[yeena]

Day 3
Username: ceance

Cow: Percival
Prompt: Percival shuffled his feet nervously, staring at the ground with darkened eyes. His friend in front of him was rambling about how sensitive and childish that he was, how he needed to get a backbone and that he was tired of his senseless rambling. Percival felt shame coursing through him, shame and a sense of sadness. He didn't know where he had gone wrong. He had known his friend for years, ever since grade school even. His friend had been slowly changing, however. He started criticizing Percival more, commenting on small things and hanging out with different people. He didn't want to been seen with him in public anymore, they never went out together.
Percival balled his hands into fists, the tips of his ears burning at the insults towards his character. The attacks made against how he acted on a daily basis. He felt anger moving more thickly through his body, eyes narrowing into a sharp glare as he stared up at his friend. He was gritting his teeth and struggling not to cry, holding the tears at the edge of his eyes. Percival took some deep breaths, ignoring his friend questioning him, asking him if he was understanding what was being said or if he needed to repeat himself. After a couple more seconds he finally straightened up and cleaned his throat.
"We don't need to be friends anymore."
With that, Percival turned on his heel and walked out of there, struggling to contain his straight figure while he smoothly moved away from the situation. With his back turned, his tears were free to start falling and he was free from having someone as toxic as that inn his life. [282W]

[Ravendarus]

Day 3
Username: Ravendarus
Cow: Zebra
Prompt: Zebra thought about it softly and rubbed her neck carefully, "Mhmm...." She said as she looked at them curiously tilting her head, "I didn't think about before really." She said gently. "A time that I had to make a tough choice that affected me and others?" She asked, "I guess I'll have to think about it." She said thoughtfully tilting her head as she spaced out for a few moments, "A-Ah!" She said as she felt a tap on her shoulder, "I spaced out!? Oh no I'm sorry about that, I can be such a space cadet sometimes... I was just talking about that h-aha... give me a moment." She said, "I think a really difficult time for me was having to pick between my friend and her sister in an argument... Lydia and Venus were arguing... I can't honestly remember about what but they had asked me too pick a side. Can you imagine having to pick a side between two of your friends?! It was horrible... I didn't want to pick because I didn't want to have to hurt one of my friends... In the end I decided not to pick between the two of them but would you believe it they both got mad at me!" Zebra sighed. "They did not talk to me for a whole week." She sighed sadly. "But in the end they worked it out and apologized to me. I was so glad they were talking to me again but now any time I hear them argue I run for it." She said, "because I don't ever want to end up between the two of them." She said.

(275)

[lucas tazmily]

Day 3
Username: Pufferheart
Cow: Beth
Prompt:

Beth has made few choices that had affected others. Most of her choices affected her, and her alone. But there was one in particular that affected someone else, someone very close to her.

It was during a very stormy night, and the wind was absolutely furious. The barn of which Beth had slept under her whole life was teetering and shaking dangerously. Beth remembers huddling very close to the wall to try.

Suddenly, the whole roof of the barn flew off and landed in the grass with a huge crash.

Beth ran out of there as fast as she could, afraid the whole barn would collapse on top of her. She ran blindly, the rain stinging her face.

When Beth felt far away enough from the barn, she stopped to catch. She realized she had been running for awhile now, since the new area where she was had no thunderstorm.

Beth looked all around herself and realized that she couldn't remember the way back to her barn.

And then, she remembered something important, something that made her skin crawl. Beth had forgotten someone in the barn.

It was a hurt, baby bunny. A few days previous, she had found it crying next to the river. Beth had been nursing it back to full health.

Based on her poor decision, now the baby bunny would be left all alone to fend for itself. Beth's decision had affected the bunny in a major way, and she was to blame for it.

[249 words]

[Andromeda]

Day 3
Username: Bluebird-
Cow: Nanna
Prompt: A loud bang echoed around the clearing where Nanna's corral used to be, the tin roof of their shade shelter coming loose from its screws and clattering onto the ground, the wind quickly pushing it across the space and down the hill on the other side. Nanna looked around frantically, trying to find the rest of her herd. The wind was indescribably strong and the rain came down in blinding sheets. Hurricane Mean Mama had blown in earlier than expected so no one was prepared. She pushed against the wind, her weight helping to keep her grounded, though she struggled to effectively dodge oncoming branches and palm fronds.

