6 THE MONSTER

CHAPTER 6 THE MONSTER The cows were munching hay in their stalls when the big barn door slid open and a mechanical monster stomped in from the rain. The creature marched down the center aisle, her footsteps echoing through the cavernous space, until she found an empty corner. And there she stood, in the shadows, as a storm began to rage outside. Everybody listened as the rain poured and the wind howled and the thunder cracked. By midnight, the storm had blown over, and there was only a gentle sprinkling on the roof. But the herd couldn't rest with that monster lurking in the corner. Cows began quietly mooing to each other. "What is the monster doing?" "She hasn't moved in hours." "I bet she's waiting to eat us in our sleep!" The cows gasped at this horrible thought. And then an old cow named Annabelle tried to calm down the

herd. "Relax, everyone," she said. "There were monsters like this at my last farm, and they never ate any cows. Come to think of it, they never ate anything at all." "If this monster has never eaten anything at all, she must be awfully hungry by now!" said a cow named Tess. "I saw the farmer driving the monster around in his truck," said a calf named Lily. "I don't think he would have done that if she were dangerous." Nobody knew quite what to think of the strange creature in their midst. "I think the monster is harmless." "I think the monster is unnatural!" "I think the monster is moving!" The herd fell silent as the monster marched out from the shadows and into the middle of the barn. And then the monster did the impossible. She did the unthinkable. She spoke to the cows in the language of the animals. "I am not a monster, I am a robot. My name is Roz."