Cow Tower

By Daniel Errico

The Cows of Cobblonia lived in a large field. This field was covered with rich, green grass. It was surrounded by water on three sides, and a cliff to the east, which was as tall as the sky and as steep as a wall.

On top of the cliff there lived a very special cow. He was known as “Ma Moomia May,” which meant “The Wise One” in ancient Cobblonian. The Wise One lived inside a cave, and sat at its mouth all day long. None of the other cows knew much about him, and nobody ever asked about him, except one…

His name was Randy, but he was known to all the others

as “Muckamoo Mee,” which means “The Annoying One.”

Randy never stopped asking questions.

He woke up with new questions to ask every morning.

“Why is the sky blue?” Randy asked his dad.

“Nobody knows,” said Randy’s dad.

“Then how do we know it won’t be purple tomorrow?” Randy continued.

“I can’t spend all day answering your questions, Randy. Why don’t you go play in the stream?”

So he did.

“How does the grass grow?” Randy asked his mother the next day.

“Nobody knows,” said Randy’s mom.

“Then how do you know it will keep growing?” Randy continued.

“I’m busy, Randy. Go play in the stream.”

And he did.

“How did The Wise One get atop the cliff?” Randy asked an elder cow.

“Nobody knows,” the elder cow replied.

“Then how can…nevermind,” said Randy, “should I go play in the stream?”

The elder cow nodded.

By this time, Randy was beginning to be called, “Muckamoo Mee Mana Swa,” which means “The Annoying One Who Swims Very Well.”

“Nobody ever answers my questions,” thought Randy. “I don’t want to play in the stream all day. I want to learn things. I want to know as much as The Wise One. I must talk to him.”

Randy spent a long time trying to figure out how to reach the top of the cliff and meet The Wise One. He watched the other cows swimming in the stream, he watched the calves playing with building blocks, and he watched the elder cows playing Bajong (Bajong is similar to the human game of chess, but much harder. If a cow ever challenges you to a game of Bajong, it is best to decline).

Randy came up with a plan and called a meeting of all the cows on the field.

“I have decided to speak with The Wise One, so that I may finally have the answers to all my questions. Will you help me?”

The crowd of cows moo-mured to themselves for a moment. Then cheered in agreement. They were tired of Randy asking so many questions, all day long.

“We will help in any way you need!” shouted an elder cow.

Randy got started right away. He made his dad stand at the base of the cliff. Then he made his mother climb up and stand on top of him. Then he made another cow climb up and stand on top of her. Then he made another cow climb up and stand on top of him. This continued until every cow in the Cobblonia had climbed up! Only Randy remained at the bottom.

They had made the tallest cow tower in the world!

Randy slowly climbed the tower, cow after cow, until he reached the tippy-top. He was just high enough to touch the top of the cliff, but the tower had started to sway back and forth from the wind. As the tower moved to and fro Randy had no choice but to make jump on top of the cliff! Just as he did the tower began to crumble and the cows fell on top of one another. Randy had just made it.

As all the cows at the bottom of the cliff dusted themselves off, Randy moved towards the cave. He saw The Wise One sipping a cup of tea.

“Hello,” said The Wise One, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“No, thank you,” said Randy, “I came to get answers to all of my questions.”

The Wise One took a sip of his tea.

“I will answer a single question,” he said.

Randy couldn’t believe it. One question! He had so many questions he wanted answered, but he had to make his one question count. It had to be the most important question he could think of. What did he want to know more than anything in the world?

Randy knew what to ask. It was something that one the wisest cow in the world could answer.

“How do I find my destiny?” Randy asked.

The Wise One put down his tea and looked at Randy and smiled.

“An excellent question,” he said, “The word ‘destination’ comes from ‘destiny,’ and therein lies the answer. You are now standing atop a very tall cliff. It is your destination. But how did you arrive? What was the first step?”

“I got tired of not getting any answers so I climbed up here,” said Randy.

“The first step was your decision to come see me. The first step to reaching a destination is a decision to go there. This is called the Choice. What did you do next?”

“I asked all the other cows to help me by building a tower. But, I think the only reason they helped was because they don’t like all my questions,” answered Randy.

“Most definitely,” said The Wise One,” and every question you asked made another cow willing to help you, whether you realized it or not. You were able to climb so high because of your own efforts. This is known as the Charge. And the last step?”

“Well, once I climbed up I had to jump to the cliff before the tower fell, but I don’t see how-“

“This I known as the Leap,” interrupted the Wise One, “And no destination is worth reaching without one. A Choice, a Charge, and a Leap. That is how you reach your destination. That is how you find your destiny. And as I said before, you are now standing here. You may ask me another question tomorrow. For now let us have some tea.”

From that day on Randy asked the Wise One all the questions that he had in his head. For years this continued until one day Randy woke up and the Wise One was gone.

Randy remained atop the cliff, living inside the cave, and became known as the Wise One to all the cows on the field below. Nobody knew much about him and nobody

ever asked about him, except one young cow…who happened to be a very good swimmer…