A GIRL AND HER MR. SHEEP

By Jennifer Garfield

            Once, in a land not so far away, there was a stuffed goat.  He lived on a shelf in a great toy store on a busy street in a large city.  He was the cutest stuffed goat ever, but for some reason, all the customers and their children ignored him.  Was it because he was the only one of his kind?  Were the children afraid that the stuffed goat wouldn’t be able to make friends with other stuffed animals, because he was different from all the rest?

            That all changed, one day, when a mother, father and their daughter strolled into the toy store.  The goat was on the shelf behind the counter, and he simply stared across the shop.  The girl pointed at him and said she wanted him.  She said he was cute.  Her parents agreed, and the old couple that owned the store rang the stuffed goat up on the cash register.  The goat was taken off from the shelf and placed into a pink gift bag, sized perfectly for him.

            He was happy that someone wanted him.  He no longer felt ignored and neglected.  The girl loved to bring the goat wherever she went.  She enjoyed ringing his little gold bell on his red collar and hugging him as she slept.  The cutest stuffed goat in the world was the happiest stuffed goat in the world.

            Except, this only lasted for… oh, say about a week.  The girl quickly grew tired of him and one day, she came home with a new toy.  The goat felt neglected and was left alone on a shelf all over again while the little girl was hugging a different stuffed animal.

            Then, the girl began to grow tired of stuffed animals and toys in general, and played more often with the children next door.  She spent the afternoons playing hide and seek and tag at the playground, and had a lot of fun.

            One day, however, she was picked on excessively by different children and came home crying.  The parents held her and gave her hugs and kisses, and later tucked her into bed that same night.  She curled into a ball and tried to fall asleep.

            The goat, who was still sitting in that same spot on the shelf, tipped his heavy head forward, and he fell and landed on his side on the floor.  His little bell rang slightly and the girl opened her eyes for a moment, and then buried her face in her pillow.  The goat rolled around until he was on his black, velvet feet, and he hopped onto books and piles of junk until he was on her bed.  He trotted towards her pillow and nuzzled at her hand, which lay near her head.

            She opened her eyes again, took the goat in her arms, and cried quietly.

            “Don’t cry,” the goat said.

            “I know,” she replied.  “But I don’t want to play with those kids ever again!  They were mean to me!”

            The goat sighed.  “It’ll be okay.”

            She wiped her tears with her hands and sniffled.  “I just wanted to be friends with everyone.”

            “Well, um,” the goat began, awkwardly.  “You can’t really have everything in the world.  You make friends, and you make enemies.  There are good days and there are bad days.  It’s not always sunshine and butterflies, hon.”

            “Okay.”

            “I mean, not everyone can be trusted.  You had good intentions, but look at how they responded to that.  You were nice, but in return, they were mean to you.  Yeah?”

            “Yeah.”  Confidence was in her voice.

            “And then it also means that everyone wasn’t meant to be your friend.  You want friends who will be friendly and not mean, right?”

            “Yeah!”

            “Oh, goodie,” the goat chimed.  “Just keep that in mind.  Oh, also.”  He trotted closer to her ear and whispered, “Never forget a true friendship with someone, no matter how old the friendship is.”

            The girl smiled and tucked the goat under the blankets and they both drifted away to sleep.

            The sun shone bright and the sky was a nice blue in the morning, and the girl immediately jumped out of bed to get ready.  She came back showered and dressed, and with a small tote bag.

            “Today, we’re going to my friend’s house for milk and cookies,” she said happily as she packed the goat into her tote bag.  “She’s not mean to me.”

            His bell rung.

            “And then maybe you can make friends with her other stuffed animals.”

            “Oh, really?” he asked, surprised.  “Do you think they’ll like me?”

            “Why’d you say that?  You’re perfectly fine.  You’re really cute and everyone’ll love you, like me!”

            “I know… but what do I look like to you?”

            “You’re cute.”

            “No, I mean, what kind of animal do I look like to you?”

            “You’re a goat.”

            “Actually,” he started saying, then nuzzled his nose into the bag for a second.  “I’m supposed to be a sheep.”

            The girl seemed concerned momentarily.

            “I think that’s why no one wanted to buy me, because I was so… different from the rest.  I was in that store for a very long time.”

            “Oh, stop worrying about it!  You’re perfectly fine and you’ll do okay with the other stuffed animals.”

            With that, she picked up the tote bag, skipped out the door and arrived at the house two houses down the street.  In her friend’s room, she introduced the goat as Mr. Sheep and they all giggled until the mother of the house called them down for milk and cookies.

            The goat, now known as Mr. Sheep, felt awkward.  He trotted around the room and suddenly, hordes of stuffed animals rolled from the pile in the corner and attacked Mr. Sheep.  One of them came up to him and pushed him over playfully, and began to chase him around the room.

            The hours ran by and the sun was on the other side, which meant the day was nearly over.  The two girls came back to the room and the girl packed Mr. Sheep into the bag, and said goodbye to her friend and goodbye to a wonderful day.

            When the two arrived back home, they immediately went straight to bed.  They didn’t talk to each other much, but she curled into a ball and he nuzzled into her neck, and they both thought back about the new things they learned, and what a wonderful day they had.  And with that, they fell asleep.

THE END