Once upon a time, there was two sister goats who lived in a herd of goats in a big pasture with a lovely red barn. Their owner, a kindly lady, would come out every morning and give them delightful things to eat.
One day, a new person came to the farm and looked at all of the goats. The sister goats were shy and hid behind their older friends, but it wasn't enough. They were picked out from all of the other goats and loaded into a strange truck.
One sister, a red and white little goat with long ears, said sadly to her sister, "We're surely going somewhere strange."
The other sister, a gold goat with tiny ears said, "We are going to a new home indeed."
The sister goats didn't much like leaving their herd and pasture and little red barn. They especially did not like leaving their kindly owner. However, they knew from their older goat companions that sometimes goats went to new homes. It was just the way things were.
They arrived at their new home and were put into a little pen. Stranger goats came up to the fence and demanded to know who they were. Giant strange creatures with long noses and hairy tales and solid hooves snorted suspiciously. The sisters cowered against the other side of the pen, so sad they were to be in this unfamiliar place.
The red goat hung her head and maa'ed, "Oh Yumi my friend, we are not in our nice pasture anymore."
Yumi, the gold sister, shook her head, "No we are not, Gypsy. But we don't have to stay here."
Gypsy looked at her sister in surprise, unsure of what she meant.
Yumi jumped onto a little house and proclaimed, "We will have babies in the spring, this much I know. Let's get out of here and see the world, instead of being stuck in this strange place."
And with that, she leaps over the fence and into freedom!
Gypsy perked up her long ears and scrambled to follow her sister. They stood in the yard for a long moment, then turned their noses to the wind and ran, their long legs bouncing through the short grass.
"Where . . . oh where shall we go?" Gypsy exclaimed.
Yumi flicked her goat tail, "Follow me. We shall have many adventures."
They ran and ran, almost a whole mile. Here there was a long road and strange houses. They were standing, deciding which way to go, when suddenly some strange dogs ran out, barking at them!
They cried out in fright and sprang to run, going across the road. The dogs were very big and mean, not at all like the dogs at their original home. Yumi and Gypsy became seperated, and the dogs chased poor Gypsy and trapped her within a little garage.
Yumi hid in the woods, trembling, and watched in horror, certain that her sister would be eaten alive in front of her eyes. But luck was with little Gypsy this day. A man came out and rescued her and carried her away to a little pen where she was safe from the big dogs.
Gypsy cried for her sister, but Yumi was too afraid to go close; the dogs were still there and very scary.
She hid in the wooods for some time, finally falling asleep under the leaves.
She was awoken by more barking! The dogs had found her and were coming for her again!
Yumi jumped up and raced away, heart beating fearfully hard, afraid at any moment to be caught by the big mean dogs and bitten.
She ran and ran and ran without looking back. She crossed roads and ran past houses. She did not stop until it began to rain. Once the rain came, Yumi found a bush to hide under, breathing hard and looking around. The dogs had gone and she was safe . . . for now.
She was getting terribly wet from the rain, and she hated it. She missed her nice red barn. Even the little house in her new home would have kept the rain out of her fur. And her poor sister! Yumi hoped that she was staying safe out of the rain. What would happen to her?
It rained for much of the night and part of the next day, so Yumi stayed under the bush and tried to sleep.
The sun finally peeked out again, and Yumi ventured out and nibbled on some leaves. To explore the world, you had to stay strong and eat well. She wandered here and there, looking for the best plants to eat.
It was nearing nightfall when she stumbled across some wild pigs feeding on acorns in the woods. They snorted angrily at her, and one large one even chased her! Running away, Yumi exclaimed in dismay, "Oh, how cruel this world can be!"
Suddenly the little pen with the little house didn't seem so bad after all. Yumi galloped across a wide road, narrowly being missed by a loud vehicle, then stopped on the other side, shivering. She very much wished she could return home, or even to her new home, but she did not know which way to go.
She picked a direction in the hopes of being right, and walked that way.
She walked and walked for many days, stopping here and there to find good things to eat, or a sheltered place to sleep. She was alone and frightened. What would happen to her babies if she never found home again? Would she ever see her poor sister?
Yumi lost count of the days and nights she wandered about, going steadily in one direction. It rained several more nights, and often she found herself soaked through the fur and shivering. Never before had she suffered so, and she was terribly afraid of catching a cold. Who would take care of her if she was sick?
Then came the worst night of Yumi's life. She was hiding under a little tree, exhausted from a day's travel, when she heard a frighting noise. It sounded much like dogs, but she could smell something that made her very bones tremble. She shrank as much as she could, holding as still as possible. What new horror could this be?
The strange dog-like creatures walked by, tan colored fur thick against the cold. There were three, much larger than Yumi and smelling of the Wild unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She dared not make a single peep, for if they discovered her, she was certain it would be her demise at long last.
The coyotes, for surely that was what these creatures must be, continued on their way. By some miracle, they had not scented poor tiny Yumi on the wind, and she had not moved or made a single sound. She escaped their clutches, but how long could her good luck last?
Yumi knew now that she would never find her home on her own. She had to seek out help. But who could she trust?
It was early morning when Yumi finally ventured out of hiding and approached some tiny people, children, playing in a yard. She put on her friendliest face and maa'ed at them, "Please help me, I am lost!"
The children petted her, and she closed her eyes with happiness. How wonderful it was to find such kindness! They said many things to each other, and then brought old an older person, who picked her up and placed her with some chickens. She gazed through the fence at him imploringly, and was rewarded with a handful of grain.
She bleated her thanks. "Please, please help me find my way home!" she begged.
Night came and went, and the gentle man gave her more feed, which was very good to feel in her stomach. The chickens were interesting, but said nothing that made sense to her. How sorely she missed her sister and other goats.
Suddenly, her tiny ears caught a familiar sound and she ran to the fence. Could it be true? Was that really her new owner, who had taken her to the new home? It was!
The new owner patted her gently and put a rope around her neck, then placed her in the same truck she had rode in before to go to her new home. Yumi's heart swelled with joy, and she called out, "Thank you, thank you!"
It was quite a long ride home! Yumi marveled at how far she had come, obviously in the wrong direction. When her new home came into sight, her little legs trembled. Oh how wonderful it was to see now. It may not be her home pasture and little red barn, but it was her new home, to be appreciated now in a way she could not before.
Yumi's new owner carried to back to the little pen, and she yelped in joy as she spotted none other than her sister!
"Yumi, Yumi is that really you?" Gypsy hopped up against the fence for a better look.
"Gypsy, I'm so glad you're here!" Yumi was set down on the ground and she ran to her sister, sniffing her long ears with happiness.
Gypsy danced a little goat jig and exclaimed, "We never thought we would see you again! Our owners have been terribly sad, searching and searching for you!"
Yumi looked a little embarrassed, and shuffled her hooves, "How did you get back home, sister dear?"
"The man who saved me from the dogs must have brought our new owner over to see me, and she brought me back home. It's much better here, safe from dogs and the rain, and the goats here really are quite nice. Even the ponies are okay. There is good food and much room to run. It is a good place."
Yum lowered her head and said softly, "I agree. It was foolish to run away. I am grateful to be here now, and I hope our babies love and appreciate it too, when it is time for them to be born."
The two sisters slept together that night, and every night afterward, content in their new home.
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