The Death of the Last White Male

摘要

The death of the last white male occurred on the very first day of the Chinese New Year, and to make matters worse, it was the Year of the Cock. When Grace discovered the lifeless body, she was filled with foreboding. He was a Silkie, a magnificent bird with showy snow-white plumage, and sapphire blue cheeks, and a powder puff on the top of his head. His name was Gorgeous, but mostly they just called him "The Gimp" on account of the limp he had acquired in a battle with his predecessor, Bootsie, who had been the king of the roost until he died of a mysterious flu-like illness. They had put The Gimp in charge then, and he took over running the white hens, but he was never quite up to the job, possibly due to his crippled leg. He could never quite get on top of things, Grace complained, and after he took over, the number of fertilized eggs dropped precipitously, as did the number of new white chicks. In fact, the survival of the entire white population had been looking iffy for some time now.