The heifer lifted her bowed head to see the other 3 cows in her herd huddled under a second shade shelter, the large wooden poles keeping it up were swaying back and forth in the wind. This shelter was raised up a bit as the land inclined and Nanna knew she had to get them out from under it before it fell on top of them. The problem? A cascade of water had come from higher up on the island and flowed ferociously between her and them as it raced for the ocean. With the roaring wind and rushing water, there's no way Nanna's voice would carry to them, but she had to hurry! Risk them being crushed under the shelter, or swept away by the dangerous current?

Massive palm trees were bending almost completely over in the wind, their fronds streaming out in a flurry of green and pale brown. The heifer raced to the edge of the hill to peer over it, seeing that the tin roof from the first shelter lay on the side. She looked frantically back to the rushing water and to her family, the water rising to only a couple feet below their hooves. With a determination she never felt before, the large cow carefully stepped off the edge, sliding in the mud down to the tin slab. Some of the rope that had been pushed through holes and tied to the foundation as a double reinforcement still hung wet and limp on the roof. Without any hesitation, Nanna grabbed one in her mouth and heaved the tin up and over the hill, the metal cutting at her ankles as she slipped over and over in the attempt to get it up. She dragged it behind her and pulled it upright, using her weight to push it over the rush of water. She yelled to her family, knowing full well her voice would be carried away, though hoping they would read her panicked expression and realize what she wanted them to do.

It worked, the 2 bulls and heifer stepped cautiously into the shallower part of the water, heavy weight helping to keep them from being swept off in the current here. The one bull jumped first, over 2 feet of water to land on the tin slab and slide across, Nanna sidestepping to avoid being knocked over but still keeping her two front hooves firmly planted on the roof. The heifer went next and then the last bull until they were all back safe. Well...safer. Nanna jumped back, the tin roof being immediately taken by the water and disappearing out of sight. Now they just had to make it to the other side of the hill where the large warehouse sat, to join their fellow bovine and shelter from the storm. (576)

[BiscuitTheDog]

Day 3
Username: BiscuitTheDog
Cow: Carmie
Prompt:
Carmie had certainly had to make a difficult decision in her life before.
The brown heifer spaced out, suddenly remembering the details of that excruciatingly disheartening day.
"C'mon Carmie, help us! It's a harmless prank, nothing'll go wrong!"
Carmie gulped, nostrils twitching as she looked between her three friends, a blond, a grey, and a dull pink heifer respectively.
"Yea, Carmie. Stop worrying!" The blond one snickered. Carmie shook her head. "No guys, this is wrong!"
The three had been planning to play a prank on one of the old heifers that lived nearby the ranch. This heifer belonged to a herd that wasn't owned by the human who owned the ranch, but they depended on the ranch for food and shelter, so they were like family.
The prank that the girls were going to play involved one of the most aggressive rooster that lived on the ranch, Nactina. That rooster had spurs sharper than a cat's untrimmed claws, and Carmie knew: she'd almost been stabbed by them once.
The three would coax the rooster out towards one of the older heifers of the herd, who liked to peacefully chew grass around dusk. At that time, Nactina would be led to the heifer with a trail of seeds, particularly some of Nactina's favorites. And then, the grey heifer would say the two words that threw Nactina into a rage every time they were said around him, "Bad bird", and then the heifer would push the rooster towards the old cow, who would eventually be attacked by the thing.
Carmie couldn't see how it was "harmless" at all. That rooster had spurs, spurs that hurt if they hit you.
The cows wanted Carmie to create a diversion by chatting with the older cow so she wouldn't expect it.
When Carmie asked why the blond or pink heifer couldn't do it, the gang explained that the two would be "too tired out" from leading the rooster with seeds. Carmie didn't see how one could tire out by doing that.
Ugh. She had ended up accepting, but only because she herself had a plan. When it came time for her to make small talk with the old heifer, she had told the cow everything. She'd told her that a rooster was going to attack her as part of her friend's prank. Carmie told the old heifer when exactly to turn around and yell at the chicken, who would get startled by the yell and likely turn.
It went exactly how she planned. The heifer screamed at the rooster, who squawked, turned around, and ran straight back to his coop.
That was when the gang figured out.
"Carmie, you are such a bad friend!" The blond cow had exclaimed, the gang cornering her out of earshot of the herd.
Carmie gasped. "I'm a bad friend? Seriously? You think I'm a bad person for going against the people who wanted to hurt another cow?"
That night, Carmie had gotten very, very mad. Her friends were stunned into silence (since Carmie had never gotten that angry before) as Carmie yelled at them, eventually crumbling into a crying mess.
The brown heifer ran back into her stable, sobbing. Her friends scoffed, the dull pink heifer saying, "Ugh! We don't need that worthless heifer anyways. C'mon girls, lets find another cow to play the prank on."
Carmie had heard it, and it only made her sob more.
That night, she cried herself to sleep.
And that night, Carmie made the decision to go against her toxic friends, who broke their friendship with her.
It was definitely for the better, though.
Oh yes, it certainly was.
(607 words)

