The Last Time We Hypnotised a Chook

By Tom Campbell.

“I erased the line with my bare heel. But this chook kept on looking.”

My brother and I drew a line in the dirt. We held the bird’s head, so it had to see. It looked up the line, then down the line, up, down. This was our favorite and only game that winter. I erased the line with my bare heel. But this chook kept on looking.

Up, down, up, down. 

We yelled at it, hissed at it. My Brother had the harried hands of a bed-wetter. We couldn’t make the bird stop.  Dad had to cleave its head off. He did not speak to us for three days.

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Tom Campbell is a writer from Meanjin/ Brisbane in Australia. His work has been featured in The Suburban Review Issue #32 and Urinal Mag Issue #2. He is currently working on his first novel.