2015/2016
Vol. 11

The Galloping Goat

1943; Toledo, Ohio, USA

It was the summer of 1943. My great-grandparents owned a small farm, where they grew vegetables. They also raised goats for their milk and chickens for their eggs.

Because goats are very playful when they are young, they are fun to be around. One afternoon my grandpa and great-uncle had a great idea. They decided to make a cart that the goat could pull through the field. They used some wood from orange crates and wheels from an old wagon. Then they made a harness from rope and attached it from the goat to the cart. My great-uncle, who was nine years old at the time, got into the cart and waited for the goat to start moving. But the goat was as still as a statue!

The boys tried to think of a way to make the goat move. They found an eight-foot-long pole and attached some string to the end of it. Then they went hunting for some food that the goat would like to eat. Their goats ate all sorts of things, such as grass, hay, and the bark off of trees. They even ate rose bushes with sharp thorns on them. But goats especially liked corn.

So the boys picked some field corn from the farm and tied an ear to the end of the string. My great-uncle picked up the pole, got back in the cart, and dangled the corn in front of the goat’s face. All of a sudden the goat shot off like a bullet toward the chicken coop. The cart got stuck in the fence, and chickens went scattering everywhere. Luckily my great-uncle and the animals did not get hurt. Who knew a goat could gallop so fast?!

Gregory Miller; Ohio, USA

Illustrator: Samuel Sheldon; Missouri, USA

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