STORY TIME

Winter had finally come, after playing around for a bit with warm days, then Jack Frost pays a visit, followed by snow.
There was not much to do these days except eat and sleep in this weather. Joseph certainly liked this time of the year.

“Life couldn’t be better, Annie.”
“Yep, that sums you up for sure, Joseph.” answered Annie.
“Hi Littles. What is the plan for today?”
“What is there to do, Havier? It is too cold to be outside.”
“That is for sure, Annie. My ears are too big for Jack Frost to hit on.” added Joseph.
“Can’t have that. You wouldn’t be Joseph without those ears. How about we have story time and each tells a story about themselves?”
“Like what we do under the Big Tree?”
‘That is right, Annie, but here in the barn.”
“Oh, Havier, let’s do it!” Annie yelled.
“Let’s gather around and Annie, you are so excited, do you want to tell your story first?” asked Jake.
“I would love to. This happened on my walk the other day. Just past the house, I saw this huge ball of fur coming up the road towards us. I looked at Eugene to see if he was concerned about this ball of fur. He was chilled as usual. After seeing his reaction, I was good. As it approached us it looked something like the white fur ball that runs in the field behind us. A few seconds later, he spots us. It was like he had been directed to respond to Ready….Set….Go! His owner, with his arms out stretched, was trying to hold him back….What do you think? Suddenly, with this tongue hanging out, we were face to face.”
“Hi! I am Atlas”, bouncing up and down. “You must be?” On that note, I took a few steps closer to Eugene as he said hello to his owner. He seemed friendly enough. I told him my name and he asked if I was from the Red Barn. I told him, yes, that was me. He said it was nice to meet me. I replied the same. Atlas was telling me that he was almost as big as me and strong. We stood there looking at one another while the humans talked. Atlas then decided to check me out, as dogs do. I had to set him straight on a few things. I looked him straight in the eyes and told him I was a donkey and a girl at that! I also told him I was strong, plus I could kick in any direction, if needed. I asked him then if he had any part of his body that he didn’t like to have touched. He told me it was his paws. I then told him it was my tail. He looked at me saying he was very sorry for invading my space. He told me that he hadn’t seen Donkeys before. Just then, Eugene said “Have a good day” and Atlas yelled, “Hope to see you again, Annie. I yelled back “remember not to go near my tail!”
“Who wants to go next?”
“I think I will.” whispered Havier.
“There are times in life that your belly keeps telling you that you are still hungry. The new round bail had arrived in the afternoon and it had a smell of sweetness. Being the last one up that night, I decided to have a closer look and torture myself a little more with the sweet smell. I knew Eugene keeps the new bails locked up until we finish the other stuff. My mouth started to water imagining how good that is going to taste. I even tried to reach it with my long neck. Not long enough. It had been pushed back against the wall as far as it would go. Just a couple of inches I would have been in heaven. I gave it one more shot….EUREKA!!!!

I couldn’t believe my eyes! Eugene had forgotten to close the bottom latch! It was nothing for me to wiggle that top latch open and seconds later I was in! I stopped for a brief minute to make sure no one had heard me. There was nothing in the air but the sound of sleep from the others. I was so excited to taste that first mouthful that I was quivering so hard from the excitement that I had to remind myself not to make any noise. I searched around for the string that held the bail together. Eugene had already taken it off…..BONUS!! Everything was stacking up as if it was telling me it was meant to be! I slithered in as close as I could to the wall just in case someone woke up. Then I started, and as time passed, the hole got bigger and bigger. I was in heaven with hay that tasted like summer. The hours passed and I kept eating until I heard, “What do you think you are doing?”

I swung around and came face to face with momma Kitty. She looked at me, and as she walked away she whispered, “You are in trouble.” I had lost all track of time. Daylight had arrived. I had hay all over the floor. Then Annie sounded the alarm which she did every time when she heard Eugene coming. All I could think about was getting back to the others. I quickly closed the door hoping that he wouldn’t notice. What was I thinking, leaving a big hole like that? I grabbed one more mouthful and left. By the time Eugene came through the door, I was where I should be. Then there was silence. I had the feeling he had seen the hole. Eugene continued getting breakfast ready for us. When he got to me, he looked me in the eye. He knew and I was BUSTED!

“Speaking of eating – it is almost supper time.” Jake said. Just then, everyone wanted to know about Havier’s story.
“Well, if it hadn’t been for the hay hanging out of my mouth……..

TO BE CONTINUED……

Hi everyone. Hope you liked these storied and next time it will be Joseph’s and Jake’s turn. We will sum up all we learned next month. Remember to be kind and stay safe, especially on the ice.

Joseph, Annie, Havier, Jake and the cats