It's eerily silent today

It's amazing how pleasant the sounds of happy animals are, and how much we miss them when they're gone. Normally, throughout the day we'll hear the rooster and cockerels having crowing contests, the hens clucking proudly when they lay their eggs, the guineas trilling or squawking as the group wanders the garden in search of bugs, the goats' bells ringing as they play about. Today, except for some crowing with the sunrise, the birds have been silent. There are no hens clucking. The one remaining guinea is sitting dumbly under a small shelter in the garden. Even the goats are moving so carefully their bells hardly ring.

The smell of blood is still in the air.