Bessie

Once upon a time, there lived a cow named Bessie. Bessie was a young cow; six months in age to be exact, and she was yearning to find out what was beyond the barbed-wire fence at the far corners of the lush green pasture. She loved being with her herd, but Bessie knew that eating hay and dozing in pastures was not all that life could consist of. So she set out, after a few days of pondering where to go, for the great green expanse of world that lay beyond the open pasture gate.

She lazily ambled down the dirt and gravel farm road, her cow bell clanking loudly with each heavy "clop, clop" of her hooves. So, for three days, she walked day and night, up hills and through valleys. She saw a great many things: giant, loud metal birds, monsters that raced down the middle of the road with big, round black hooves and human beings riding inside, and connected boxes that whistled and moved around on metal bars, just to name a few.

Finally, Bessie found where she wanted to be. She had discovered her very own pasture, with no cows, humans, or monsters for miles. Tall, thick evergreens surrounded the pasture, and the changing colors of the oaks and elms made the meadow even more pleasant to spend time in. To top it all off, a cool babbling brook ran right through the middle of the land. It was what Bessie considered perfect.

Bessie spent her days grazing on the sweet honeysuckle and grass, drinking the cool, clean water and dozing on and off. She had conversations with the cardinals that frequented the area, talking about the weather or anything else that struck them as odd; she talked to geese on the way south for the winter, and Bessie even joined the nightly jam sessions that the bullfrogs held after the big yellow ball fell from the sky and the big white one came up in its place. Life in the new pasture was everything that Bessie had ever dreamed of. Then one night, as Bessie slept, two boys snuck into her pasture. Unaware of any danger, Bessie opened her eyes just long enough to dismiss the trespassers as merely passing through. As her eyelids drooped down and she began to drift off to the place where cows readily jumped over the moon for fun, she realized that the world was moving! She let out a mighty "Mooooo!" as she fell to the ground. The boys, laughing and adding another cow-tipped victim to their list, ran back in the direction that they had come. Ashamed, embarrassed, and with injured pride, Bessie stood back up on wobbly legs and shook herself off. She gathered what was left of her dignity and stood guard the rest of the night.


In the morning, she set off for home. She ambled back down dirt roads, through hills and valleys for three days and nights again, until she was safe and sound back in her birth pasture. All of the herd was happy to see her, and Bessie was happy to be back in the safety of the barbed-wire fence. She told her story to the awe-struck heifers and calves, and she became known as "Brave Cow", for her travels and adventures were like nothing any cow had experienced before. Revered by the other cows, she lived a contented life on her farm, and was happy knowing that she had finally found her place in the world.