Barmy Bulls and Birthdays

A short story from my cousin, James!

***

The big day had arrived. And someone, more than any animal on the farm was feeling the pressure. That dog was Sheila. And as the second oldest dog on the farm, boy, she was feeling a lot of it, as well as a morsel of fear. Not very common in Sheila but this was an exception.

The whole farm would be counting on her to perform exceptionally well on this big day and they certainly had great expectations. To say she was worried would be a huge understatement indeed.

This was the day of the Sheepdog Trials. Many dogs representing their home farms would be there too, not just Sheila. The whole farm would be watching her.

As she sat in the old, aged Land Rover’s boot she stared nervously through the big window as the vast, colossal world flew by with ease on this lovely and slightly breezy day.

Sooner than she expected, the vehicle trundled to a stop. She had many visions and daunting thoughts about this almost overwhelming event. The human walked out slowly and said a few things only humans can understand. Who knows what they were saying? Sheila didn’t as she looked around.

She and her master stopped suddenly beside a post in the field. There was a small breeze of cold wind passing though Sheila’s ears, which only added to her dreading of the event. There was some reassurance though, as the sheep were tired from many hours of frantically running about, so her job would be fairly easy.

“Sheila of Greenhill Farm is our last entrant!” boomed the speaker nearby. Sheila then moved into position and got to work. The sheep cooperated very well with her and listened very carefully. She was making great progress.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Hank the white bull stood in his field, alone.On his birthday.

He was rather lonely as he stood and looked at his cake, his card and a few balloons. Everyone was busy watching the trials on television and had completely forgotten about Hank. He wished he could be noticed. Then, he had an idea...

Nearby, from a distance, Pip noticed Hank leave his field. She was very surprised by this and thought something odd was going on, and decided to follow him. He was heading towards the trial. By now, the distance between the animals had grew, so Hank never really noticed Pip who had found a place with a good view – a rather tall old box. She did know however, that Hank was eyeing the event nearby.

Before Pip was to do anything Hank ran down the hill. He ran and ran and was very agile, as well as rough. He burst through the fence like a bulldozer in the field which the Sheepdog Trials were held this year. The sheep were shocked and ran about with panic, causing chaos, and also leaving Sheila in shock somewhat. Although Sheila wasn’t perhaps considered a friend in quite the same light as the other dogs were (Jack, Ben, and Fly) she was still a teacher to an extent for Pip and as a fellow dog, needed helping. But what could she do? As fast as she was, Hank was relentless and almost unstoppable. But she still would keep on running

Meanwhile much nearer to the field was Ben, who had been watching the event for a while, but then was left pondering what to do as in his world, the best entertainment can come from a toy. However no Kongs were nearby so he instead decided to entertain himself with a random thick rope which he had tied from one end of the stone walls to the other, also using sticks. He was then staring at it and heard something.

It was an increasingly loud noise of hooves approaching. He knew that Hank was not far off so he hid behind the bush. Maybe this would work, he thought. He hid behind the bush and waited. Then out of nowhere he saw Hank run. Despite, having been almost unstoppable, Hank was still using all of his remaining energy. Pip, who had finally caught up with him had sneaked behind Hank and wondered if she should bite him. She decided it was for the better, so she gave him a quick bite in the leg. Hank was startled by this sudden nip and ran and ran, then tripped over the rope Ben had set up. Thud!

After all this chaos had been finished, Hank was returned safely to his field, while Sheila, as Hank had hindered her time unfairly, was given a rerun, and she did really well, and went on to claim 1st prize. The whole farm was proud of her, and she thanked Ben reluctantly.

THE END

WRITTEN BY JAMES