As a response to Crimson’s Creative Challenge, I wrote this.
Click here to hear the writer read his words:
The Wee Goat
‘Mum, I can’t find him!’
Little Abigail is in a panic, running around the yard searching for her favourite goat.
Lionel’s the closest thing she has to a pet, to a friend, but even on the smallest farm a tiny goat can always find a place to hide.
‘Have you milked the cows,’ her mother calls.
‘Not yet,’ she cries, ‘I’m still looking…’
‘The cows can’t wait,’ her mother insists, her voice telling the child the discussion is over. ‘You know the rules, girl.’
Abigail finishes her chores then goes inside.
‘Dinner’s ready, so wash your hands, then come to the table,’ says her mother. ‘Doesn’t this look good? See, we’ve got paper hats and crackers! Merry Christmas, sweetheart!’
Abigail climbs excitedly onto her chair, then her smile disappears.
‘That doesn’t look like a turkey.’
I’m told goat meat is very good; I’ve never tried it. Goat’s milk/cheese, though, that I do like
His name was Jerry!
Um, I’m a city boy by birth, but I think in Scotland oor coos are lassies! Or did Jerry self-identify as a laddie, hmm?
I just didn’t know what else to call him- is he a bull a steer what’s the difference between those two anyway! hehehehe
Crazy lady! If he is indeed a him, he’s a bull, unless he has lost his dangly bits, in which case he’s a steer who sings falsetto. If he’s a she, she’s a heifer until she’s a mum, then she’s a coo.
Uffda! The brutality of necessity on the small farm!
I love ‘Uffda!’, I guess that’s USspeak for ‘Ooyah’ or ‘Jings’!
(Kind of a MN Midwest Norwegian thing) ⛄️🐧❄️
Didn’t know that’s where you are ((or from?) Currently watching Season 3 of Fargo, with Ewan McGregor, from Perth in Scotland, talking with a (supposed) Minnesota accent. Man, a lot of folk got killed there in the first seasons!
Yah, we Minnesotans are sooo tuff. I’d love to hear Ewan (💚) with an exaggerated MN accent. Dreamy, fer sure!
You get two for the price of one, he plays two brothers, very different guys!
❤️
Ugh! This has got to be such a hard thing doe a child. I saw a cow i knew on a first name basis being prepared for butchering- and it put me off meat for a long time. Wonderful story telling as always.
Sorry, Jodi, I can’t help laughing at ‘a cow I knew on a first name basis’!
Did it call you ‘Moo-dy Jodi’?
Glad you enjoyed regardless.
And so little Abigail learns her first life lesson – big people are not to be trusted, no t even at Christmas.
Craftily done though.
Jings, Jenne, so cynical for one so young…
I hate to say it, but I’d much prefer goat to turkey for Christmas……
No, Margaret, you don’t hate to say it, you enjoy being controversial!
Enjoy your Lionel and the rest of the festivities!