Calf Life Cycle

• Andy Mulcahy, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2020

Once upon a time there lived a little calf that liked playing with his friends. He was only small, but he fit in well. One day he got moved into a new pen. It was long and not very wide. He stayed close to his mother and never got left behind. His mum had warned him that this would happen sooner or later. The little calf adjusted to his new and tight space, and liked that it didn’t get too cold at night. When the dingoes snuck up to the pen, they could not find the calf or his friends because they were in the middle of the yard. Just when he thought all of his worries were washed away, the next morning they were all getting chased and taken away from their mums.
That afternoon the young calves got taken around, had weird things put into their ears, part of their ear cut out and a hot thing on their rumps that branded them. That night they got brought back to their mums pen and told them what happened. The next morning the cattle were getting chased away from their old paddock. The calves were confused but happy to be leaving the yards.
The next year they were getting mustered again so they headed for the yards hoping they would go to their old home again, but they were tricked. This time the lane was a lot narrower and it was a lot shorter. They got there early in the morning and got taken away from their mothers and didn’t go back. So they got taken to a different paddock and never saw their mothers again, so they struggled for survival until they realized they were all still with their friends.