Flapping My Left Wing by Hannah Fortune

Chick knew she had a good idea. Alas, she had this idea in the middle of the night, in the throes of another bout with a persistent insomnia, and now, in the clear light of early morning, she simply could not wrap her brain around that most brilliant idea.
“It had to do with peace, world peace, something I could do to promote world peace”, Chick mused as she lay in her bed, wiggling her newly polished toes, and listening to the welcome gurgle of the coffee pot. “I could bicycle……no, not that……not swim, either…..oh, I could go on a peace walk, to Tallahassee or even Washington!” Chick had read with admiration of a young couple who had biked across the country last summer in an effort to get folks thinking and talking about the war in Iraq.
“I could do this!”, said Chick, already excited about the possibility. But could I do it alone? If she couldn’t even convince her friends to stand on the corner, undoubtedly they would not be up for a walk to Washington. Maybe one of the women from the monday group would be interested, she thought, though they all seemed to lead full lives. I’d have to eat in restaraunts at least once a day. And where would I stay? I couldn’t count on a church every night, and that means motels. I couldn’t very well camp out by myself. And how would people know I was walking for peace? I guess I could wear a sign, like the old sandwich boards……
Chick gasped. How could I have come up with that analogy?…..On a sandwich board would of course be……a chicken sandwich. Yes, there was a very real danger that someone would see her as……just a meal. The road is a scary place for a woman alone, and infinitely worse for a small chicken. Her good idea was beginning to sound not quite as good.
And, could she really afford a trip like this? Chick had a modest savings, and, though she could scarcely believe it, had begun collecting social security on her last birthday. The catch-22 here was…..how long would she live? Her savings and the interest it earned might possibly last her lifetime (barring unforseen medical catastrophes). But what if she should live on and on? And on?
One of life’s little jokes, Chick said to herself. Put something away for a rainy day, they tell you. Yes, it’s a rainy day, you run out to bring the clothes in from the line, and lightning strikes you dead two weeks after you retire. (This actually happened to an old high school aquaintance, and ever since Chick checked the sky frequently when bringing in the laundry.) So all your scrimping and saving was possibly for naught. You only live once, thought Chick, although since her study of Buddhism, she wasn’t sure if that was true.
All right, she could swing it financially, she decided. But was this walk such a good idea after all? Chick pictured her rather tiny feet trudging step after step after step, mile after mile.
“I need coffee!”, exclaimed Chick out loud. As she jumped out of bed, she felt a familiar twinge of pain in her lower back. Right, she thought. I’ll walk to Tallahassee! I’m so out of shape, I get winded walking to the corner! I’m going to start that new exercise program tomorrow, thought Chick for the gazillionth time.
She settled on her porch with her mug of coffee,slowly sipping the life-giving fluid.
If only I could drive! I could buy a van and put peace signs all over it and even sleep in it! Or I could do an art car! Or anyone of a number of wonderful things!
Her inability to obtain a driver’s license was one of the great personal frustrations of Chick’s life. Goosey is so lucky, fumed Chick, briefly consumed with jealousy toward her dear friend. Goosey was just a foot and a half taller than Chick (depending on whose foot one used), but because of her added height, she could drive. Goosey had her own bright red Mini-Cooper, outfitted with special controls, and she could damn well go wherever she pleased, even though she mostly went shopping.
But Chick was just too small. She couldn’t go on certain rides at Disney World.(She longed to ride Space Mountain). And, she couldn’t drive.
Suddenly, a light bulb, the spiraly kind, went on in Chick’s head. The bus! I’ll take the bus! The Greyhound bus! Now that was a Good Idea! A tremendously Good Idea!
I’ll wear Code Pink T-shirts and all sorts of peace buttons and I’ll pass out literature and I’ll talk to everyone, real people from all walks of life and I’ll start a blog so everyone can follow my progress and when I come back I’ll write a book and be on talk shows and NPR and I…..I’ll discover the heartbeat of America!
Chick grabbed her phone and punched in Goosey’s number. She couldn’t wait to tell her and Henny Penny! But wait she would have to, since both their phones went to voice mail. “Meet me tomorrow at 10:30 at The Cup And Saucer!”, screeched Chick excitedly into the phone. “I have a Wonderful, New, Good Idea!”
She had no doubt her friends would be there.

Next: Bus Bust