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CHAPTER ONE
Namastey’all.
The slogan was plastered across Patti’s t-shirt, but as she stood in front of the crowd of excited-looking Littles, she felt a bit silly. The t-shirt made it seem like she was a whole lot more confident than she really was.
“Good morning, Littlecreek!” she called out in a shaky voice. “Thank you for signing up to Patti’s Morning Mooo-ve Mayhem!” The name had been Millie’s idea. In fact, this whole crazy thing had been Millie’s idea.
Patti struggled to remember why it was, exactly, that she’d agreed to do this. She could feel her anxiety building steadily, even as the Littles chuckled generously at her less-than-enthusiastic cow impression. In the background, thumping techno music blasted from a set of speakers Duke had set up for her last night.
“We’re going to start off with some gentle cardio, and then work our way up to body-weight calisthenics.”
“Gentle cow-dio?” one of the Littles asked, prompting chuckles from the assembled throng.
“You got it,” Patti said, smiling, grateful that everyone seemed to be in such good spirits.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and gestured to the large pile of brightly colored yoga mats in the center of the room. “Now let’s grab our mats and find our own space. Then it’s time to saddle up!”
Patti glanced around the room as the Littles found space. They were in Duke’s barn, now transformed to be a public workout space for the guests and staff members of the ranch.
It was a truly wondrous sight – colorful gym equipment mixed in with ranch items like hay bales and ropes. Everywhere she looked there were signs of transformation, from the bright pink kettlebells to the giant tractor tire flipped up in one corner.
The Littles had definitely made this space their own, with a little help from Duke and Chuck, as well as the watchful eye of Ben, the foreman. The space summed up Littlecreek: both a working ranch and a sanctuary for Littles in one.
When everyone was ready, Patti began. She led the group through some light jogging to get their heart rates up before transitioning into some easy calisthenics such as squats, lunges, and planks. The Littles kept up with enthusiasm and energy that made the time fly by.
As she led the group, Patti couldn’t help but think back to her old life. Her sad life. Her stressed-out life. Her successful life. She wondered what her old work colleagues at the hedge fund would think if they could see her now, wearing tie-dye leggings and a dumb t-shirt, jumping up and down to dance music in an age play barn. She wondered what her old boss, Brandon Grouse would say. Probably, “You cost me a million dollars, you stupid bitch!” or something equally charming.
Don’t dwell on him, Patti. Don’t dwell on your old life. You’re here now, and you’re thriving.
Well. Maybe thriving was a bit of an overstatement. She waskind ofthriving.
True, she was leading a class, but it hadn’t been her idea. Not even close. She hadn’t been able to voice or act upon an idea of her own ever since ‘the fuck-up’. Maybe she never would again.
“Okay everyone, time for a fun ranch-themed exercise.” She unveiled a stack of miniature hay bales and the Littles squealed with delight.
“Cute!” someone said.
“Can I take it home?” came another voice.
“Absolutely not!” Patti couldn’t help but smile. As a Little herself, she saw the instant appeal of anything that came in a miniature size. “Now let’s do this.” She yanked up a hay bale and held it in the air. “Let’s pump… hay!”
“It’s the cutest, smallest, sweetest, most adorable, pinkest, fluffiest, most beautiful tiny little creature that I’ve ever ever ever seen!” Clarissa’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she studied the tiny baby hamster.
It had never been Patti’s dream to work security and animal care at a ranch petting zoo. Having said that, she absolutely loved the job.
Since she’d started work here, the zoo had expanded in size, as Takis—the owner of the ranch—took in more animals abandoned by closing-down pet stores, or sadly left without care after the passing of an owner. There were hamsters—lots of those—but there were also a variety of other, cute, handleable creatures. Rabbits of all kinds, guinea pigs, gerbils, ferrets, chinchillas, and even a few young ducks and chickens. Plus there were the goats. Two little pygmy goats, Bert and Ernie, that had been rescued from an abusive home. Takis was always quick to take care of animals in need of love. Humans too, come to think of it.
“I’m glad you like him,” Patti said, feeling the hamster’s delicate body twitching as she held him carefully in her palm. Her legs were still hurting a little from the morning’s workout. Even after an ice-cold shower, she couldn’t stop muscle fatigue from setting in.
“Can I hold him?” Clarissa looked to her Daddy, a large-looking man called Leo who stood to her right.
“You’d better ask the expert,” Leo said, in a thick New Orleans accent, indicating Patti. Like all the other male guests at the ranch, Leo was wearing a ranch-hand’s outfit of tough denim pants and a thick, plaid shirt. It helped the guys relax into the setting, and the Littles seemed to love to pretend that their Daddies were cowboys.
“Well, Miss Expert? Can I hold him?” Clarissa asked with a touch of sass, turning her gaze to Patti.
Expert. Hah.
Now that she thought of it, Pattiwasbecoming something of an expert when it came to hamsters. There had been a ton of the cute critters being born at Littlecreek recently, thanks to an… ahem…intimacyincident.
