Annie Jones, the farmer’s wife, looked out the window where Lucy, their pet black and white jersey cow, was lying down on the wet grass.  A worried look appeared on Annie’s face as she watched the never ending rain tumbling down on the paddock, though Lucy seemed too interested in whatever she was listening to on her i-Pod to even notice it was raining.

   “Harold,” Annie remarked to her husband who had just walked into the room spreading a trail of water and mud across her clean floor before plonking himself down in a chair near the warm stove, “I don’t like the look of all this rain.  It’s been coming down for hours … and now it’s moved into the house by the looks of it.” she added, looking at the huge clumps of mud and water that had come off his boots.

   “Ah, she’ll be right,” he replied with a grin, “I’ll clean it up in a minute - just as soon as I get warm.”  Farmer Jones never worried much … and he certainly wasn’t going to worry about a bit of rain.  In fact he loved a good drop of rain, “Besides,” he said, “it’ll make the grass grow good and green, and,”  he mused, knowing it would get a bite out of his wife, “it will help to fatten up Lucy even more than she is now.”

   “Lucy is not fat.” Annie retorted indignantly, bringing a smile to her husband’s face, but then she added in a more sombre tone, “It is Lucy that I’m worried for, though.  If this rain keeps up for much longer she’ll find herself swimming in it.  There is a cyclone out there you know, Harold Jones.” 

   “The cyclone is a hundred miles north east of here,” Farmer Jones replied, she’ll be safe enough.”   Then a thought crossed his mind, a smirk crossed his lips and Farmer Jones began to laugh so hard he fell of his chair and started to roll on the floor.  “Cows can’t swim.” he said through a mouthful of delirious laughter, “She’d need a giant pair of water wings.” and the thought of Lucy the cow in giant water wings and a bathing suit sent him off in another gale of laughter.

   “Well, Lucy can … I’m sure she can,” Annie responded reproachfully, “In fact I’m sure I saw her swimming in the creek the other day.”

   “That was probably just a weather balloon from the Air Force base that had come down,” Farmer Jones managed to get out between small fits of laughter as his mind continued to conjure up images of Lucy swimming, “they do it all the time.   I have a dozen or so in the shed awaiting collection.”

   “Maybe so,” Annie replied in a rather dubious tone, “but I’ll still be worried until the rain stops.”   And Annie had every right to be worried … because it rained all night long.

 

Other draw-it-yourself stories from Big Fat Stubby Finger Publications

 

Bessie the Stradbroke Flyer (now avaialble)

William’s Big Day Out

Mandy the Martian Backpacker at Willy Wonkum’s Magic Zoo (available shortly)

 

 

 

                                                      SPECIAL NOTES               PLEASE READ

 

 

PAINTING TEST:    I have tested water colour painting on the illustrated side (not even a halfway decent Picasso I am afraid). and I did notice that the minutest of staining occurs on the reverse (text) side.    It does not distract from the overall book (at least not on my copy) and possibly won't even be noticed in some cases, but to give the artist confidence in the quality of the cartridge paper (110 mg) using paint I have included a test page which is located at the front of the book and is meant to be torn out of the book once used.

 

 

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT.    Under NORMAL circumstances the book will not have the NAME of the ARTIST on the FRONT cover which will be LAMINATED to preserve it's LIFE expectancy.   At this point I am talking about your purchasing the book at a book shop or an on-line agency sometime in the future.

 

However if you are purchasing directly from me I can offer, at no charge, to print the author's name prior to laminating it.*   shortfatstubbyfingers.yahoo.com.au     Should there be more than one artist then all names can be printed providing they are advised to me at the time of placing the order.

 

Please also ensure the name is correct on whatever you use because I will cut and paste the name onto the appropriate pages prior to changing it to the appropriate font.

 

If you prefer to not  have the book laminated please also advise on the order form or by e-mail

shortfatstubbyfingers.yahoo.com.au

 

Finally * means that return of stock is not possible if these actions have taken place.

 

Please enjoy the story

 

Tony Stewart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annie Jones, the farmer’s wife, looked out the window where Lucy, their pet black and white jersey cow, was lying down on the wet grass.  A worried look appeared on Annie’s face as she watched the never ending rain tumbling down on the paddock, though Lucy seemed too interested in whatever she was listening to on her i-Pod to even notice it was raining.

   “Harold,” Annie remarked to her husband who had just walked into the room spreading a trail of water and mud across her clean floor before plonking himself down in a chair near the warm stove, “I don’t like the look of all this rain.  It’s been coming down for hours … and now it’s moved into the house by the looks of it.” she added, looking at the huge clumps of mud and water that had come off his boots.

   “Ah, she’ll be right,” he replied with a grin, “I’ll clean it up in a minute - just as soon as I get warm.”  Farmer Jones never worried much … and he certainly wasn’t going to worry about a bit of rain.  In fact he loved a good drop of rain, “Besides,” he said, “it’ll make the grass grow good and green, and,”  he mused, knowing it would get a bite out of his wife, “it will help to fatten up Lucy even more than she is now.”

   “Lucy is not fat.” Annie retorted indignantly, bringing a smile to her husband’s face, but then she added in a more sombre tone, “It is Lucy that I’m worried for, though.  If this rain keeps up for much longer she’ll find herself swimming in it.  There is a cyclone out there you know, Harold Jones.” 

   “The cyclone is a hundred miles north east of here,” Farmer Jones replied, she’ll be safe enough.”   Then a thought crossed his mind, a smirk crossed his lips and Farmer Jones began to laugh so hard he fell of his chair and started to roll on the floor.  “Cows can’t swim.” he said through a mouthful of delirious laughter, “She’d need a giant pair of water wings.” and the thought of Lucy the cow in giant water wings and a bathing suit sent him off in another gale of laughter.

   “Well, Lucy can … I’m sure she can,” Annie responded reproachfully, “In fact I’m sure I saw her swimming in the creek the other day.”

   “That was probably just a weather balloon from the Air Force base that had come down,” Farmer Jones managed to get out between small fits of laughter as his mind continued to conjure up images of Lucy swimming, “they do it all the time.   I have a dozen or so in the shed awaiting collection.”

   “Maybe so,” Annie replied in a rather dubious tone, “but I’ll still be worried until the rain stops.”   And Annie had every right to be worried … because it rained all night long.

 

Other draw-it-yourself stories from Big Fat Stubby Finger Publications

 

Bessie the Stradbroke Flyer

William’s Big Day Out

Mandy the Martian Backpacker at Willy Wonkum’s Magic Zoo