Chapter Six: Anti-Animal
There was a knock on his door.
He jumped up, gun in hands and ready to kill the person who would dare think to wake him up. He checked his clock, it was only 4am! Who was this guy, Santa Claus?
Unfortunately, he was right. "Who is it?" Sky yelled.
"Your own personal Santa Claus. I've got a present for you." A rough voice called back, one Sky instantly recognized as Takakura's.
Sky had been very clever the previous night. He was reading 'The Princess and the Pea' when the clever idea came to him. He went to this large chicken coop that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the night. He took his beautiful scythe, and began to chop off every last feather on the chickens. Then using his genius inventing skills, he made a giant bed mattress out of feathers and placed it on his bed. Now, with the exception of a rogue feather stick up in certain private parts, he was quite comfortable.
So, getting the loose feathers out of his nostrils, he opened the door. Takakura was looking impatient. "What?" Sky growled.
"Out of the kindest of my black heart, I have decided to give you a present." He said.
"Which is…?"
"You'll see. Follow me." Takakura led him outside of his shack and to the front of the barn.
Before him was a horse. It looked like a little kid, with orange fur and cute little eyes. Sky looked at it in disgust. "What is it?"
"For you." Takakura said.
"For you to have back." He scooted the horse towards Takakura. Suddenly the horse reared up and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to fly at least fifty feat in the air and somehow land unharmed on the ground.
"Look, this horse was dropped on my doorstep as a present. But I sure as ever do NOT need a horse, so he's yours to use."
Sky studied the horse. "But…what will I use it FOR?"
"You ride it, dummy! He'll take you all around town. Think of him as a…'car'. Ya know, those little metal boxes that people drive around in? I've heard of them, they even say that a car has horsepower! Well, this here is a horse!"
Sky approached the horse cautiously, and petted it. "So then…" He made a false cough. "Mr. Horse, you listen to me! I am your master! You will do as I say, WHEN I say, and become my ultimate slave!"
The horse snorted.
"Acts of defiance will be issued as treason! You will be hanged and forbidden from ever eating again."
The horse looked at him innocently.
"His name is Apple. Named him myself."
"Whoa, time out. What did I say?" Sky said, forming his hands into a 'T'.
"You said…'Acts of defiance will be—"
"No, what I said about you naming things?"
"I think Apple is a very nice name!"
"And I think that you have serious naming issues." Sky said, then sighed. "Fine, I'll keep the horse. At least I've got myself a nice slave."
The horse spit on him.
"Ugh!" Sky said, jumping back.
Suddenly the horse loomed over him, with threatening eyes and sharp hooves. Sky stared directly into Apple's eyes, and expected some terrifying lasers to shoot out or some other dramatic thing.
"No! I'll be good! I really will!" Sky said, cowering in fear.
"What are you talking about?"
Sky blinked, Takakura was looking at him as if he were mad. Great, it's just the voices again. Sky thought. The voices, they always did weird things to him.
The horses snorted again.
"Okay, I'll take the horse. And I'll treat it nice and gently." Sky said, hopping up and leading the horse inside. Takakura shook his head and left.
As he walked in, Betsy was looking at the horse with disgust. "He does not belong." Betsy said.
"How would you know, you're just a cow!" Sky countered.
Betsy mooed.
Sky set up Apple's area and threw his newly scythe-cut grass in the box.
Apple snorted.
"UGH! What is it with me and animals? I stand by my point, I am NOT a good farmer."
"YES YOU ARE!" Takakura suddenly shouted from outside. He walked into the barn. "You just have the believe in yourself." He said, walking up to Sky.
Sky looked at him strangely.
"Believe you can do it, and you will. I know that deep inside of you, you have the heart to be a great farmer, just like your dad." Takakura held his hands out to Sky, as if expecting Sky to hug him or something. Suddenly everything seemed to be in slow motion and music in the background.
"Whoa! Whoa! Who turned on the cheesy inspirational music?"
The music stopped.
"And look, Takakura…NO!" He said, and ran far, far away.
Takakura shrugged and left again.
Sky sighed and slumped against the barn. Then he rang the little bell, and magically both the horse and cow went outside to the enclosed grass.
He walked out and into the sunshine. He heard Besty moo angrily, and he jumped as he saw Daryl studying the cow with deep intensity.
"What are you doing?" Sky demanded.
"I am not studying the cow." He said.
"Umm...why?"
"The cow belongs." Daryl said.
"Dude, I've already heard that the HORSE does not belong, now not the cow too!"
"There is something not strange about the cow."
"Like what."
"I shall not have to do scientific research."
"Whoa, you are NOT going to dissect my cow!"
"I will hurt the cow."
"Okay…" Sky scratched his head, and went into town.
The next day, Sky returned home with a sheep.
Now what drove him to do such an insane thing was beyond him, but he did NOT like it at all. All the sheep would do is sit, eat grass, and sleep. Barely made a sound. Sky called the sheep Sleep, because Sleep was an awesome name.
Sky was sitting on a milk bucket, watching Sleep eat.
"DO something, for crying out loud!" He yelled.
"Bawww!" the sheep said.
"Ah, you're not fun." He said, and threw the bucket at the sheep.
Sleep jumped into the air, all four of his little black hooves. Then, he plunged right into Sky with a giant head butt.
"Alright ENOUGH with the whole 'knocking me down' business. What have I ever done to offend YOU, huh? I buy you, feed you, give you a home, and THIS is the thanks I get."
The sheep said nothing, just quietly ate the grass as innocent as can be.
Sky had yet to approach Apple, who was wandering around the pen. Sure, he appeared innocent, but somehow Sky felt as if the horse was watching him, planning, waiting for the moment to strike with the deadly horseshoes on his feet.
"Well, I'm definitely not changing your shoes any time soon, buddy." Sky said from a far off distance to the horse.
"You're hopeless." Betsy commented as Sky approached her with the milk bucket.
"And so are you! You know, it's scientifically proven that cows have brains no bigger than birds. If they fall down, they can't even stand up! And you call ME hopeless!"
Then Sky threw the bucket down and began to milk Betsy. He then threw the milk bottles into the storage room and wrote down what he needed. This time, however, he added something different. He had a very smart idea, he was a very smart person. Got all C's on his report cards and everything. He had a plan, and he was going to do it.