Two farmers learn the value of the animals they once rejected
Deep in the rolling hills and vast open land beyond Berlin, Connecticut, in a medium-sized farm called the Hard Rain Farm, there lived a respected farmer who went by “Father Tom” or “Grandpa Tom” and his loving wife who went by “Grandma Carol.” They owned many a creature that ordinarily occupied a farm. They had dozens of hens for eating and eggs and a handful of roosters who made an unbearable ruckus at 3 a.m. every morning. They had one or two pigs each year for mainly the dinner table. They had faithful dogs for companionship (and chaos) and a barn and a yard to keep them all in. However, there was one type of animal that Grandpa Tom and Grandma Carol absolutely, positively, could not stand: kittens!
Grandpa Tom and Grandma Carol hated kittens. When first they moved to the farm, they had a male and a female cat. The cats had a litter of kittens. Soon, there were cats cascading down the stairs, cats creating havoc everywhere, cats making the window bare by using claws to curtain-tear! Too! Many! Cats! After that, Grandpa Tom and Grandma Carol decided to never even look at a cat again, let alone own one.
One sunny day, Grandpa Tom and Grandma Carol decided it was time to get a new collie pup. They decided that the correct spot to get a farm dog would be the shelter. Soon they were off.
When they arrived, they placed their bag on a chair and left the entrance in search of a puppy. They were so busy choosing which puppy was the best (the one with the spot over its right eye or the one with a black splotch on its back) they did not notice a male and a female cat playing with the bag’s handle. Not even when the cats curled cozily in the bottom of the bag under two sweaters and a spare key.
As they got into their forest-green truck that bore the words “Hard Rain Farm” in letters of white, Grandpa Tom and Grandma Carol did not realize they carried two more creatures than expected. They did not discover it until . . .
One day, in early spring, Grandpa Tom went out to till the soil. What a sight met his eyes! There were cats tearing the bark off trees, cats chasing swarms of bees! Cats churning up the ground, and cats creating lots of sound! But, when he looked a little closer, he saw that the cats had scratched so much, every single root was ripped from the earth, the weeds were all uprooted, and the ground was as fluffy as a feather mattress. Also, their droppings had fertilized the ground to perfection.
Grandpa Tom hurried in and told Grandma Carol. When she saw the beautiful soil, she exclaimed, “We must keep them!” Grandpa Tom and Grandma Carol, who used to despise kittens, now absolutely, positively, adored kittens. And to this day, the great-great-grandkittens of the kittens who started this all are still on the Hard Rain Farm. Now, in early spring every year, Grandpa Tom and Grandma Carol let the cats loose, and they till the soil perfectly.
Meowy Meow! (The end!)
