Spring was almost over and the mother was scared. She was scared that the day would come when he would come to pick one of them. He would pick one of them and drag them away from the rest.
“Here he comes. Just relax and stay calm,” said mother.
“Damn it! He always scares me. This weird gross creature,” replied her daughter Bella as a strange figure everybody else referred to as the Feeder jumped over the fence and strolled toward them.
“Don’t be scared, darling. I know he won’t harm you,” lied her mother and watched how another guy started to walk toward the field, too.
“He is staring at me. Make him go!” Bella was terrified.
“Close your eyes. He will be gone soon.” The mother was watching the creatures exchanging some weird sounds she did not understand. “You have seen him a thousand times. He is not as bad as you think.”
“So you say! Who knows what these things want from us.” Bella had a point.
The mother could only guess what they wanted from them. She had seen them take so many children and mothers already. She was terrified that this spring it would be her or Bella’s turn. They had been lucky many times. Too many times.
“Honey, don’t freak out but I see another one of them,” the mother said and hoped Bella would stay calm. The other one whom they called the Taker always joined the Feeder when they would choose one of them to be taken away.
“What no way. You don’t say.” Bella was shaking. She had only seen him three times and had only heard stories about the Taker from the other ones.
“Get behind me, now,” commanded the mother. This was getting serious. The guys were walking toward them. Why did they have to stand so far away from the others?
“No, I want to see!” Bella’s nosiness won over her fear. She leaned over to get a better view of the Taker. She was curious to see if the stories she heard were true. But her mother moved so her view was blocked.
“You were scared just five seconds ago,” complained the mother. Couldn’t she just listen to her once? This was definitely not the time to fool around. “Get behind me now. And don’t move,” repeated the mother and hoped that Bella would listen, because of the sharp tone in her voice.
“Let me see,” yelled Bella. Whenever she could not have something, she only wanted it more. She loved her daughter, but sometimes she just needed to put her foot down: “Now you listen! I know the Feeder one is always good to us. But this one, the Taker, is different!”
This didn’t stop Bella. “No, I want to see the other guy!” Bella bravely jumped a few yards in front of her only to quickly take cover behind her huge back again. “Oh my God is that him? He looks even more gross! What are these red dots on his shirt?” His white coat was down to his knees and covered in a lot of big red wet spots. His hairless gray skin was old and wrinkled. He looked even more horrifying than she could have imagined.
“He is evil!” said the mother and silently stared towards the Taker, who was now moving in their direction.
The last word struck Bella like the iron she was brand marked with. “Evil?” she repeated. ”Hide me. I don’t want him to see me!” Her big eyes darkened and filled with horror. The mother could smell her fear as well as the blood on the Taker’s coat.
“Stay quiet or they will pick us,” whispered the mother and softly licked her daughter’s ear.
“Can’t we move closer to the others?” asked Bella in hope to have more protection standing by the rest of the herd.
“I think it’s already too late. He is coming toward us.” Mother’s words were monotonous and by this Bella finally understood that this was really serious. It was so serious, that even her mother was scared. Now she could also smell her fear.
“Mom the Taker is pointing at you.” Bella hoped that this would all be just a bad joke.
“Stay calm. Nothing is gonna happen to you. I promise! You will be fine. Trust me,” the mother said and started to move toward them so they would leave Bella behind and take her.
“Don’t leave me!” Bella would have started crying if she would have been able to.
“I will be fine! He is not as evil as you may think,” lied the mother again as she turned around to say farewell to her little calf. “Don’t worry. Run to the others. They will be your family”
Bella rushed toward the other cows of the herd and heard her mother moo a last goodbye as she saw how the Taker and the Feeder pushed her into a huge truck. By the time the farmer and the butcher had closed the van with the word Peter’s Slaughterhouse, Bella had already taken cover in the big herd.
Her mother’s word stayed true. The Taker didn’t take Bella, not today at least.
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