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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Cow Wishes

The scent of sizzling bacon greeted Fred as it did every morning, nothing changes.  He paused as he walked into the kitchen and glanced over at his wife Martha.  He hurriedly went out the door towards the dairy barn. He could hear Martha yelling after him.

“Don’t dilly dally milking those cows. And don’t you bring dirt in on your shoes again.”   Nag, that is all she ever did Fred thought. In forty years of marriage they never had a decent conversation.  How he envied those men who had wives who would talk and listen to them.

Fred reached the old red barn as the golden sunbeams danced their morning dance with the horizon. The old oversized door opened with a lazy creaking sound.  Clover, his oldest Guernsey looked up as he entered the barn.  Hooking her up to the milking machine he looked into Clover’s big brown eyes.

“Well old girl you always listen to me.  I wish you loved talking to this old man and I wish old Martha would just shut up and never speak again.”

“Fred I always love listening to you.  I look forward to our early morning conversations.”  Clover said with a twinkle in her eye.

Fred shook his head in amazement.  “I must be crazy.  Are you talking to me Clover?”

“Silly man, of course I am.  You wanted me to talk to you.  I am a magic cow, I’ve granted your wish.  We have had a rather close relationship over the years, this can bring us closer.”

Fred stood in shock, shaking his head in disbelief staring back at the cow.  He turned and ran to the kitchen to tell Martha.   When he entered he saw the frying skillet on a grease-covered floor and Martha standing holding her throat with a terrified look on her face.  She looked at him, her face pale as a ghost and mouthed silent words; I can’t talk formed on her lips.

Next day the scent of sizzling bacon greeted Fred like every morning, but things change.   Fred whistled a happy tune as he walked with a little jump in his step.  He smiled and nodded to Martha as she stood silently cooking breakfast.

“On my way to the barn.   I’ll be as long as I like.”

Fred entered the barn with eagerness as the cock sitting on the fence crowed at morning’s first light bring in the new day.

“Good morning Clover my dear.” Fred cheerfully greeted the brown cow.

“Good morning to you Fred, I hope you slept well.  I missed you.”  Clover said with a flutter of her big brown eyes.

“Oh Clover, I missed you too.  I wish you were my wife and we could talk all day every day,” Fred said has he put his arms around the cow’s neck.

Martha wondered what was taking Fred so long with the milking today; he had been gone for hours.  She went out to the barn, but he was nowhere to be found.  The milking machine had never been hooked up and the cows were looking at her with a restless eagerness.

Clover was not in the stall where she was kept.  Martha heard strange sounds from the back of the barn and headed toward the noise.  Clover stood in the back work area and looked up at Martha with a startled expression.   Martha looked and then looked again at the huge dark form at the back of the barn.

“Now where did that big black bull come from?”

© 2008 Eileen A Partak

1 comment:

Holly said...

I love this! You should send this one in for sure. It is great Leen!