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“Grayson” my mom’s voice sounds urgent. “Your dad got his cow stuck in the ditch. I don't know how it happened but you need to come helps him before he gets himself kicked or something.”
I can’t help it, I let out a full-on belly laugh.
“This isn’t funny Grayson; I can’t help him.” I can hear her voice getting a little airier as I catch my breath.
“Oh my gosh. His cow is stuck?” I chuckle a little more.
“Yes,” she says calmer “I really don’t know how it happened.
“Alright. I just got done at the gym. Let me grab my boots and I’ll be over.”
WHEN YOU'RE READY
67
“Thank you. Lord knows, if I see that poor cow stuck, I’ll never let it leave this property.”
“I know, mom. See ya in a bit.”
I jog up the steps to my apartment and grab my old, dusty boots.
I think I have had these brown boots longer than my sneakers, but they are so broken in, it’s hard to give them up.
I drive the fifteen minutes it takes to get to my parents’ house, and about halfway up the driveway, I see my dad’s pickup. I park off to the side and put my boots on before I walk over to where he is.
“Hey dad.” I say as I walk up to the ditch and see the brown cow, stuck in the mud about a foot down.
“Hey son,” my dad says as he grabs straps out of the back of his truck.
“So umm, how did this happen.”
“Mud from the rain last week. It travels down this here hill and makes a bit of a mudslide.” he explains to me as he points up the small hill. “Damn cow musta thought it was a great place to pass and slide down.”
“Wow. Remind me to never have cows.”
“Yeah. yeah. Here, grab the other end of this strap and help me get it around her chest and hindquarters.”
I grab the strap from my dad and slide down into the ditch beside the cow. Her big black eyes, surrounded by long wispy eyelashes, watch me in horror as I put my hand on the side of her head.
“It’s alright. We are going to get you out of here.”
68
T. SPEAR
I take a step to the side and my foot slides deeper into the mud, sending me to my butt. And now I regret not putting jeans on.
“Come on, stop coddling with her and strap it around.” my dad says.
I reach down under the cow and position both straps. One behind her front legs, around her chest and the other in front of her back legs, around her hips. I toss the ends to my dad, and he attaches them to the hitch on his pickup.
“I’m gonna go slow and you make sure she rolls while I bring her up and doesn’t try to get on her legs too soon.”
“Will do.”
Dad gets in and slowly drags the cow up and out of the ditch.
She doesn’t get onto her feet right away, the entire experience probably feeling very overwhelming.
