The Last Summer

The barn was old and welcoming; it stood in the field like a wise old man. The property had been a working farm once. When Ingrid's parents had bought the property, they had planned to turn it into one again, but they were always too busy

Ingrid wanted to live on a farm more than anything. She loved animals and daydreamed of having animals of her own. The animals were very real to her.

There were Nickle and Quarter - the chickens. They always fought over the best nest - the one in the corner by the door. They were always scheming to take over the good nest.

There were Blue and Yellow, the two goats. They were best friends and never left each other's side. They were such good friends that they refused to be friendly to anyone else. Even when Ingrid fed them, they sometimes spat on her when she got too close.

The cows were Maple, Pancake, and Blueberry. Blueberry and Pancake got along but, Maple was a grumpy old gal. She had a good heart, of course, but she preferred to keep to herself. Sometimes, if Maple was having a good day, she would nuzzle Ingrid’s hand.

Last but not least, there was Hobble the turkey. Hobble was named due to his limp (and because it rhymed with gobble). He was caught in a turkey trap one year on Thanksgiving - luckily, he had escaped. No one knew how exactly. Now Hobble loved to run across the property while merrily gobbling. Ingrid would never tell any of the other animals, but Hobble was secretly her favorite. He would follow her all the way to the front gate of the house, walking here there like a gentleman.

It was Ingrid’s first day of summer vacation. She was so excited that she would get to see the animals every day now. Summer vacation was always the best. She ran out the front door after breakfast.

Her mom yelled after her, “Be home in time for dinner!”

Hobble met her at the front gate, where he was gobbling excitedly; clearly, Ingrid’s excitement was contagious. She laughed and patted Hobble on the head. She ran up to the field with Hobble trailing slightly behind. He concentrated hard to keep up with her.

Ingrid burst through the barn door and surprised Nickle – who had ended up in the good nest last night. Nickle flapped her wings and ruffled her feathers but didn’t leave the nest. Quarter was watching closely.

Moments later Hobble burst through the barn door and scared Nickle so much that she flew into the rafters. Quarter quickly ran to take over the nest. Both chickens started to peck at each other and, Ingrid couldn't help but laugh at them.

Ingrid went to tend to the goats first since they were the most demanding. Blue eyed her suspiciously while Yellow bleated in her face.

“Calm down! I'm getting your food,” Ingrid laughed.

She put their feed in the trough and, they started to eat. But they continued to bleat at her in between mouthfuls.

Then she went over to see the cows. Maple was lying in the corner, pretending to sleep while Pancake and Blueberry mooed and paced around the pen. Ingrid opened the gate to let them out into the field. Pancake and Blueberry quickly headed out to start grazing. Only after they were gone did Maple slowly get up and go out herself. Ingrid affectionately rubbed her side as she passed.

Ingrid spent the rest of the day playing tag with Hobble, making sure Blue and Yellow didn’t escape the field and watching Nickle and Quarter take over the good nest in turns. She was, of course, late for dinner.

Over dinner, Ingrid eagerly recounted the animals' shenanigans to her parents and, they smiled and laughed along with her. They liked asking her questions about the animals and kept tabs on whether they needed to pick up more feed or hay.

The next two weeks went by for Ingrid in much the same way. Somedays she only spent part of the day in the barn; the other half was spent biking with the neighbors down the road or helping her mom run errands in town. But every morning she went up to the barn to make sure everyone was fed, happy, and let out into the field, and then back again in the evening.

On the third week of summer vacation, Ingrid’s cousin Danny came to visit. Ingrid loved when her cousin came to visit each summer. Together they would play for hours on end. Danny was just as good as Ingrid at telling stories and, last year she even brought her own Llama. The Llama, Almond, had escaped from a zoo and wandered into Danny’s backyard. Almond loved living in Danny’s backyard, even though it was in the city. But Almond also couldn’t wait to visit the other animals in the barn each summer.

It was always chaos when Danny first arrived. The girls would squeal and hug and both talk at the same time while trying to catch up. They ran to Ingrid’s room so Danny could unpack and then decided to have a sleepover in the living room – pulling out the couch cushions and watching a movie.

Before they could get their pajamas on Ingrid said, “First we have to go let the animals back in the barn! Did Almond come this year?”

Danny stared at Ingrid and blushed. “Huh?” she said.

Ingrid laughed, “The animals silly! You know – Hobble and Maple and the goats and chickens. They have to come back in for the night.”

“Oh right,” Danny said a bit sheepishly. “It’s just that I’m kind of too old to play pretend now. But I can come with you if you want.”

