Night of the Nuggets: Chapters 12-14
The Amazing Miss Pearl—Helping to Make the World Better for Chickens and People
In this week’s newsletter, we are continuing with a few more Shadowy Specters that Pearl may come across in her Night of the Nuggets adventure. To be honest, these bad guys have begun to feel as if they will be needing a book all of their own—like an encyclopedia volume or similar reference book! Most of these will likely only be scary for chickens, not for children and older people. But let us know what you think!
The Chupacabra from Latin America has a taste for any small animal, and that list surely includes chickens.
Chupacabras are particularly good predators because of their tightly gripping and powerful hands and feet. Once grabbed, it is impossible for an animal to free itself and remain whole. And should it manage to twist its body around in order to bite the Chupacabra and is dropped, the fall will likely kill the poor victim, saving time and effort for the Chupacabra.
Their large ears collect even the slightest sound that its prey might make, including the sound of a heart beating from fear. This is likely why chickens are so extremely quiet when they go up to their coops as the sun is setting. Remaining still and quiet is their best strategy for remaining undetected from all of the nightly predators.
With their powerful feathered wings, the Chupacabras have made escaping by flight almost impossible for any bird. My personal guess is that they mostly use their outstretched wings for gliding silently while scanning the ground for prey.
The Lycaon is what many people would call a Werewolf, but birds prefer to call it by its historical name from Ancient Greek times. Lycaon was the King of Arcadia who was transformed into a part man and part wolf creature by the god Zeus.
Lycaon had turned his son Nyctimus into a people nugget and served him to Zeus to see if Zeus truly was an “all-knowing” god that could tell what was in the nugget. When Zeus discovered what Lycaon had done, he turned him into a werewolf who killed all of his own children, of which there were at least fifty sons, and then Zeus brought Nyctimus back to life.
If nothing else, this shadowy specter should be feared for its ability to dig its way deeply into the ear canals of its victims. Once deep in the ears and close to the brain, it plants pictures of ironic revenge.
Lycaons have a special liking for chickens and will hunt for them at night when prowling is best for a Lycaon. Like people, chickens also have ears. Though not as prominent as the “stick-out” ears of people, chickens are susceptible to thoughts of revenge towards people who turn chickens into things that chickens should never be turned into—like nuggets.
Note: Pearl did get somewhat emotional when telling me about Lycaon. All she would tell me was that the Ancient Greek story was “too close to home” for her. She would tell me later about the mysterious brother who hatched with Blanche and herself at the hatchery and how important it is for everyone to feel loved and wanted. The only Shadowy Specter that appeared to trouble her more was this next one which has no name, and that easily adds to its scariness.
As Pearl thought through these shadowy specters, she was sure there had to be more of them in the Nugget Factory and that there either had not been time for the Wren to tell her about them all or that others had not been discovered yet which would be the job of a detective like Pearl herself.
Pearl had remain mindful that even though there was scary evil out in the world, there could still be evil in her heart. It would perhaps resemble her, but would cause her to do things that she would not want to do that would displease others, especially The Great Gardener’s Son.
She knew that she had to be especially vigilant when guarding her heart, or else she might inadvertently join the shadowy specters and become a threat to others and herself. Rather than thinking about the shadowy pictures put into her mind by Lycaons and others, she would think about whatever was good and true and pleasing to The Great Gardener’s Son.
Pearl did not like spending so much time thinking about evil, but if it prevented her from turning away from good, then she believed it was time well-spent. She did not want to ruin her reputation or compromise her beautiful pure white feathers; she wanted to keep them as spotless as the day she hatched.
Until Next Time…
Your thoughts are important! We are wondering if these two books might work well together? Rather than reading about the different Shadowy Specters within the mystery book, a separate volume outside the mystery book would make a broader list of “possible suspects” without complicating the main mystery plot and could be combined with other mysteries. (We are thinking of paperback books printed in color that are approximately 64 pages in length.)
Just between you and me…the illustrations for The Shadowy Specters are almost my favorite illustrations to do because they are so “not sweet and cuddly.”
Our Best Advice for the Days Ahead: Consider what Pearl learned from studying these Shadowy Specters and be careful not to turn away from good because you may become something that is scary to people who love you and scary to yourself also!
If you have any comments—good or bad—please share them on Substack or you can also reach Pearl and me directly at our official My Girl Pearl website where you will find a “Contact” form at the bottom of the page.
Thank you for reading!
John, Gracie, Bessie, Pearl, Blanche, Emily, and Ame