[Venatici]

Day 3
Username: Morghettio
Cow: True Hospitality
Prompt:
Day 3 - Describe a time in your Buttermilk’s life when they had to make a difficult decision that affected more than just themselves.

While Howdy has been given the chance to make many difficult decisions in his life... the bull has really dropped the ball. Both as a child and as an adult, many of Howdy's difficult decisions were often made by Prescott. Howdy willingly let Prescott make those difficult decisions, because Howdy felt he could not make them.

That was why when Howdy left for the military his family was so upset, and why Prescott's parents applauded Howdy for his efforts. It was not like Howdy did not want to serve his country, or be unpatriotic: he loved where he lived, and appreciated everything he had. But when Prescott went to rope him into boot camp, Howdy did not protest. He merely packed his bags with the clothing he did not care to lose, and little personal belongings. Howdy left the sentimental affects behind, only carrying a photo of his parents in his wallet.

It was not like Howdy did not want to be a medic, but after the decision was made, he never thought about the effects it had. He followed through with the decision, acting like it did not effect anything.

He acted as if it did not effect his other friends at school, his family, his neighborhood.



[ 208 / 200 words ]

[Yodel]

Day 3
Username: Yodel
Cow: Heather
Prompt:

"I think they're taking me somewhere else momma," said a voice. Heather opened her eyes to see her daughter's face right in front of her own. Heather had been having a bad feeling in her gut for the past couple weeks, making it hard to sleep. She kept making small but odd observations around the farm. Extra accommodation for her and her daughter, the old rusty trailer finally being repaired, the ranchhand being more lenient towards Skylar when she broke the rules, it was all so unusual.

It had been a crisp, early morning near the end of fall when Heather was posed with a decision. For some reason that was unknown to her, Heather's calf was being transferred to another farm. The just barely adult cow hadn't known any other place besides here.

The mother had to make a decision, stay here and allow her daughter some responsibility and a chance to grow up on her own but risk the chance of never getting to see her again, or try to follow her offspring, ensuring protection for her daughter but leaving all her friends and her amazing childhood home behind.

You would think the decision would be simple, but every aspect of her life would be impacted by this decision that she only had hours to make. And not only would it affect her life, but the life of her friends and most importantly her daughter.

In the end, Heather made the choice to sneak onto the trailer when they loaded up Skylar. Thank god they didn't send her back when they finally realized. To this day Heather misses her old friends dearly, and a tiny piece of her wishes she had stayed behind.

(285 words)

[honeybunchesofoats]

Day 3
Username: honeybunchesofoats
Cow: Alberon
Prompt:

When Alberon left her home, she thought it wouldn't affect anyone else. She was under the impression that everyone living there hated her and wanted her gone just as much as she wanted to leave too. However, one of the newer additions, a younger boy named Stark was devastated. Upon arriving at the farm, Stark made an immediate connection to her. He bounded over to her practically every morning and they shared their breakfast, hers always consisting of fried eggs. She refused to eat anything else if the eggs were available. He wanted to hear the stories of her life and where she wanted to go but Alberon was always refusing him.

He could tell she wanted to be left to herself but...something was telling him that was just a front. So he tried harder, every single day, to make her open up to him. And eventually, it worked. She told him everything she actually felt, like how much she hated it there and how she longed for something more, a sense of belonging that she would never find at the farm. They talked about how she felt stuck in the rut she had been in for years without seeing a way out, of not knowing who she would become beside the loner she felt she was.

