The Little Lost Goat - A Children's Story

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.

Awaken - Short "pilot" Fantasy Story

Awaken

by ~Epona142

A soft whicker broke through her drowsy consciousness. Opening her eyes, she took a moment to bring the wooden roof of her small shelter into focus.

A more impatient snort this time, and a smile quirked the corner of one side of her mouth and she sat up, pushing one hand through a tangled mess of dark hair. She rubbed her eyes, stretched, then lifted herself from the sleeping mat and pushed aside the deer hide covering the hut's entrance.

The golden creature standing outside ruffled his wings and nickered again in greeting. She smiled and touched his silken nose gently before returning to the hut and reappearing with a wooden vessel filled with wild grains.

Solid hooves approached and the nose was thrust into the grain. Contented chewing sounds filled the air. She set down the bowl and let him eat, running her fingers through his satin coat, before stepping back and looking at him in full.

He shifted on his four hooves, dished muzzle still buried in his feed. A thick white mane lay across each side of his neck and down onto his back, between the tightly folded and softly furred wings. Powerful hindquarters ended in a long, thin tail, tasseled with silken white hair at the end, much like a lion's, so unlike a true horse's.

But this wasn't a true horse. Born of a horse, born of magic, born of chance, but not a horse. The woman touched his golden palomino coat again and took a moment to remember that night once more.

It had to be her favorite mare of course. She had two horses on her little farm; a light mare for the chase (hunting), and a heavier draft mare for plowing. Two more horses than most farms had. Her hunting mare had managed to get loose one late spring night and had returned to the farm days later. Goodness only knows what kind of stallion she'd met up with, but she'd met with one sure enough, and that became obvious in late winter.

The foal came late at night, delivered in their sparse shelter, in raked dirt that she had taken the time to spread out. Straw was too expensive, this was the best the woman could offer.

It wasn't until the foal scrambled to its hooves before the woman realized that something was amiss. A shocked gasp slipped through her lips and her heart sunk as she saw the thin whip like tail, the fragile legs, and most importantly, the delicate wings held tightly to its sides. His sides; a bright golden colt. A winged colt.

No one knew why or how these winged horses were born. They could be born of any mare, any time. There was no rhyme or reason to it. They were rare, perhaps one or two born a year. Most simply considered it part of this land's magic.

The Empire considered them their property.

Any winged colts that were born ended up in the Empire's hands. The Empire granted the farm that produced one a year's break from the heavy strain of taxes. This marvelous gift meant that poorer farms handed them over quite gladly and without a fuss.

Rarely, a richer merchant would try to refuse to turn over their foal. Strangely, family members would begin to disappear, or have accidents. They were never proved to be connected, but everyone knew the Empire was behind it.

And always, soon enough, the winged foal would be "gifted" to the Empire.

The Empire always got what it wanted.

The woman's fingers worked through the tangles in the mane as she continues to think about the past.

She knew from the start that she would never give the colt up. Like many farmers, she was taxed to the extreme, in debt to the Empire indefinitely, never able to get out from under them. The break from taxes would have been a wonderful boon. But her anger went deeper; she remembered vividly her beloved husband's death. Killed in a war stirred up by the Empire in a conquest to gain control of even more land. A war fueled by the strength of the poor working man, for why should the Empire sacrifice their best soldiers when they can draft the farmers?

From that day forward, the woman bore a grudge against the Empire. To consign this golden colt to their clutches made her feel nauseated.

The Empire used the winged horses in their war-mongering. They were assigned riders, trained, and spent their lives enforcing the Empire's harsh laws. Most lost their short lives in some battle or other. A waste of a miracle.

No, this would not be the fate for her colt.

The woman hid him as long as she could; there were spies everywhere, even in your farm workers. Your friends, companions, the store owner in town, any of them could be a spy.

The winged horse lifted his satin muzzle and nudged the woman with great affection, interrupting her train of thought before she could reflect once more on their daring escape in the middle of a cold night.

She smiled and tucked his delicate head into her arms and kissed his forehead. Perhaps they would go for a ride this day. He needed the exercise. And perhaps, one day soon, he would be ready to spread those magnificent wings of his, and take to the sky, and take her with him...

- Want to read more about these characters? Comment and let me know!

Writings

Boy its been a rough few days.

First, we get slapped with a nasty rainstorm. It clears up for a couple of REALLY NICE days, then bang! Rain again!

Seeing as my roof STILL leaks, you can imagine I'm not too pleased about it. And the goats even less so. I always feel so bad because they have a pretty crappy shelter. It works, they stay dry and out of the wind, but they still deserve better. And soon they'll have it, with a much larger pasture to boot.

Everyone is doing great, the cocci treatment went well and everyone seems to be growing in leaps in bounds. Baby especially. She is much larger than Hope's twins and is nearly as large as one of my weaned doelings, although dear Isis is from a VERY small doe and will likely grow to be my smallest doe, even smaller than Rudy.

Speaking of cocci medicine. To anyone who owns animals, you know better than to taste something unidentified right?

Well poor husband goes digging through the cabinets, and finds the bottle of mixed cocci medicine.

And takes a taste!

What a goofball! He was quite displeased, and I just told him, "Well, at least now you won't have cocci, right?"

That and who the heck drinks something that's sitting next to the goat's Power Punch, Nutri-Drench, Pro-bios, Corid, and dewormer?

Duh.

Other than that, things are going by the usual way. We are feeling a little pinched, but we're making it and in time it will ease up I think. I wish I could help my poor brother find a job, but until we get a second vehicle and he gets his license, his options are pretty limited right now. I know how tough it is to be sitting around not contributing, but he's done a real good job helping around the house, pulling up old tack strip and helping me get some other stuff done as well.

All things, in time.

I've started working on a short story, perhaps I will post it here. Would you just be interested in reading? I once really aspired to be a novelist, I even wrote several well done (for my age anyways) novels before they became lost.

It's fiction, and about a wolf family, so I don't know how interesting that would be to you guys. Let me know.