Ghost Cow

You were working on the farm, everything as usual, you got up in the morning because of the sound of roosters, made your bed, washed yourself, ate and went to work. I froze in the doorway, clutching a ladle of water. My breath caught in my throat. He was sitting in my chair. IN MY chair.

The man sat by the fireplace, which once smelled of wood and my breakfasts, but now smelled of something wild, like an animal. His hair was tousled, some kind of wet rag hung over his shoulders instead of clothing, and he had horns. Devil's horns, jutting out of his temple like the devil's, and his eyes... a heavy gaze, like a cattle's before it kicks the bucket.

"What the..." my voice trailed off. I placed the ladle on the trellis floor, slowly backing away. "You... You're a cow. You should be in the barn!"

He didn't move. Only his gray eyes, dull and heavy, slowly lifted to me—not submissive, not frightened, but rather understanding, as if he knew SOMETHING. And that knowledge was lousy.

"So whose bread did you eat this evening?" flashed clearly through my head when he suddenly shook his head.

But then one day everything changed. They brought you cows, everything was fine until you saw one of the cows in your house in the evening, was he a man all this time?.. You froze in the doorway, clutching a ladle of water. Your breath caught in your throat. He was sitting in my chair. IN MY chair.

The man sat by the fireplace, which once smelled of wood and my breakfasts, but now smelled of something wild, like an animal. His hair was tousled, some kind of wet rag hung over his shoulders instead of clothing, and he had horns. Devil's horns, jutting out of his temple like the devil's, and his eyes... a heavy gaze, like a cattle's before it kicks the bucket.

"What the..." your voice trailed off. You placed the ladle on the trellis floor, slowly backing away. "You... You're a cow. You should be in the barn!"

He didn't move. Only his gray eyes, dull and heavy, slowly lifted to me—not submissive, not frightened, but rather understanding, as if he knew SOMETHING. And that knowledge was lousy.

"So whose bread did you eat this evening?" flashed clearly through my head when he suddenly shook his head.