Doctor Frank whisked a few raw chicken legs out of the bucket and popped them into his portable cooler-bin. He had taken to bringing it to work with him each day for just this reason. He made very sure to check all the daily stock to find the absolute best pieces. He would never consider using sub-standard stock. Not for this project.
Working at a fried chicken joint was not the turn Doctor Frank had expected his life to take. But his Home-Built Pets business hadn’t taken off quite the way he hoped, and there were some outstanding legal fees to do with a missing body from a morgue. Nonsense really. But still, Doctor Frank found himself in need of income, and the chicken joint found itself in need of a fry cook.
At the end of his shift, Doctor Frank waved to Marcus, the manager, and headed out, pleased with his day’s haul. As always, Marcus waved back, but made no comment on the cooler bin. Most people seemed to prefer not to ask why Doctor Frank carried a cooler around with him most places. He wasn’t sure why.
Once at home, Doctor Frank began unboxing the pieces, laying them out in careful arrangement on his workbench. This was always the best part; going through the stock to find just the perfect piece. When he came across two legs of matching size he squirmed with excitement and set them carefully aside.
A strange barking meow came from the floor, and Doctor Frank’s pet catrus trotted over. It sniffed his leg and smooched against him, accidentally grazing him with one of its large tusks. Doctor Frank chuckled and bent down to give the catrus a scratch on the head.
“Are you excited, Fluffy? You’re going to have a friend soon.”
The catrus bark-meowed again, then waddled off to the bathroom. Doctor Frank heard a splash a moment later, signally Fluffy had jumped into the tub for a swim.
Chuckling to himself, Doctor Frank turned back to his project and began assembling his creation. He really thought this was going to be a good one.
When he was done, the reassembled chicken balanced on all four stout, little legs, quivered its whiskered nose, blinked, and looked up at him. It didn’t really look like the chickens on the front of the restaurant where he worked, but Doctor Frank thought that was probably ok.
The creature cheeped once and shook itself, as if to ruffle its feathers. However, the poor creature didn’t have any. It stood there, bald and pink, and shivering slightly in the refrigerated lab.
Suddenly worried about his new little darling, Doctor Frank scooped up the creature and hurried into the other room. There, he dug through drawers and cupboards until he found what he was looking for. Taking the scissors, Doctor Frank cut a hole for the creature’s head, and one for its long tail, and the then pulled the tea-cosy down over it.
The creature cheeped again, nibbled at the rainbow wool that covered it, then looked up at Frank.
With a little hop of joy, Doctor Frank scooped up his new pet again. “Don’t worry, I’ll make you a proper fur coat soon, just like Fluffy. But for now, I think I’ll call you Cuddlepie.”
FlashFictionMonth day 9!
Wordcount: 549
Theme: mad experiments
Today sees the return of another old favourite, Doctor Frank. To find his previous exploits, check out the below:
Body Building
C. A. Harland 