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Rhianan walked down the
dirt road, picking wildflowers and putting them in her basket. A bonnet,
tied around her long, golden hair, kept the bright, summer sun out of her
eyes. A black and white cow was standing in the field, grazing on the
shimmering green grass. MOO!
"How lovely. It’s a cow."
Rhianan sat on the wooden fence and watched it. MOO! It ripped the grass
up with its mouth and chewed slowly. Rhianan laughed when she saw a yellow
butterfly fluttering around the cow’s ears. They wiggled back and forth
and up and down, trying to shoo the butterfly away. MOO! The cow’s tail
swooshed back and forth and sometimes even landed on its back for a few
moments before it fell back down. Rhianan loved watching the cows. "I’ve
got to go now, cow, but I’ll be back again soon," she said.
She climbed down from the
fence, picked another handful of wildflowers, put them in her basket and
walked down the road. She soon passed two tall oak trees. Their leaves
were olive green and very large. "I wonder if there are any acorns
growing?" Curious, she put her basket down at the side of the road and
walked closer to the trees. "Brilliant. There are millions of them," she
smiled. The branches were covered with acorns, green and round. Some had
fallen to the ground and were scattered about among the grass. Rhianan saw
a squirrel in the tree. It was standing on a thin branch, holding an acorn
in its front paws. "Hello, bonny squirrel. What are you nibbling on? An
acorn?" she asked it. Of course, the squirrel ignored her. It was nibbling
away, not paying any attention to her. She didn’t want to disturb him so
she picked up her basket of flowers and continued down the road. "I’ll
come and see you again," she called, waving her hand goodbye.
She spotted hundreds of
sheep standing in a field. There were so many of them that she could
hardly see the grass. BAA! BAA! BAA! "You’re very noisy sheep!" she
called, not being able to hear her own voice. She had to cover her ears
with her hands, carefully, as not to spill the flowers she’d been
gathering. Several of the sheep came running to the fence as she walked
past. BAA! BAA! BAA! They stuck their noses through the wooden fence.
Rhianan laughed at them. "Do you want me to pet you?" She put her basket
down and walked to the fence. Even though it was noisy, she petted their
soft wool and pink ears. "Stop making so much noise and I’ll pet you
more." As she petted them, she noticed that some sheep had white wool.
Others had light brown, dark brown and some even had black wool. The sheep
licked her hand. "You’re licking my hand and it tickles," she giggled. A
dog came running out of nowhere and started barking. BARK! BARK! BARK! The
sheep scattered and ran in all directions, trying to get away from the
dog. "It’s a sheep dog. I hope he doesn’t hurt the sheep," she said,
worried.
Rhianan watched for a few
minutes, saw that the dog was only trying to herd them and so, feeling
better about it, picked up her basket of flowers and headed down the road.
Two bluebirds flew across the path, swirling and swooping as they chased
each other through the trees and bushes. "What pretty birds! I love
bluebirds."
When Rhianan got home, she
showed her mum all the flowers she had gathered in her basket. "Look, Mum.
I got some daisies, some carnations, some bluebells, heather and even a
thistle."
"They’re lovely, Rhianan,"
her mum replied. "Why don’t you fill a vase with water and put the flowers
in it?"
Rhianan carried the filled
vase over, being careful not to spill the water. She put the vase down in
the middle of the kitchen table. "I had a nice walk today, Mum. I saw a
cow and a bonny wee squirrel. The cow was eating grass and a pretty
butterfly flew all around its ears. I think it was tickling the cow," she
chuckled. "The squirrel was eating acorns from the oak tree. Its cheeks
were fat and it had gray fur."
"Did you see anything
else," her mum asked.
"Oh, yes, Mum. I saw lots
of sheep. I petted a few of them. They let me. I like the ones with white
wool the best."
"Oh? Were there sheep with
other colors of wool?" her mum asked.
Rhianan thought for a few
moments and then blurted out, "Yes, Mum. There were sheep with black wool
and some with brown wool and I saw two bluebirds. They were having a race.
They were pretty. I like bluebirds, Mum."
"It sounds like you had a
lovely walk, Rhianan and we’ve got these beautiful flowers to remind us of
all the things you saw today." She hugged her daughter and then they sat
at the table, looked at the pretty wildflowers and talked. It was a
wonderful day for Rhianan. |
