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Bessie started life as a simple milk cow, but somehow became more like a dog or the pony I never had. It began the day Jimmy took my dare to ride her to the barn; thought she'd flick her tail, turn away. Instead, when he climbed upon her back, she gave a slow blink and followed me like a loyal hound down the lane. After that, she shadowed us everywhere: to the porch, garden, creek. Nudged our pockets for treats, trotted when we ran, mooed when we disappeared into the house. Followed us to school once, ambled through a clothesline of white linen, draped herself in a ghostly costume from ear to tail. Scared the entire schoolyard. So, when Papa set up the new camera for a family portrait, Bessie nudged her way into the middle, claimed her rightful place within the family.
by Margaret Bednar, November 13, 2025
This is linked with Sepia Saturday (801)- Family Portrait. This is my contineud quest to improve my short story writing. 144 words exactly.
4 comments:
I love the photo & the story to go along with it. Funny, we never think of cows & pigs & roosters & the like being close to humans as are dogs & cats & bunnies & such, but they're just as smart & capable of loving as the others! A sweet picture & story. Thanks for sharing. :)
A lovely story and a terrific form challenge, too. I've played around with similar poetry/prose forms, though with different numbers of words. 50 words is hard. (Not unlike the limits some websites put on comments:—)
And welcome to Sepia Saturday, Margaret. Several of us write poetry and fiction about our photos, too. You can check out mine by clicking the sidebar label for "fiction" or "poetry.
I'm wondering who the girl off to the side with the dust cap on is. Was she a servant who was included? Or...?
Welcome to Sepia Saturday, Margaret and what a lovely happy family photograph you gave us - we don’t often see pet cows. We look seeing more of your posts.
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