JESSICA's STORY..................................

          Hi!  I'm Jessica.  I am just your ordinary run-of-the-mill cow, the beef kind, not the milking kind.  I am brown and white, curly haired, and not bad looking if I do say so myself.  I am very old now, I have had a long life, but my days with My Moose are still vivid and strong in my memory. 

          I live on a farm in Vermont - that is a state if you don't recognize the name - and I have a very peaceful and enjoyable life-style.  I graze (eating to you) and drink my water, and just kind of wander around, looking important.  There are several cows in my pasture with me, we are more or less friends, or maybe I should say we tolerate each other.  But we get along.

          It was late fall, most of the leaves had fallen, winter was fast approaching.  This particular morning when I awakened I began grazing.  That is what I do best.  Suddenly I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye, so I looked up.  Standing just at the edge of the woods was a Moose.  Moose are big!  Moose are really big!  They also have the huge long rack of horns on their heads.  I imagine those buggers could do some real damage if he got mad at you. 

          Any how, there stood that Moose, looking over the herd.  Then slowly he began walking towards us, and he stopped not too far from me.  We just kind of looked at each other, I went back to grazing, keeping an eye on him as I didn't know what he was going to do. 

          Just about that time the people in the house came outside, as they had seen the Moose from their window.  They approached the fence very slowly and carefully, as they were not sure what the Moose would do.  Moose don't like people.  Moose live in the deep woods and the mountains.  Moose DO NOT live in pastures with cows.  But here he was.

          He just kind of hung around.  As the days passed, he became friendlier, staying by my side during the day, then when I would sleep at night he would wander off and eat his kind of food.  He didn't really like hay, but would nibble on the grass.  Pretty soon our farm started getting visitors.  Word of the Moose, I guess actually he was MY Moose was getting around and folks came to see and take pictures.

          If there were too many people wandering around outside the pasture, My Moose would stand beside me, sometimes laying his head on my shoulders, letting everyone know they were not to mess with me.  Soon the cars became buses full of people. Then one day we were filmed by TV reporters, and became national news. 

          For some reason My Moose didn't pay any attention to the other cows in the pasture, he became my friend, my guardian, my companion, and I really felt special that this very large Moose liked me.  I know I liked having him around.  It gave me status, I was better than the other cows.  So we hung out together.

          Fall turned into winter.  Then the air began changing, I could feel that, even tho there was still some snow on the ground, that spring was coming.  One day a few days later, I noticed My Moose just standing and looking at the Mountains in the distance.  For the longest time he just stood there, as I grazed, looking and looking.   After a while he came over to me, I lifted my head, looking at him.  He just stood there looking at me for the longest time, then began his daily routine of nibbling grass as I grazed.

          Usually when I lay down at night to sleep, My Moose would wander off to eat his kind of food, or stay near-by.  But that night was different.  After I lay down and started dozing, My Moose lay down also, putting his big head on my shoulders.  That is how I went to sleep.

          The next morning My Moose was gone.  Somehow I knew.  The people of the house kept coming out, looking for the Moose, wondering where he was.  Later that day I heard them talking that a neighbor had called saying she had seen My Moose trotting across her pasture, head held high, heading for the mountains in the distance.  He was, after all, a wild creature where I was a domesticated creature.  I never saw him again.  For weeks my people would watch for him, hoping he would return.  He never did.  But I have never forgotten him, how he stayed with me, protected me, and was just there.

It has been a long time since my time with the Moose.  I have heard people talking about "Jessica's Moose" from time to time, I don't know why he came from the mountains to spend that winter with me, I don't know what he was thinking, but it was a special time in my life.  Never before, nor since, has that happened that anyone is aware of. 

          I understand that a book has been written - "A Moose for Jessica".  I wish I could read.

          Perhaps in the next life we will see each other again.  At least I hope so.

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NOTE:  If you liked this story as told from Jessica's viewpoint, perhaps you would like to read my 3 volume series of IF ONLY I COULD TALK books, each book contains 20 short stories told from the subjects viewpoint, complete with pictures.  They are available on http://www.amazon.com/ or through http://www.doubleedgepress.com/