Take these two chickens, for example. Anyone looking on could easily tell that one chicken feels great animosity for its companion, yet the second chicken seems almost unaware. In fact, she gazes into those beady eyes like they hold answers to life's questions. But nobody's buying it. That hen is playing a role- smoothing over cracks long enough that she barely notices anymore when she's being sincere and when she's really trying. Now, let there be no doubt, the rooster feels some pleasure from that gaze: Who doesn't like a little admiration, after all? Yet something irreparable has transpired somewhere in this relationship, and the feathers shall never lay quite right again.
But how do we get them back to that crucial moment? Do these chickens really have a chance at happiness now? Do any chickens?
