The Patter of Tiny Feet

I get such a kick out of the little girls at bedtime.   A number fly over the fence in the morning to free range, laying their eggs in the hay barn, and most fly back into the pen at dusk.  There are those, however, who prefer to wait until I open the gate for them to rejoin the flock.  When I go out to attend to nighttime chores, these "leftovers" come running to me like puppies, and I hear their pat-pat-pat as they follow me to the feed shed, running to keep up.  The back of that shed is up a couple of steps, and they hop up after me to make sure I get the nighttime snacks.  The other night, I got the snacks, went back to the pen, everyone went in and I shut the coop doors.  As I walked around the shed to go to the goats, I heard a chicken in distress, but where?  It seems one adventurous girl had gone into the shed after me and got herself shut in.  "Help!  Help!  It's dark in here and I'm all alone!"  Unlike Stumpy, the free-rangers don't normally let me pick them up, but this frightened hen practically leaped into my arms.  I took her back and tucked her in with the others...she now stays at the bottom of the steps.  Who needs TV for drama?