THE COW WHO BECAME A FRIEND
Frankie was a young boy that lived on a farm with his mom and dad. He had no brothers or sisters that he could play with, and the closest kids his age lived a few miles down the road, so he was bored most the time. He did help his father around the farm, though, and that took up some time. He helped with feeding the pigs and cows and made sure all the animals had fresh water every day. These weren’t hard jobs but they gave him something to do. While Frankie was taking care of the animals, he would always talk to them. He would also try to pet them on the head, but some of the animals did not want to be petted. They would just back up when Frankie went to pet them. There was one calf, though, that loved to have her head petted. Frankie really liked this calf, and the calf liked Frankie a lot too. Every time Frankie would come into the barn, the calf would walk over to him and nudge his arm with her nose until Frankie would pet her on the head. Frankie would talk to the calf the whole time he was taking care of the other cows and the calf stayed right by him the whole time, watching him as he worked.
One day Frankie asked his dad if it was okay to take the calf out of the stall and go for a walk. His father laughed and said, “Sure, I guess that would be okay, but I’ll tell you, I’ve never seen a calf being taken for a walk before! Make sure that she doesn’t get away from you, and if she seems like she wants to, bring her back to the barn right away.” Frankie was so excited he could take the calf out for a walk. His dad brought Frankie a long rope and told him to tie it around the calf’s neck. Frankie didn’t want to put the rope around the calf’s neck right away because he thought that might scare her, so he started to pet the calf behind her ears which was her favorite place to be scratched. Frankie talked to the calf and explained that he was going to put the rope around her neck so they could go for a walk. The calf seemed to understand, and lowered her head so Frankie could slip the rope over her head. “See, that wasn’t scary, was it?” Frankie said to the calf. Frankie couldn’t be sure, but it sure seemed like the calf shook her head up and down as if to agree with him.
“Remember,” said Frankie’s dad, “if the calf starts to get scared and acts like it wants to run away, bring her right back here.” “I will Dad, but I’m sure it will be okay because the calf knows me and we are friends. I don’t think she would try to run away from me. She knows I would never hurt her and will always take care of her.” Frankie’s dad smiled and said, “I’m sure there will be no problems. Have a nice walk.”
Frankie and the calf headed out of the barn and walked towards the house. Frankie opened the gate and the two of them walked into the backyard right up to the back porch. The calf was looking around because she had never been in this yard before. Frankie called his mom. When she heard him, she came out on the porch and couldn’t believe Frankie was standing there with a calf. “What in the world are you doing with that big dog Frankie?” Frankie laughed at his mom teasing him about the cow being a dog. “I’m taking my calf for a walk. She really likes me and I like her too, so I thought I would treat her to a nice walk around the farm.” “You know she’s not a dog, right?” his mom said. “You be careful because cows have a mind of their own and don’t always listen.” “I’ll be careful Mom,” Frankie replied.
Frankie wished he could take the calf up to see his room, but he knew that wouldn’t go over too well with his mom. As Frankie and the calf were heading out the gate, Frankie’s mom said, “Can you check the mailbox while you’re out to see if we got anything.” “Sure thing, Mom,” and Frankie turned towards the driveway that led to the road. After they got the mail, they headed over to the pond so Frankie could show the calf where he went fishing. Frankie told the calf the story about the big catfish he caught last summer while the calf drank water from the pond. “Let’s get out of this hot sun and go sit by that apple tree over there,” Frankie said pointing to a tree not too far away. He started walking towards the tree and then stopped suddenly when he realized he forgot to pick up the rope. He turned quickly with fear thinking the calf would have taken the chance to run off, but nope, the calf was walking right behind him with the rope dragging on the ground. “You didn’t run away!” Frankie said to the calf as he gave her a big hug around her neck. The calf stuck out her tongue and slobbered a big wet kiss across Frankie’s face. After that, Frankie never needed to put a rope on her neck again because she never left his side. She followed him everywhere he went.
