A Cash Cow

I wandered back to my place next to Spice’s side and before she could ask me how it went, I said to her matter-of-factly, “Tell me what you know about money.” She blinked her big eyes in surprise. The fringe of her thick lashes seemed to lengthen. “Money?” she asked. “What makes you ask about that?” “I heard Sunflower talking about it one day,” I replied. “I had never heard the word before, but it seemed important.” I didn’t tell Spice that Sunflower had mentioned money in terms of having to borrow some to get Spice’s illness treated. I didn’t want to remind Spice that she had been ill. She had been doing so well lately. She was almost back to her old self, but I could tell that she was a little wobbly. “’Sunflower?’” “That’s the name that I gave to the farmer. She named us so I thought I would name her.” Spice regarded me levelly and nodded. “’Sunflower,’ I like that. Maybe you were right when you said the farmer had a lot in common with us. I became close to her when I was sick. I heard her talk about money a few times. It seems like she is always worried about it.” Now it was my time to nod. “Was she talking to you?” I asked, my tail flicking a fly from my side. “Yes, she was. But I don’t think she knew I understood her. Do you want to learn about money or not?” I looked at her expectantly and held my long tongue. “Well one time she – I mean Sunflower – was talking to me about money and another time, I heard her talking to one of the farm hands when she was on the way to come see me when I was still in quarantine.” “And?” 

“I was just getting to it. Please be patient.” I wondered which farmhand, Spice overheard Sunflower talking to. But I didn’t want to ask too many questions. I inhaled deeply and exhaled. The air in the pasture smelled like us – like cows and cow dung. There was probably a little cow pee mixed into the scent. It also smelled like the fresh grass that had been planted there just for us. It smelled like home. “When I overheard her talking to the farmhand, she mentioned that she couldn’t pay him on time because the property taxes had gone up. The farmhand seemed to understand.” It must have been Jimmy, I thought. Ham Sandwich would never accept not being paid on time. “Property taxes?!” I asked. “You mean they charge money to live here?” Spice nodded. “Money” – explained Spice – “is something that humans made up. Sometimes their self-worth is based on it – you know their self-importance.” I widened my eyes. “I didn’t know this,” I replied. Well, now you do,” retorted Spice. “When humans have more money, they feel superior to other humans who have less money.” This didn’t make any sense to me. I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer. “Why would anyone want to feel superior to anyone else?” “Don’t be silly. There’s always a pecking order – even among cows,” Spice replied. “Not to mention the fact that we used to be money.” “Be money! Us!?” I could barely contain my curiosity. She looked at me coolly and chewed her cud. “I meant what I said,” she said finally. “An old cow told me that in ancient times the kings valued their worth on how many cows they owned. They even invaded other lands and took the cows as their own. Haven’t you ever heard the expression ‘a cash cow’?” I shook my head. “I never heard of such an expression. It sounds ridiculous. We don’t exist to make some king wealthy.”

This is Janet Mason reading from my novel Cinnamon: a dairy cow’s (and her farmer’s) path to freedom (published by Adelaide Books in New York and Lisbon). Cinnamon is available as a traditional book and as an e-book. You can find it where books are sold online, and through your local bookstores and libraries. This reading is for YouTube and Spotify.

To read my post on being intersectional, click here: Being many things at once and a new novel: #intersectional #LGBTQ #Animalrights #amreading | Janet Mason, author (wordpress.com)

My most recent novel is available on the publisher’s website: CINNAMON: a dairy cow’s (and her farmer’s) path to freedom | Adelaide Literary Magazine (adelaidebooks.org)

and on amazon.com: Cinnamon: A dairy cow’s (and her farmer’s) path to freedom: Mason, Janet: 9781958419786: Amazon.com: Books