Ben Everwell
Cover of The Meadow Was Full by Ben Everwell: a turkey in a pinstriped suit in a gilded frame on a barn wall
Book One · The Chronicles of the Orange Turkey

The Meadow Was Full

The meadow was full. Everyone says so. Anyone who says otherwise is an enemy of the farm.

When a loud, golden-orange turkey crows his way to power on a worn-out farm, the animals are promised full troughs, softer wool and a wall of thorns that someone else will pay for. What they get is a magpie who squawks at midnight, a hedge that blows over in the wind, and a first commandment carved into the stone of the farm: Do not believe your eyes. Only Balthasar, the old donkey, remembers how this always ends.

Get it on AmazonRead the Rules of the Farm

Paperback and Kindle · 20 full-page illustrations · Book Two in preparation

The Official Rules of the Farm

As established during the reign of the Orange Turkey

  1. Do Not Believe Your Eyes.The meadow is full.
  2. The Turkey Is Always Right.If the turkey is wrong, see Rule No. 2.
  3. Every Problem Is Someone Else’s Fault.Preferably someone who has already left the farm.
  4. Walls Make Great Neighbors.Especially when the neighbors pay for them. Which they won’t.
  5. The Richest Animals Need the Most Grain.Eventually, some crumbs may reach the others.
  6. A Perfect Phone Call Is Always Perfect.Even when everyone else heard something different.
  7. Losing Is Just Another Way of Winning.The counting must have been wrong.

These rules are subject to change without notice, explanation, or evidence.
By order of the Orange Turkey.

Posted on page 79 of the book. Read the rest on Amazon →

From the Prologue

The Farm on the Brink

Grump was a heavy, unusually massive turkey with golden-orange plumage who stood a head taller than any other bird on the farm, which he had noticed and the others had noticed rather less. His crest wobbled with every step like a badly fitted blond straw nest in the wind, and his gait was an arrogant strut, almost a waddle. He could not fly. He could not pull a plow. Nobody had ever seen him peck so much as a single grain from a field. But he had mastered the one thing that all the hardworking animals had unlearned: he could crow louder than the storm.

At the back, in the shadow of the barn, stood Balthasar, the ancient gray donkey, and let his ears droop. He had seen many turkeys come and go, but in Grump’s glittering eyes he saw something new: a hunger that no grain could ever feed. He said nothing. He had learned that a donkey who speaks up is generally called an ass for having spoken.

Excerpt from The Meadow Was Full, Prologue.

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The book is a satire in the form of an animal fable and is protected as art and free expression.

  • TitleThe Meadow Was Full
  • SeriesThe Chronicles of the Orange Turkey, Book One
  • AuthorBen Everwell
  • EditionFirst edition 2026
  • Illustrations20 full-page, AI-assisted
  • LanguageEnglish; German edition: Die Wiese war voll
Coming next

Book Two: The Meadow Was Fuller Than Ever

The turkey is gone, but he has not been forgotten.

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