It was a sad night for both John and the prince. They were comfortable, in their cages with hay, and the witch had promised them better cages and enclosures but they missed their human lives dearly. They were bored and the churning and feelings in their bellies troubled them. Especially John. He could feel several round things in his innards and knew there would be more than one egg for the witch's breakfast tomorrow. In the early hours of the morning, he finally laid them, the sensation very different excreting waste. It was bigger, rounder and with more pressure on his cloaca. Not pain, not really, but the same as when expelling large excrements when he had been human. In the end, three round beige and white eggs were settled in the hay. John had the impulse to break them, just to spite the witch but the idea of her turning him into something even worse stopped him.
As for Damon, he had produced another golden egg, the thing big, shiny and so valuable, immensely more so than John's stupid paltry eggs. But the goose next to him looked just as miserable and was already regretting sorely his wish and his past life. Because of the clone, no one would even notice his disappearance. What would his life be like from now on? At least that commoner next to him had more chances of regaining his human appearance at some point, when the witch let go of her grudge and got tired of eating eggs. Relinquishing a goose purveyor of golden eggs? Certainly not! He was assured to remain under this ridiculous appearance for a very, very long time, indeed the rest of his life.
When the witch woke up, she first checked on her two new pets. She got elated.
"Good job my sweeties! A good breakfast and riches for me! And nice grain for you as a reward," he added with a wink.
She snatched the chicken eggs and the golden one. She placed the precious metal one in a box and made herself scrambled eggs with the others. John felt annoyed at seeing his own work profiting totally another while he would get only stupid corn grains as payment. It's not like that old hag had even laid the eggs herself! Of course, in his anger, the young man, now chicken, seemed to forget all about the many people he'd robbed and the results of others' labors he'd snatched away without remorse.
After her breakfast, the witch distributed corn to her birds and went about cleaning her floor with a broom. She then set up an enclosure outside and let the two birds run free a little. She said John would go live in the chicken coop when it was repaired a bit but Damon would always sleep inside. She added she'd get him a fine pillow for his work in laying precious eggs and to recall his former life as a prince with much comfort and many riches. While the birds got advantage of the outside, she worked on preparing various potions to sell. She let her mind wander to other matters too. First of all, what she'd do with the coins gathered from the sale of the golden eggs. How she would punish the brainless thief that had gotten away and how she could make money off of him. She also needed names for her two pets. She smiled as she settled upon a decision regarding the burglar that had gotten away. Or so he thought.