All characters, except those not mentioned in both the movie and television show are the property of Nickelodeon and Omation Studios and are used without permission. I just hope they better release the last episodes of Back at the Barnyard soon enough. But until then, here is the story.

Chapter 1: A New Arrival

It was another usual morning at the barnyard where all the animals went about their daily business, doing what they'd never do while the farmer was around. It would be another hour before he came back and everyone would have to look normal so he'd never find out about their secret. No one knew where exactly Farmer Buyer was going, but rumor had it that he might be arriving back with a newcomer. Everyone had heard this from Duke the sheepdog, claiming that he had got this information yesterday while listening to a phone call in his house. The only details he knew of were that of the farmer questioning that caller if it was a rare breed shipped from Japan months ago. Today was Thursday, the exact date which he promised to drive over and pick up this rare breed. Usually when it came to new arrivals, everyone would either get themselves all nervous or excited, not knowing what to make of the newcomer once he or she arrives with probably more than one member.

But instead, everyone was willing to give the newcomer a good welcome to the barnyard whoever he or she was. It was the least everyone could do to get used to them on this fine summer day in the middle of June.

Meanwhile, Otis and his pals Pip, Pig, Freddy, and Peck were hanging out together to sit under the shade of a tree up on Ben's hill while reading the newspaper with the funny comic pages, laughing hysterically.

"Did you see the way he flew into that tree?" Otis laughed, waiting for support from any of his friends as he pointed to a funny picture.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Freddy, the plump ferret answered by doing a demonstration to mimic the hilarious picture to swing wildly around the tree by a rope as if he were someone like Tarzan. CRASH! "I'm okay…slight injury here." Freddy had recently crashed against the tree.

"Well he was yelling louder than that, but still…" Otis continued laughing with the others.

"Then he falls down flat on his nose," Pip added in his Mexican accent.

Everyone was too busy laughing at the comics' page to pay any attention to Freddy falling off the tree after what Pip mentioned.

"I think I'll take a little nap right under this tree," he moaned.

After a while, their laughing soon died down as Otis decided to turn the page to see what else was new in the catalog section.

"Anything new in the catalog today?" Pip asked.

"Not that I know of, but…WHOA LOOK AT THIS!" Otis yelled in excitement.

"What, what is it? A brand new stereo?"

"Nope."

"Is it a basketball hoop?" Freddy piped up.

"Close."

"A Disco ball?" Peck added.

"Even better?"

"Well what is it?" Pig finally said impatiently.

"Alright, alright, it's the RV of the twenty first century!" Otis put down the paper to show them the picture of the magnificent RV van listing everything inside from a fancy kitchen, television screen, sofa, and everything household related, perfect for traveling all over the country. "What do you think? Isn't it great?"

"I'll say, that fridge looks big enough to fit all of my favorite snacks in," said Pig. "But what else would I bring?"

"And an air conditioner, guaranteed to last a lifetime," Peck pointed put to the air conditioning sign. "That could be useful."

"But Otis, look at the price on that thing," Pip blurted out. "Ten thousand dollars, we can't afford that?"

"Relax Pip, where there's a will, there's a way," Otis assured.

"Right," said Pip doubtfully, wondering what Otis was thinking of this time since he was always capable of coming up with all these crazy ideas.

The group of friends began discussing exactly whether or not they should buy that magnificent RV without the farmer knowing about it. Or better yet, where would they get the money to afford it.

Meanwhile, a beautiful tan cow by the name of Abby sat down underneath a different tree several feet away from Ben's hill. In that shiny blond hair braided into French braid with a purple ribbon at the end, she sighed dreamily while looking over a personal notebook filled with different pictures of Otis, hearts drawn in colors of pink, red, and purple. Here it's been nearly three years since she has lived at the barnyard and still neither she nor Otis have had the courage to admit that they truly like each other on account of being teased by the others. Yet her mind flashed back to that one time when the both of them were trapped inside that giant corn monster, close to being eaten. That was when they had admitted to liking each other, and then later on acted like nothing happened. It was a disappointing moment. Otis had to have liked her, no matter what he said to try and deny it, especially at that one time when their clones started making out. There was no other explanation for it.