Ingrid was quiet for a moment and then let out a weak laugh, “Oh, I was just kidding, I’m too old for that too. We can just watch the movie.”

Ingrid worried about the animals all night. Would Maple be okay in the cold, and would Hobble miss her saying goodnight?

In the morning, she snuck out before Danny was awake to check on the animals. Thankfully Hobble was there to meet her at the gate and, all the animals were safe, though Maple was grumpier than ever. Ingrid apologized and promised she’d be back that evening. She even hugged Hobble while he hopped around and fluffed his wings.

But Ingrid didn’t make it back that evening. She was busy playing a game with Danny and looking at the magazines she’d brought. Danny said she had saved up her allowance to pay for them. Ingrid was impressed with the glossy covers and a little perplexed by all the people in them. They all wore makeup and fancy clothes, and they weren’t much older than Ingrid and Danny.

Danny stayed for ten whole days, and it was a wonderful visit. Ingrid and Danny went to the movies all by themselves, went to the mall, stayed up late, and giggled about the boys in the magazines after the lights were out. Once, Ingrid’s mom had to knock on the door and tell them to be quiet because they laughed so loud.

Ingrid only went to check on the animals once during Danny’s visit while she was on the phone with her mom. When she went out, Hobble didn’t meet her by the gate. He was up in the barn with the other animals. When she went into the barn, Hobble gobbled at her but stayed in his roost. Blue and Yellow, who usually made a fuss of glaring at Ingrid, simply ignored her today. The chickens were huddled together in the same nest and eyed her silently. Blueberry and Pancake stamped their feet when she passed them. Sweet Maple was the only one who seemed to care. She walked slowly over to Ingrid and nuzzled her with her snout.

She apologized to the animals, but she had to be back at the house before Danny finished talking to her parents. She clicked her tongue at Hobble to get him to walk her down to the house, but he only stared at her. She felt guilty leaving the animals but promised she’d be back soon. She ran back to the house, missing Hobble’s presence the whole way.

When Danny left, she and Ingrid both cried. Ingrid hugged her and said she wished she could stay forever. Danny promised to email her all the time. Danny also left Ingrid her magazines and a cherry-flavored lip balm that made her lips a little red (kind of like lipstick) when she wore it.

Ingrid went back to the barn in the afternoon, but the animals weren’t there. There were signs that they had been there recently, and she thought she could hear the cows and goats out in the field. But when she went to look for them, she couldn’t find them. She went back to the barn again in a few days, and there were no signs of the animals now. No nests for the chickens, no warm beds of straw for the cows, and no roost for Hobble. It was just a dusty, old, worn-down barn.

Her dad asked her about the animals that night. He said he hadn’t heard what they were up to in a while.

Ingrid pushed her food around with her fork and said, “Well dad, I’m just a bit too old to be pretending we have animals.”

Her dad’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh, are you?” he asked. “I thought you just weren’t checking on them because Danny was here.”

“Well, we’re both too old for that dad,” Ingrid replied. She didn’t want to tell her parents that the animals had disappeared. She didn't understand why.

Her father nodded, “Okay then,” he said.

Ingrid didn’t notice, but her mom and dad squeezed each other's hands under the table for a moment.

Over the years, Ingrid still went to the barn from time to time. It was never to visit the animals. It was always with her friends to chat or see if the barn was haunted. One summer, when her parents had all the neighbors over for a BBQ, she had her first kiss in the barn.

When Ingrid was 15, there was a bad storm, and a tree fell onto the barn. The barn was ruined, and her parents admitted that they probably wouldn’t get animals until they retired.

“Do you remember your animals?” Ingrid’s dad asked her.

Ingrid stared at him blankly and said, “Animals? I never had any pets.”

Her dad looked at her with big, glassy eyes. “When you were younger, you used to pretend to have a whole farm of animals. You used to tell us about them all the time. You spent so many summers just playing in the barn. You were so sweet.”

Ingrid shook her head, “I don’t remember that.”

Her father sighed and gave her mom a look. Ingrid shrugged her shoulders and asked if she could be excused to finish her homework.

That night, Ingrid had a strange dream. She dreamt that she was standing at the front gate and a turkey and cow met her there. The turkey gobbled excitedly and flapped its wings when it saw her. It seemed to have injured its leg so, Ingrid ruffled its feathers affectionately. The cow nuzzled Ingrid's hand lovingly while she patted her nose and rubbed her sides. She smiled at the strange animals and felt something tugging at her emotions.

Then the animals turned away and walked towards a field that Ingrid had never seen before. In the distance, a little girl was waving and smiling at the animals. Ingrid woke up and looked out at the old barn with a pang of sorrow.