Holy Cow

10 I AWAKE

I don’t know how long I was out. It couldn’t have been that long, because the Box God was still talking about “meat,” which by now I know is animal flesh-cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, dogs in some countries (hey, if you’re gonna eat me, why not eat a dog?), monkeys, deer, bear, ostrich, ants-you get the picture. The list goes on and on. Humans will eat almost anything if you put a little salt and butter on it. And the butter is made from our milk. Makes me feel oddly complicit and guilty.

As I was coming to, I noticed everything had changed. Yes, it all looked the same-even though now the clouds had cleared and the moon glowed like a new quarter in the heavens, but for the first time, I could make out a face in the moon, the so-called man in the moon, and his mouth was open and his eyes were wide in horror and disbelief. I could smell the grass, which had always been such a comfort to me and reminded me of my mother, but there was a sour taste in my mouth, like bile, that was ruining any scent. I did not like the world and wanted only blackness and silence. I wanted to get away from these humans and their Box God and their endless consumption of things.

On unsteady legs, I started back up the hill to the barn. I don’t know how long I’d been gone-an hour, three hours, five minutes, a lifetime?-but when I got back, all the animals were still asleep. Except for Mallory, who was standing there with a huge smile on her face.