F & I

Once, not that long ago, there was a little bull and his name was Ferdinand. Ferdinand loved, of all things, the beach. He only knew it because Florinda, the farmer's daughter spoke so lovingly of the beach on her cell phone when she fed them hay every afternoon. Pretending to focus only on his salt lick, he would listen intently to her rave about the South Pacific's beautiful islands and their perfect beaches. And he adored these stories. He longed to stroll along these beaches. Not just any beach, though. The one he longed to see the most was the famed midnight blue sands of the South Pacific island of Calovella. Oddly enough, Ferdinand's lover was Isabella. Both of them had grand plans to sail to the island, claim it as their own and make it a cattle-only island (no humans allowed). They managed to escape their small rural village of Basque country. An unguarded pleasure yacht (and Ferdinand's ability to unfasten nautical knots with his hooves) was the key to their escape. Isabella had a way with machines and managed to sail them to Calovella in only 9 hours. (Ferdinand had figured it would take them 12 and had even carried some hay and a little wine for their journey.) When they arrived, the first thing Isabella wanted to do was tan on the beach. So they did. They lolled around languidly, until Ferdinand asked Isabella for a milkshake. After she produced some, he smiled and put his hoof in hers. They smiled at their accomplishment -- no cattle had ever devised such a cunning escape. And they had even pulled it off! The sunset before them was astounding -- red and gold fire on the calm but mercurial South Pacific waters. F & I were happy.

Note: This story is based on an Exquisite Corpse from Busboys and Poets.