"Oh how can I get him to notice me," Abby sighed once again in her usual southern accent. "I know he wants to keep his friends, but must it be a choice between them and me?" That small feeling of frustration came to her as she lay firmly against the trunk of the tree. "There's gotta be a way to get his attention to me before the day is out. Hmmm, maybe I could…"

Abby's words were soon interrupted by the call of Duke's voice she heard all the way at the barnyard.

"Hey guys, the farmer is back with the newcomer!" Duke shouted as he ran on all fours, excited.

Hearing this, all the animals got down on all fours quickly to act normal so they could go over and see this newcomer for themselves. Duke led the way. A few of them were almost out of breath from all that excitement by the time they reached the center of the barnyard. Their curiosity over every newcomer was getting the better of them.

"Huh, the newcomer is here already?" Abby looked up from her spot at a distance to see the animals starting to surround the trailer containing whatever animal would be in it. "Maybe I should go check it out and think about this later." She was just preparing to get up before suddenly changing her mind at the last minute. "Nah, I'll leave here later. I still wanna focus on Otis here. There will be plenty of time to meet the newcomer that's for sure." So Abby sat back down with her notebook in her lap and used a purple pen to write down a few possible things. She was always well aware of Otis acting a little mean to her in the past, but Abby sensed that it was his way of hiding his true feelings. She knew he was crazy about her and she felt the same about him.

Back at the barnyard, Duke had been sniffing curiously at the trailer after giving the farmer a good lick on the face to welcome him back. The only thing he could make out through one of the holes was a hoof or two. No make those four hooves. He and the others waited till the farmer unlatched the door. All eyes were on him as he slid the trailer door open to reveal a female white cow with black spots. Everybody couldn't help noticing how pretty she was. She had shiny black hair braided into a long French braid with a pink bow tied at the end. A few short strands of hair stuck out a little above her forehead. In her black ears she wore beautiful golden hoop earrings. She had beautiful brown eyes with black eyelashes and rosy cheeks. From the looks of it, this new cow didn't appear to be from America. Her face seemed Asian and gentle with a headstrong personality. No doubt, everyone had already remembered what Duke mentioned about the other farmer on the phone saying she was from Japan.

"It's alright girl, come on out," the farmer cooed to the shy bovine. "No ones gonna hurt you. Look what I got." In his hand, he held a small amount of hay to lead her out of the trailer gently.

The technique had worked as it usually did with every other new animal. She stepped out a few seconds later for everyone to have a better look. Almost every one of the males' eyes grew wide with amazement at how pretty she looked, staring in awe. So far the only other female cow just as pretty was Abby. And who knows how she would react if she were standing here now.

"Welcome to the barnyard Melinda," the farmer smiled and rubbed the new cow behind her neck. "Follow me this way."

Everyone waited for the farmer to lead the new cow to her stall and gave her hay and water. After that he went back in his truck and drove it back up to his house to go back to work. That gave the animals a chance to finally have their chance to meet the newcomer whom the farmer called Melinda. Like a flock of birds, the animals gathered around for a nice friendly chat.

"My, I didn't know this meeting was about to become a huge welcoming community," the new cow Melinda had spoken her first Japanese English words here at the barnyard. "What's the matter, never seen a girl cow before? Am I the first?"

AN: This is my very first Back at the Barnyard fanfiction that's been in my mind ever since I got into the show last year. The idea for Melinda was inspired after viewing a video on Youtube of the Barnyard video game during the minigame of Tease the Mailman. The cow was black and white with black hair tied in a french braid. And her face looked a bit Asian. And just to let some readers know, this story was actually written weeks before the earthquake and tsunami this passed March in Japan. My thoughts and prayers go out to them. My own character had to come from one of those countries in Asia when I was writing this. It was not to offend anyone. But I wanted to wait and upload this story until I was chapters ahead. But my other reason for writing was because I wanted to write my own version of an Otis and Abby story; especially since Nickelodeon is too stubborn with their ratings to air the rest so I've been a little doubtful of whether or not we'll be able to see new episodes soon enough. I hope I won't make this story the same as always with other Abby and Otis love stories. I'll do my best to make it as original as I can. This would also be my first non-disney fanfiction. I don't own any of the characters, except for Melinda. Why does her name sound English? You'll find out soon enough. Once again, this is a story for fun and not for insulting any culture.