Fables: Part 3

Pineland Farms

The Sun and The Moon

The moon is shy. She likes to hide in darkness and is scared to show her face to the world. The sun, however, is the opposite. He likes everyone on Earth to see him, but he noticed the moon and thought she was beautiful, so sometimes he shines some of his light on her because he believes the world should notice her too.

The Dairy Cow

Once upon a time, a milkmaid went to the barn to feed her family's dairy cow. When she got there, she realized that the cow’s mouth was bright red. She feared that the cow may be hurt, but upon closer inspection, she realized that the cow’s mouth was covered in sweet strawberry juices from grazing amongst the wild strawberries in their field.

The milkmaid wiped the cow’s muzzle clean then began to milk the cow. To her surprise, the milk that came from its udder was not white, but instead, strawberry pink. She dabbed her finger into the pail before tasting a droplet of the milk. It tasted just like strawberries! She wondered if the cow could produce other flavors of milk, so the next day she fed the cow blueberries. The milk tasted like blueberries! The day after that, she tried blackberries, then raspberries, then bananas. The milk was different every time, tasting quite like the food the milkmaid fed to the cow.

The people at the market went crazy over her milk. They loved every flavor and begged for more, crazier flavors, so the milkmaid went home and fed the cow chocolate and carrots and cake. The cow produced so many flavors of milk and the milkmaid’s family became rich.

But one day the cow did not produce any milk at all. In fact, the cow was quite ill. The vet stopped by and checked the cow over before telling the milkmaid that the cow was sick from eating so many different types of food. The milkmaid felt quite sorry for the cow and promised to only feed it grass from then on.

The Shepherd and The Sheep

Every day a shepherd would lead his sheep across the land to the finest pastures for feeding, and every evening he would make sure to bring every one of them home, lest they be taken by a hungry wolf. But one day the shepherd fell sick, so he entrusted his flock to his son.

“Keep careful watch over every sheep, my boy,” said the shepherd. “It will be hard to see them all when the sun sets, so bring them home before then.”

The boy agreed and led the flock across the land much like his father would, but while the sheep grazed, his mind went adrift. He thought about what he might do if a wolf attacked his flock.

“Why, I must fight it,” the boy thought, but he had no weapon, so he wandered into the woods and found a heavy stick he could use as a club. He practiced his swings against a large tree until the sun began to set and he remembered that he still had to lead the sheep home.

The boy called out to the sheep and began the trek back, but the walk was long and he was weary from practicing his fighting in the woods. When the moon took the sun's place in the sky, the young boy realized he had done a poor job keeping watch over the flock.

“No bother,” the boy said assuredly. “I will count the sheep to make sure none have been stolen by wolves in my absence.” The boy squinted his eyes in the dying light and let out a large yawn. He did his best to count the sheep, but with each number, his eyes felt more heavy from exhaustion. When the boy counted the tenth sheep, he toppled over, asleep. When the boy awoke, he could not see a single sheep to count.

He returned to his sick father to tell him the news. “I am sorry, Father, for I spent so much time preparing for a wolf to attack the sheep, I lost track of them in the dark.”

The shepherd beckoned his son closer to the bed and the son surely thought he was to get a whooping, but the shepherd merely took his son's hand in his. “I felt a heavy sleep come over me,” the shepherd said, “and I thought it may be Death’s call, but I could not count my sheep to sleep and so I laid awake all night instead. Perhaps Death knew this and took my sheep instead.”

By the next day, the shepherd's fever broke, and he felt well enough to get out of bed. He and his son went to search for the flock, but they were nowhere to be found.