Who Was The Real “Lucky the Chicken?”

The story behind a story can be more extraordinary than the story itself, which was the case with “Lucky The Chicken” published in Cat and Mouse Press’s anthology Beach Secrets.  When Nancy Sakaduski, Cat and Mouse Editor and Publisher, first announced the anthology’s theme in the winter of 2021, I struggled to put together something I felt workable as a short story.  In fact, I had abandoned three stories before my wife and I attended a dinner party with friends Vicky and Greg Wagner where they set me on a new and promising course.

Vicky and Greg described their rescue of a chicken having fallen from a poultry truck in Lancaster, PA— instant premise.  I adapted their experiences to a Rehoboth Beach setting, added some family dynamics, injected some HOA and police drama, adapted a high-stakes encounter with a predator, and Lucky found a new life on the page.  Several months later, Vicky and Greg happened to be standing on a fishing pier about a hundred feet from my wife and I when Nancy called to congratulate me on the inclusion of “Lucky the Chicken” in Beach Secrets.

The story’s publication became an experience we shared for the next several months.  Many of our conversations involved mentions of Lucky and her adventures, real and fictionalized.  Lucky’s story took on even more meaning when Greg passed away unexpectedly five months after receiving the congratulatory call on the pier.  Lucky’s story became an unexpected and personally important tribute to Greg and his life with Vicky.