When Frankie and the calf got back to the house after their walk, his mother told him he forgot to mow the grass. “Sorry, Mom. I’ll do that right now.” Frankie pulled the lawn mower out of the shed, then started it up. The noise startled the calf a little, but a little noise wasn’t going to keep her away from Frankie. She followed him all around the yard as he pushed the mower. Back and forth across the yard, she followed his every step. When he was done, he put the lawn mower away and just in the nick of time because he felt a few raindrops. He said, “Come on cow, we have got to get you back to the barn before it rains.” He no sooner said those words and it started to pour rain. Frankie and the calf were soaked by the time they got to the barn. Inside the barn Frankie looked for some old towels and he wiped the calf down so she would not catch a chill from the rain. He didn’t want her to get sick. He told the calf to lie down and to Frankie’s surprise, the calf did! Then Frankie laid down next to him to try to warm him up. Frankie’s dad was in the barn and saw Frankie laying by the calf. “That’s nice you are worried about that calf getting sick, Frankie, but I worry about you. You need to get into the house and put some dry clothes on before you get sick. We can’t have a sick boy and a sick calf!” “Okay, Dad,” Frankie said and looked at the calf. “I’ll be back in the morning. You get a good night’s rest and we’ll go for another walk tomorrow.” The calf shook her head again and Frankie was really starting to think she understood him.
The next day, after Frankie finished all his chores, he went over to the gate leading out to the cow pasture. He called for the calf and no sooner had he finished calling for her, when she came running towards the gate. Frankie held the gate open for her to come out, then locked it again after she walked through. Him and the calf started walking towards the house. “Frankie, you need to get a rope on that calf right away before she runs away,” said Frankie’s dad when he saw the two of them walking across the yard. “She doesn’t need a rope, Dad. She doesn’t leave my side!” “Well, if she runs away, you’ll be the one to have to go find her,” his dad said. “She won’t run away, Dad, I’m sure of it.” And Frankie was right. That calf never left his side.
Frankie went into the house to get his fishing rod and when he came out, the calf was standing right next to the back stairs waiting for him. The two of them headed down to the pond to go fishing. When they got there, the calf drank some water from the pond, then stood by Frankie and watched him fish. While Frankie was fishing, he started to sing and soon the calf laid down on the grass lulled to sleep by Frankie’s singing. The calf was sleeping for just a little bit when a little dog came over by them. The calf woke up when the dog walked around it, sniffing the whole time. The calf watched the dog, not knowing what to think because she had never seen a dog before. A minute later, a little girl came over the hill and said, “There you are Floppy !” and she came over to where Frankie was sitting.
“I’m sorry, I hope my dog didn’t bother you.” “No, not at all,” Frankie replied. “The dog just was sniffing the calf like it had never seen a cow before.” “Well,” said the little girl, “that is probably because she has never seen a cow before! We just moved out here from the city and there aren’t a whole lot of cows in the city.” “You just moved in? Are you close by?” asked Frankie. “Yes, we live in the house across the road from you.” Frankie couldn’t believe that another kid actually moved into the house right across the road. The little girl said her name was Patty and it turned out that her and Frankie were the same age and in the same grade in school too!
Patty asked Frankie what the calf’s name was and he said, “I call her cow.” “That’s not a very good name! That would be like your parents calling you ‘boy’! You need to think of a name for her. How about ‘Sweetie’ because you said she was so sweet?” Frankie said he liked that name. “Okay, from now on, her name is officially Sweetie.” Frankie asked Patty why she calls her dog Floppy and she said it was because he has floppy ears. They both laughed. “Speaking of Floppy,” she said, “where is he?” They looked around but couldn’t see the dog, but then Frankie walked over to Sweetie and there was Floppy snuggled up right next to her. Frankie whispered to Patty that he had found him and Patty walked over to where he was standing and let out a laugh when she saw Floppy and Sweetie. “I think they are going to be good friends,” said Patty. “I agree,” said Frankie.
For the rest of the summer all four of them had a great time going on hikes and fishing and swimming and rolling down hills and eating apples. Sweetie kept getting bigger and bigger, but she still acted like she was just a little calf. She would nudge Frankie’s hand all the time to be petted, and even tried to lay on his lap when he sat down. And as always, she never left his side. This was one of the best summers Frankie could remember. It was the summer he found the best pet anyone could ever want, and also met his future wife. Life was good! And Sweetie grew up to be the best milk cow out of the whole herd. Frankie’s dad said he thinks it is because she is so happy because she has Frankie and, as we all know, happy cows make good milk! So if you get an especially good tasting glass of milk, it would be a good guess that it came from a happy cow, maybe even Sweetie!
