Actions Have Consequences

One day, Morgan and I were patrolling the knoll when we came upon a rooster who was crowing. Our patrol had been fruitless, and we were getting restless, so Morgan, itching for a shot, instinctively and without much thought pulled back his slingshot and let his rock fly in the direction of a rooster. Morgan never intended to actually hit the rooster; he just thought the rock would hit nearby and scare him. The poor bird was in mid-crow, wings flapping and everything, when the rock ricocheted off its head. The rooster flapped and, in a stunned stupor, fell backwards.

We ran over and inspected whether the wound was fatal or not. Morgan's usual cool exterior melted like butter in the hot sun as he soaked in the consequence of his hasty action. He hadn’t thought this quick action would cause so much damage. Morgan stroked the neck of the injured bird, heartbroken at the pain his shot had caused. The chicken was breathing but lying limp. In addition to realizing this bird might die, I was also worried about the fact that it wasn't our chicken and we would have to repay the chicken’s owners by giving them our beautiful and extremely large rooster, JT.

After it seemed too late, we realized there could be consequences to this action that Morgan hadn’t thought of beforehand. Suddenly, and thankfully, the rooster’s eyes opened and it made the effort to stand. We let it get up, but it was very unsteady. It started to walk but was veering very far to the right until it stumbled and fell. The rooster stood again and looked at us in a peculiar way and then made a run for it. Five minutes later, Morgan and I caught it and took the poor creature to the house where we fed it some corn and it made a quick recovery.

After an hour or two we let it go, but it continued to have a hard time walking straight. I think the rock knocked out more brain cells than it had to spare. We’re so thankful it lived through the traumatizing experience and is still around today. But this afternoon escapade taught Morgan and me this valuable lesson that every action, even one that seems silly and trivial, has consequences.