A Bedtime Story

Once upon a time there was a beautiful golden sheep named Sophia. She and her three best friends, Dorothy, Blanche and Rose, lived on a farm. They spent their days eating green grass in the summer and nibbling on crunchy hay in the winter. Their shelter was small but nice and filled with comfortable straw to rest on. In the morning the shepherd would pour out a small amount of corn for them as a treat. At bedtime they would follow the shepherd into the barn where they would each receive an animal cracker. It was a good life.

Then one cold and blustery day Sophia grew tired of the animal crackers. She thought they were bland and tasteless. She would rather have more corn. That night, when the other sheep followed the shepherd into the barn, she stayed outside and refused to go in. The shepherd asked "What's wrong, Sophia?"

"I don't like animal crackers, I would rather have corn" she said.

"But I don't have any corn, Sophia."

"Yes you do. It's in that little barn over there."

"No Sophia, it's time for bed. Come get your animal cracker."

"But there is corn in this building right here. Just behind the door. I know it's in there."


Sophia wouldn't give up. No matter how hard the shepherd tried to reason with her, Sophia wouldn't budge. "I'm not going to bed until you pour out some corn and that's all there is to it" she said.


"If you don't do what she says, we could be out here all night" whispered her friend Rose.

Finally the shepherd agreed, deciding a little corn wouldn't hurt anything. The news made Blanche jump straight up into the air. "It worked, it worked! We're getting corn" she shouted!

"Oh my goodness, I'm so excited! I can't believe it worked" said Dorothy as she kicked up her heels.

"Give us the corn, give us the corn, give us the corn" they all cheered as they danced around the shepherd.

"Yes, yes, I will but you must get ready for bed like good little sheep."

"Oh we will, we will" they said as they raced into the barn.


They enjoyed their bedtime snack and settled down for the night, bellies full, thinking about how wonderful the day had been. Sophia quietly chewed her cud, beaming with pride over what she had accomplished. She had heard of a breed of sheep called Leadersheep, part of the primitive flocks in Iceland. They were said to be the smartest of all sheep.

"Well, maybe not all sheep" she thought with a grin.