Rosa the Sandpiper meets Rosa the Chicken

Rosa entering her nest after meeting Rosa the Chicken.

Neither bird was quite sure what to make of the other. Separately though, Rosa the Jewish Sandpiper was devastated that she wasn’t the only person in the world named Rosa, while Rosa the Chicken was delighted to meet another bird with the same name.

After looking each other intently for a few seconds, Rosa the Sandpiper turned to her sister Julia and asked, “why would someone name another bird after me?”

Rosa the Chicken clucked with delight and tried to walk slowly up to Rosa the Sandpiper and put her wing around her, aiming to tell her they could be the best of friends. But Rosa the Sandpiper took a step back. She had never met a chicken before. Even a Chick-fil-A chicken! She didn’t know they looked like Rosa the live Chicken and certainly didn’t realise they had wings, even though they couldn’t fly.

Finally, after summoning up all the courage she could, she posed a question to Rosa the Chicken. “Why did they name you after me?”

Of course that threw Rosa the Chicken for a loop. “Why do you think that?” she asked again trying to move closer to Rosa the Sandpiper who she felt a kindship with. But Rosa the Sandpiper took another step backwards.

“Well,” replied Rosa the Sandpiper a little haughtily. “It has to be, because I am THE only Rosa!”

“My parents did,” replied Rosa the Chicken who was beginning to get a slight complex because Rosa the Sandpiper kept stepping backwards away from her.

Rosa the Sandpiper snickered and looked around for someone other than her sister who stood there with a smile on her face. But there was no one else around. “I think we need to go home,” she finally said rather sadly.

Rosa the Chicken was gleeful. “Can I come with you?”

“No!” replied Rosa the Sandpiper abruptly, which made Rosa the Chicken jump. She hung her head and then with a slightly morose cluck turned and sauntered off.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Julia had to say something.

“You’re right,” replied Rosa, “that wasn’t nice for her parents to name her after me without asking.”

Julia knew there wasn’t any more to be said on the matter and walked slowly with her sister back to the nest.

It had all begun a little earlier in the day when Rosa and Julia decided to walk along the beach in search for something exotic which Julia could add to that night’s dinner. They had been gone about an hour or so when they came face to face with another bird they had never seen before. At first, they were a little puzzled because it didn’t look like a Falasha or a seagull or any other bird they had ever seen.

Rosa being the more friendly of the two sisters was the first one to say hi. The chicken for her part had never seen a sandpiper before but was pleased as she was a little lost. Her owners had left her in their truck while they went fishing in the inlet for crabs, but she had hopped out of the back as she was getting hungry. She had never walked on sand before. At first she panicked as the sand was wet and clumped between her toes. Soon though she got used to it and then finally began skipping as the water splashed as she did so.

After about an hour or so of walking around and experiencing different types of food, she came face to face with the two Sandpipers. “I’m Rosa,” said an excited Rosa the Sandpiper, “and this is my sister, Julia.”

At first the chicken was somewhat taken aback meeting another bird with her name, but then eagerly replied. “I’m Rosa too!”

Not letting that sink in Rosa then asked, “Are you Jewish?”

“What’s that?” replied the Chicken.

Julia who couldn’t help it piped in, “are you Kosher?”

The chicken again didn’t answer but was eager to make a new friend. “I came with my humans and they are over there fishing for crabs.”

“That’s illegal!” replied Julia immediately.

“What’s illegal?”

“Never mind,” Rosa the Sandpiper added and then stood there wondering what to do next. “Are we sisters?” the Chicken asked.

Rosa the Sandpiper turned to her sister, “I think chickens are stupid. Maybe I should eat more of them!”

Rosa the Chicken panicked for a second believing that’s her life was in peril, but Julia reassured it. They had never seen a live chicken before. “The only chickens we see are those cut up in packets at the supermarket.”

Rosa the Sandpiper decided she didn’t want to share her name with anyone else, and especially not a dumb chicken. It was time for her to leave. She had to get in a final word though. “Julia here is a great cook. You should try her chicken casserole some day. Maybe we should invite you for dinner the next time you make it onto the island.”

It was then that the fight or flight instinct kicked in. The chicken wasn’t quite sure it was strong enough to take on two sandpipers at once, so she tried a different tactic. She decided to make friends and thus attempted to put her wing around Rosa the Sandpiper.

Later that evening, when they were finally back in their nest, Rosa related the meeting with the chicken to her parents, who were enthralled. Neither of them had ever seen a live chicken and especially one named Rosa.

“Is it still around?” asked Sybil, but Rosa truthfully told her parents that it had decided to leave when she invited her over to try Julia’s chicken casserole. George was amused by his youngest daughter’s nerve, while Sybil, was horrified. “Of course she wouldn’t come over. Maybe she thought she would end up in the pot.”

“That’s what I told Rosa,” said Julia who was also alarmed by her sister’s audacity. Rosa shrugged her shoulders and walked out onto the deck and plopped herself in her father’s lounge chair. She closed her eyes and let the sun’s evening rays warm her body.

The rest of the family remained inside the nest debating what had happened and the way Rosa had handled it. George was amazed at what he called ‘Rosa’s gunboat’ diplomacy, while Sybil felt she should’ve been more accepting. But the bottom line was that none of them wanted to eat chicken ever again.

However, that only lasted a couple of hours until Julia went to check on the dinner she had placed in the crockpot hours earlier.

“What’s for dinner?” shouted Rosa walking indoors knowing full well what Julia had put in the crockpot earlier that morning.

“Shakshuka!” lied Julia. Rosa stopped. She loved shakshuka, but only the tomato base.

“Do you think,” she asked quietly so no one else could hear, “do you think that Rosa the Chicken lays eggs?”

“Oh, I doubt,” replied Julia quietly, “I don’t think any bird named Rosa lays eggs, do they?”

Rosa thought for a second and then snickered. “Of course not, because I don’t.”