30 Days: "How the Cow Jumped Over the Moon"

How the Cow Jumped Over the Moon.
by Brieanne Gerritsen

Annabelle was tired of being like the other cows, chewing grass all day and never being invited to parties. She would listen outside of the barn in the evenings when the Cat would play her fiddle and the other animals would gather to eat and dance. Cows were thought to be boring, so they didn't get invited anywhere, and none of them cared about being left out - except Annabelle.

She decided to learn a couple of things to make her seem more interesting: to cook and to ski. The first one seemed easy enough, and she went to Olli Rabbit for help.

Olli was a gourmet chef and he agreed to teach Annabelle his secrets. Under Olli's tutelage, she became an excellent cook and at the completion of her training, she received from Olli a beautiful serving set containing a plate, cup and matching utensils. Annabelle was grateful and carried the set with her wherever she went in a saddlebag that slung over her back.

Unfortunately, Annabelle realized that learning to ski would be more difficult. It was early summer and skiing would be out of the question for many more months. She pondered her options and decided to go see the barnyard dog, Bernie.

Bernie pondered for a bit and then took her to the barn where a canoe lay in storage. He thought it might be possible for Annabelle slide down a hill in it, thus seeing what it was like to stand on skis.

Annabelle agreed to give it a try and spent hours pushing the canoe to a hill, arriving just as dusk approached. She stepped into the old canoe and expected a rather slow and bumpy decent. However, through the course of dragging it across the farm, the bottom had become coated in a mixture of mud and manure. The canoe slid rather well down the hill covered in wildflowers and weeds. Annabelle let out a scream as she and the canoe slid down the hill, gaining speed by the second.

The moon was now a few inches above the horizon and Annabelle in the canoe hit a particularly nasty rock and was launched into the air. It was at just the right viewpoint that it appeared to the other animals that Annabelle flew right over the moon and they gasped in awe. Bernie was laughing to the point of tears at such a ridiculous sight.

Fortunately, Annabelle landed uninjured in a haystack at the bottom of the hill. A dish and spoon had fallen from her saddlebag and had rolled and skipped down the hill after her. And in the quiet moonlit night, the sound of a fiddle wafted across the countryside.

Now Annabelle stays in her field chewing grass all day, except for when the animals gather to play. Who wouldn't invite the inventor of the delicious Hay Diddle Dish and the most recognized cow in the state. She's always the hit of the party.

Copyrighted by Brieanne Gerritsen, 2009; author retains all rights to the story.