened.

Besides, her mother always told her that chickens are much more adapted to egg laying than other species, the first few times can be rough, but her body will grow used to it.

As she made her way to her seat, she spotted Omar at his desk.

Omar.

Her heart fluttered as he spotted her and gave her one of his gentle smiles. She smiled shyly back as she sat down.

The lecture began and the teacher began his monotone reading of the text, not once looking up to see what was going on with his students.

As he taught, Sydney couldn't help but think about her situation with Egg Laying. She glanced at Omar. Boys were lucky, they only had to worry about 1 and 2, they didn't have to worry about eggs, which Sydney didn't know what number that was, but as 3 was already taken, she decided to call it 4.

She wondered how Omar must feel knowing he never had to go through these sort of circumstances. The thought made her blush.

Sydney decided to turn her focus back to the lecture.

Things were going well enough, and Sydney began to think she might make it through, when-

The first of the contractions hit her. Her face filled with heat. She needed to get out of here and to the bathroom as soon as she could.

She raised her wing in the air, hoping to get the teacher's attention, but he just kept talking. Typical, he got so caught up in his text, he lost all track of what was going on around him.

As she waved her wing in the air, hoping to gain his attention, the contractions in her abdomen gradually began to increase. Sydney began to squirm in her seat, as the contractions continued to increase. It was all she could do not to whimper. She hoped the big stall would be open by the time she got there, because she quickly realized she'd need room to writhe.

But the teacher, so wrapped up in his text, still didn't notice her.

She could no longer keep her wing raised. Instead, she had to shove it in her mouth to keep herself from squealing.

This hurt so much. This hurt so much. If hens had it much easier than other species, she didn't want to know what it was like for other species.

The other students began to take notice of her. She heard one of the other girls snicker as she watched her, obviously aware of what was going on, which was hardly fair, because she was one of the other birds Sydney'd heard screaming in the bathroom once as she laid her own eggs, so she must certainly know what this felt like.

Sydney clamped her beak as hard as she could over her wing, suppressing a scream. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Teacher!" She shouted, standing up, unable to contain herself anymore, "I need to go to the bathroom!"

The teacher finally looked up from his book and took notice of her. She hated interrupting class like this, but she just couldn't hold it anymore.

"Hurry up," the teacher said.

Sydney shook as she made her way toward the front of the class, contractions shaking her to her very core.

She didn't even make it to the door.

Just as she was about to reach it, the egg popped from her and fell to the floor.

Pain exploded through her as if the egg had just been ripped right out of her. She screamed, and she screamed.

The whole class was starring at her, some of them were laughing. Even Omar was trying to suppress a chuckle.

Sydney didn't care, she dropped to her knees and folded in on herself. The pain was already starting to ease, but so overfilled with shame, she just slumped to the floor and began crying.

Footsteps.

Oh great, it was her teacher, coming to help her. How embarrassing.

But when she looked up, tears in her eyes, it was Omar standing over her. The teacher stood back, obviously trusting him to handle the situation.

"Are you okay?" Asked Omar, offering her a wing. He helped her to her feet, and she looked into his eyes. While she could she amusement there, she could see that it was more of an in the moment reaction, and not his overall response. Deeper down, she saw there was only kindness and sympathy.

"Do you need anything?" Omar asked.

She didn't know how to answer. Instead, she threw her wings around him and started sobbing, holding him tight.

Omar hesitated a moment, then gently hugged her back.

"Don't worry, you'll be okay." Omar said, "These things happen."

It was the warmest, softest embrace Sydney had ever felt in her life. The tears flowed freely now, but now they felt fresh and pure, drowning out the shame she'd felt just a minute before.

When the tears stopped falling, she let go of Omar and bent down to pick up her egg. It was only slightly cracked from the fall.

"Well, if that's everything," said the professor, "I'd like to get back to our reading."

Sydney and Omar returned to their seats, but as she went to sit back down, she exchanged a look with Omar. He dipped his head politely, and gave her a gentle smile. Her heart filled with joy as she smiled back.

Sydney didn't know what happened that day, but an unbreakable bond was set between her and Omar that they both knew would last for the rest of their lives.