Jack was ugly. Hideous. Disgusting. He was an emaciated excuse of a bull, standing barely at my hip, with horns and ears grown all akimbo. I laughed at him- which I don't think he remembers- and scoffed at Ted. "Why'd you go and pay money for the ugliest cow on the planet?"
It wasn't very much money.
Jack is nothing short of handsome.
Ted shrugged at my comment and told me to give him something to eat. He needed it.
It took a long time for Jack to grow into himself. Ted wanted to name him Fu- like Fu Manchu- from some song or another. I named him Jack.
Jack Sprat could eat no fat
His wife could eat no lean
And so together, hand-in-hand,
They licked the platter clean.
The girls all agreed, Jack stuck, and Kiki just kept getting fatter- and not with a baby. He was a dingy gray all over, and frightened of everything. The people he came from claimed he was in a field with some heifers, and insisted he bred them, but we doubt it. He was so thin we're sure his body naturally steered itself- looking for any nutrients it could. We love him anyway.
Jack doesn't moo. Ever. He huffs. If there's anything he feels warrants a moo, he headbutts and pushes on Kiki until she moos for him. He likes people on his level, and won't come up to an adult standing tall at the fence. His love for children is baffling, but they always seem to love him in return, regardless of the menacing horns and sneaky glint in his eyes.
I came back from vacation, and while my llama loves me, Jack was the only one who seemed to visibly miss me. Cleaning his stall, and he didn't want to run wild with Kiki and chase the llamas. He wanted to stand beside me, nuzzle me, and lick at me. Lick at my leg, lick my shoe, wait till I crouch down and lick his rough sandpaper tongue across my cheek.
When Jack finally gained enough weight to not be considered starving, he changed. He came out of his shell, he developed a personality. It took almost three years, but he noticed that he was getting two meals a day, without doubt. He bloomed from a washed-out gray to black and silver. His fur thickened and feels like crushed velvet. He loves having his hump rubbed, and behind his horns scratched.
He's the most handsome bull I've ever know.
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