"Remind me why we doing this again?" Crysta asked as they crept down the stairs.
"Shhh!" Max hissed. "We're doing this because we can and Lydia said that there was nothing to do."
"Thanks Lydia."
"Hey, it's not my fault that Max's aunt had to insist that we spend the night here." Lydia protested as they reached the bottom of the stairs and made their way across the living room.
"Yea well, you didn't have to listen to her stories; that only encouraged her to ask us to stay." Max shot back.
"But it was so much fun hearing how you cried when a cow licked you." Alex said grinning.
Max opened her mouth to retort but she heard faint noises coming from the kitchen. Pausing she cursed under her breath, they couldn't get out without whoever was in the kitchen seeing them. Taking a breath she started down the hallway again, this time walking towards the kitchen.
Peaking in, she saw that it was her cousin Laura. "Oh," Max said, walking in with the rest in tow. "it's only you."
"Gee thanks." Laura deadpanned. Raising an eyebrow she asked, "All of you suddenly have the munchies?"
Lydia shrugged and said, "We needed an ice cream fix."
Laura looked at them, not saying anything. "You guys were going cow tipping." She stated.
"What makes you think that?" Crysta asked nervously.
"The fact that it's midnight and you all are wearing grungy clothes."
"I didn't know we needed an excuse to be comfortable." Max retorted.
Laura just smiled, "You are going cow tipping. Can I come with?"
"If you promise not to tell."
"I wasn't going to anyways…what do you think me and my friends do around here?"
"Barn raisings?" Lydia offered, smiling.
Laura just rolled her eyes, got up and put her dish in the sink while saying, "Our best bet is the field next to us…they always have cows there."
"Sounds like a plan." Alex said as they made their outside.
----
"This is going to be fun." Lydia giggled as they made their way across the lawn. "So who here besides Laura knows how to tip a cow?" It was almost pitch black, the only light coming from the crescent moon and the flashlights that the girls had.
"You're from Wisconsin, aren't you?" Max asked.
"...yeah." Lydia stated, confused. Max knew that she was from Wisconsin; so why bother asking?
"Your state animal is cheese." Laura said, giggling.
"...have you been drinking?" Crysta asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Shut up and let me finish what I was saying." Max said before Laura could answer. "You're from Wisconsin, so therefore you know about the fine art of cow-tipping, right?"
"...I have never tipped a cow." Lydia admitted, feeling her cheeks heat up.
"Are you sure?" Alex asked, skeptical.
"I grew up in the city! The closest I got to a cow was at the zoo!" Lydia shot back. They heard the soft lowing of cows and headed in that direction. When their flashlight beams hit a cow they stopped a few feet from it.
"Well, here's your chance to get up close and personal with one!" Max said, taking hold of Lydia and shoving her towards the cow.
"What? No! Hey!" Lydia protested as she was propelled forwards.
Max continued to push Lydia forwards and then let go with one final shove. Lydia lost her footing and fell down, her knees making a 'squishing' sound as they hit the ground.
"...you realize what I'm kneeling in now, don't you Max?" Lydia said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Um...oops?" Max gulped, eyes wide.
"Shoving me into a cow pie is not oops!"
"Big oops?"
"Big oops?! I'll show you big oops!" Lydia exclaimed as she stood and threw a handful of mud and…other stuff at Max. It hit her with a 'splat' and Max flinched.
"Oh, is that how it's gonna be?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That was payback."
"Ok, ok." Alex broke in before it could degenerate into an all-out mud fight. "It was an accident and Lydia got even. Now let's tip some cows before people wake up with all this shouting and catch us."
"Too late." Laura said as she pointed to two pinpoints of light in the distance. They could hear the sound of tires becoming louder and louder and the lights grew nearer and nearer.
"Quick! Run!" Crysta shouted, bolting. Everyone else followed and they ran back towards the house laughing as they did.
Laura was the last one in and closed the door quietly, hoping that they didn't wake up the entire house.
Gasping for breath they giggled as quietly as they could given the circumstances. Max made a face as she saw that her shirt was now dirty and smelled like a barn. "Ugh…I'm gonna have to wash this tomorrow." She said, taking the plaid shirt off and holding it away from herself.
"Mine too." Lydia said, wrinkling her nose at the thought of the state her jeans were in now.
"Here, give them to me." Laura said, holding out her hand. "I can throw them in tonight and tomorrow they'll be dry so you don't have to wait."
"You sure?" Lydia asked, eyebrow rising.
"I'm sure. Besides we're gonna have to wash all of our clothes unless we want my mom to ask why it smells like cow in the morning."
"If it's no problem."
"Nope, I always do laundry at odd hours so if they hear the washer or dryer they won't think anything out of the ordinary."
Alex looked at Max and said, "You have a strange family."
"I know." Max replied, smiling. "I wouldn't have it any other way."