And this also eventually stopped being one-sided. Whenever Stark had a problem he could come to Alberon and they would talk through it. For being unable to solve her own problems, she was surprisingly good at solving them for others. However, this took a turn for the worst soon after the two of them got comfortable. The other cows began to poke and pride at Stark for hanging around Alberon. She was watching him get ostracized because of her, and she couldn't take it. She didn't think twice about hurting him before she left the next morning. In her mind, she was doing the only thing she could to easily resolve the problem. (330)

[Knickknacks]

Day 3
Username: Knickknacks
Cow: Phoebe
Prompt:

"Logan, I want the truth right now." Mama Beverly's face was unusually stern as she frowned down at the calf. Phoebe watched as her sister seemed to shrink into herself, somehow, as though by appearing smaller she could escape their adoptive mother's probing questions. Phoebe frowned thoughtfully.

"What were you doing this afternoon that ended with one of my picture frames shattered on the floor?" Beverly held up the destroyed frame in question- Phoebe recognized it from the upstairs hallway, with its neatly carved wood frame and gilded glass edges- edges that were now ragged and cracked from the spill it had taken.

Phoebe's gaze shifted back to Logan, who looked apprehensive and more nervous than Phoebe had ever seen her. Interesting- it was clear to Phoebe that Beverly was annoyed, but she didn't seem genuinely angry. Logan's face, however, had the look of someone awaiting their final judgment.

"I did it." she spoke up as soon as the idea flashed into her head, following the impulsive thought before she could second-guess. Both Beverly and Logan turned to look at her, Beverly seeming surprised more than anything now, and Logan's face being covered with mixed worry and wariness and relief.

Note to self, Phoebe said with an internal grin. Logan really does not like being questioned.

"You- what?" Beverly said, a faint tinge of skepticism to the words. "But I thought-"

"I broke the frame," Phoebe lied coolly, meeting her gaze. "I was running through the hall, and bumped its table, and broke it. I didn't even notice at first- I only heard the commotion once I was back in my room. Logan must have come to see what had happened."

Beverly looked mildly puzzled- and vaguely suspicious- at Phoebe's lie. Phoebe knew herself that it didn't all quite fit together, but that was okay. Something about the way Logan had looked so nervous had prompted her to speak up.

"Well," Beverly said finally. "I'm... glad you spoke about this. Logan, you can go. Phoebe- come with me."

Logan gave her a furtive, grateful glance as she left the room, and even as Beverly spoke to her about taking responsibility for one's actions, and not hiding, and such, Phoebe felt quite lighthearted- she knew Beverly wasn't truly angry- that she was doing this for the sake of discipline. And the relief on her sister's face had been worth it, anyways.

{400 words}

[Winter Shores]

Day 3
Username: Winter Shores
Cow: Antheia
Prompt: Daisy Grace and Antheia sat at one of the many tables that where placed out in front of Daisy's booth. They both sat in comfortable silence for a while until Daisy decided to speak up, "So tell me, when in your life have you had to make a difficult decision that affected more than just yourself?"

Antheia looked up at Daisy, "A difficult decision? I don't think that I've made a difficult one and if I have and it hurt someone I'm unaware about it. I'm not saying I'm 'Miss Perfect' but I tend to stay away from people so I guess that put a restraint on some of the things others do like hurt people. But the thing is life presents us with so many decisions. A lot of times, they're right in front of your face and they're really difficult, but we have to make them." Antheia closed her eyes tightly. Had there actually been a time when she had hurt someone because of a decision she had made? She wasn't sure and she didn't want to find out. She didn't want to be the villain in someone else's eyes. Then it hit her, there had been a time where she had hurt someone, but it was for the benefit of herself and making sure that her health was in order.

Daisy rested her hand on top of Antheia's, "Hey, it's okay, you don't have to share if you dont want too."

Antheia nodded her head, but she didn't mind sharing at all, "Sometimes people know they have made the right decision when we pick the hardest and most painful choice but finally your heart is at peace and you feel grounded again. The more decisions that we are forced to make alone, the more we are able to be aware of our freedom to choose. In the decision that I chose, I finally chose myself about everyone, above that person. I was in a dark place and they just kept bringing me down and me leaving probably hurt them a lot." Antheia smiled weakly as her eyes filled with tears but she wouldn't let them drop. She quickly wiped them away and gave Daisy another smile.
(Word Count: 370)