Pearl looked over the drawings that I have drawn over the past few days about her. A look of worry and concerned came over her face.

“Whatever happened to the fiction you were working on about that boy named Nate with the chickens? Has that been published yet? You seem to have gotten carried away with what I want to do, especially with The Chicken Version of The Ancient Words that we have been working on through the Bible Book of Matthew.

“But I liked that Boy named Nate and his bear. They were best friends who shared secrets, just like Blanche and I did. That drawing of Nate and Teddy looks a lot like I feel when I think about Blanche.

“It says to me that ALL WE EVER REALLY WANTED WAS TO MATTER TO SOMEBODY.

“That is what you might call A Universal Feeling,” she said emphatically, as if she was done speaking. “Something to which EVERYONE can relate—no matter who they are, where they are, and whether they have feathers or not.”

These simple words seemed to connect everything: Nate’s motivation in the three-part unpublished series titled The Dictionary of Curious Words and Pearl’s Motivation for wanting to complete The Chicken Version of The Ancient Words.

As you may remember, Nate arrived in at his grandparent’s house and the Backyard Garden with a cardboard suitcase and a Teddy Bear.

Gradually, the Teddy Bear was replaced by his backyard garden flock of chickens. First Gracie and Bessie with Lefty and Rudy with The Emperor and The Empress (who moved to farms in the country to raise families of their own) and then Pearl and Blanche, and finally Emily and Amelia. Six extraordinary chickens, including one very special chicken named Pearl who still remains today.

PEARL’S STORY ADVICE: Stick with A Universal Feeling, and you’ll never go wrong in your writing. People want to know that they aren’t alone and how to deal with whatever makes them feel alone. Do that, and your writing will matter to somebody.

Thanks for reading,

John and Pearl