One year I had a group of 5 chicks hatch. Their names were Ulani, Brooke, Xylia, Willow, and Paige. Sadly Paige was born with a bad leg. Nothing I tried seemed to work and i would only cause her pain so I stopped. It didn't stop her from moving around though. Paige was a pale yellow with white specs outlined in black and light brown. She was the most beautiful chicken I had ever seen and the only one I've seen with her looks.

Right from the beginning I felt a bond between us. When her and her brothers and sister were old enough to be outside, I would hang out with her everyday. Every time I came home from school she would be waiting in the front yard by the house for me. When I got her, she would hop to me wanting to be picked up. I would tell her that I would after I put my stuff in the house and when I came back she would be waiting for me.

I would carry her around all over the yard with me and I would talk to her about everything. She would just tilt her head and look up at me every time I talk as if she was listening. Sometimes I would walk up my road with her in my arms.

Everyone who meet her fell in love with her.

On the first snow day of the year in December that year, 4 months after she was born, I went out to take care of everybody. I was happy because there was no school. That was until I opened the coop door and found Paige laying dead by the water dish. I numbly took care of everyone and picked her up and began to cry.

For 2 months I cried myself to sleep missing her like crazy and feeling as though something was painfully ripped out of me.

To this day I still think about her. I even had the stone of my school ring as her birth stone. I will never forget all the times we had together. She will always be in my heart.