"I love this place!" Mary squealed as they heard the bleating of the sheep and the goats. Tammy's mother, Mrs. Green, had taken Mary and Mary's friends Tammy and Sherri to Mr. MacGregor's Petting Zoo.
Sherri wrinkled her nose. They smell kind of funny, she thought to herself. Aloud she said, "I've never seen sheep and goats up close before."
Tammy saw an opportunity for a joke. "Try this," she said. "Take a little food from the dispenser and hold it out on the palm of your hand, so the animals see how little there is. They won't all come up to you because they know it's not enough. Most of them will scatter."
With a small amount of animal food in her hand, Sherri walked across the yard.
"Don't look back," Tammy hollered. "The animals will all follow you if you do."
Sherri kept walking all the way across the yard, her hand held straight out in front of her. She turned around when she reached the end. The sheep and the goats instantly rushed her!
Mary and Tammy were laughing when suddenly Mary exclaimed, "What's wrong, Sherri?"
Tears streamed down Sherri's face as the sheep nibbled the emptiness in her hand and even her pants leg. Ashamed, she turned away and wiped tears so the others couldn't see.
Immediately, Mrs. Green rushed over and hugged Sherri to make it better. Tammy threw a handful of food toward the other end of the corral so the animals would run in the other direction.
Tammy asked Sherri, "What's wrong with you?"
At the harshness of Tammy's words, Sherri flinched and her chin wobbled.
"What's wrong with her?" Mary repeated. "Why did you tell her that lie about the food?"
"For the same reason you laughed! It was funny when my father played the joke," she insisted.
"Tell her you're sorry," Mary said, then while facing Sherri, "I'm sorry too, for laughing."
"All forgiven?" Tammy asked.
Sherri said, "No, it's not. I was scared. I don't know these animals very well."
Tammy said, "They wouldn't hurt you."
Another tear fell from Sherri's cheek, "But how was I to know if they would or not?"
Mrs. Green quietly led them out of the petting area and said, "Sherri's right, dear. Your father stood right beside you when he played that joke."
Tammy looked up into her mother's calm face and knew she was right.
Putting her arm around Sherri's shoulder, she said quietly, "When my parents got divorced, I cried a lot. I had a very good friend who called me Little Tam. It made me feel good. When we met, you reminded me of her. No more pranks from now on, Little Sherri."
The sun was just beginning to set and the three friends put their arms around one another and started back to the car.
For one quick moment, Sherri looked back. Sitting in the middle of the corral was one lone sheep staring right at her. She would never forget the kind and gentle look in his eyes and she wasn't afraid anymore. She smiled slightly, raised her hand in a gesture of farewell, and turned back to her friends.
"I'll brave the storm inside. That's what my mother says is the hardest part of life. And now I have friends to help me," Sherri said.
--
Nicole Borgenicht is a freelance writer based in Palm Springs.
