Desperation to survive
Arthur inhaled a mixed odor of dust, flies, and dead cows.
Midnight. Something was wrong. Arthur heard stampeding.
Arthur looked at his cows in the pen. They had 120,000 head of beef cattle, and still not enough water for them to drink, but the drought forced them to drink, tasting the black mixture of flies, and remnants of dead cows.
“Come with me. Let’s look,” he told his fifteen-year-old son.
Even though it was a full moon and the stars shone brightly, Arthur’s son touched Arthur’s shoulder lightly as they sauntered toward the cows.
Touching the dead grass, Arthur tried to encourage new roots, using water he had brought from the kitchen. The grasslands had given up their lifeblood and long since died. It was the fourth year of the drought. Their water dam had shrunk to a shriveled pit. Not enough for their cattle to drink. The scent of the hay from the barn, that Arthur had bought for this season, caught their nostrils, as they walked toward the huddled cows.
No of Pages: 23
Language: English
File Size: 252kb