He waited in silence with no reply, so he assumed he had been abandoned. He kept yanking and pounding the door forcefully, when suddenly the door flew open. He rushed out of the bathroom and met the horrifying sight of a chicken thigh wrestling its way into Zarah’s wrapper. From where he stood, he let out a lion-like scream and lunged onto the bed, intending to pull his wife away from the chicken thigh’s grip. Instead, he felt himself lifted and slammed to the floor, and a voice said:
“Get up, gather your things, and go to another room—not this one. And never again enter a room without a human inside it. If you want company, go to Walida’s room or let her come to you.”
Despite the beating, Khalid did not give up. He shouted, “Who on earth wants to interfere between a husband and wife on their wedding night? I’m not going anywhere—let whoever it is come out and face me!”
He hadn’t finished speaking when he felt himself flung onto the ceiling fan, his legs tangled in it, his head hanging downward. Terror, pain, and helplessness overwhelmed him, and he urinated unknowingly. Seeing her husband on the brink of death, Zarah burst into tears, crying:
“Please, leave him alone—don’t kill my husband!”
Before she finished speaking, the door was pushed open and something entered. From his position on the fan, Khalid saw a gigantic chicken—so tall and huge it was about the size of a four-year-old child. His stomach churned violently as he cried out in a trembling voice:
“Oh Zarah, a chiiiiicken!”
As Zarah tried to speak, the chicken cut her off, clucking forward boldly:
“Husband of the chicken, I came myself, not by proxy. I’m taking you to consummate our marriage—or shall I come up there to you, my groom?”
Khalid raised his hands defensively. “Please go back, I swear I’m not your husband!”
Before he could finish, the chicken hopped onto Zarah’s dressing table, shaking itself as it moved toward the fan. Zarah sprang up, and the chicken thigh spoke to her:
“Zarah, cooperate with me or I’ll kidnap you.”
Seeing the chicken charging straight at him, Khalid screamed again, “Zarah, the chickeeeeen—oh no, it’s going to rape me!”
Zarah, equally frantic, shouted, “Khalid, the rooster is going to kidnap me!”
The chicken leapt onto the fan and grabbed Khalid’s arm, shouting, “My grooooom!”
