Gray clouds laid out the sky all up like throwing my blankets onto my bed sheets. I became tired and confused being at the Illinois State Fair showing my boer goats for the last two days. Hearing the shouts of people, clapping after each class, common noise of goats, and the Judge speaking into the microphone killing hours of times.Ready to show in the ring in the 20-24 months class with my goat Violet in the Percentage class. I always hear dad trying to encourage me from this long hot terrible day spoken. “Smile in the show ring. Act like you're having fun.” And my Mom always telling me,“Act like you own that show ring and make your goat look the best.” I could feel the heat around me sucking up all the air like a vacuum cleaner taking the stains out of a rug.

My class was up. There were only four in my class. Two I need to beat to be in the drive. I walk around the ring in a circle with my goat getting it set and ready for the judge. I tried to smile but it was weird to smile when you are working and showing off your goat even that the judge is looking at your goat more than you. Now it was time to pick one of our goats. I was even going to get a yellow ribbon of fourth, a white ribbon of third, red second, or blue first. I wished to be in the drive but, with all the other people they shows goats at national and do nothing but win. Fourth place given to a girl in the pink shirt behind me as I was given third. I couldn’t help that judged pick which he like over everyone. I came out moping beginning to be missing my heifer more than anything.

I wanted to show cattle more than goats because of many reasons. You get to focus on washing one heifer than eight goats per day, showing a heifer is a new fresh start and not competing the same people but still starting from the bottom, and you get to used a stick and halter to guide her across the ring and calm her down from all the shout and noise of people like vehicles noises going on and off all day.

The dark colony of  the cloud began to creep up over the top of the fair grounds and started tears of water on us. The opened, wide, and tin roof goat barn being to clang, shake, and roar noise everywhere in side. Tears of water transform into giant puddles, forming into lakes and ponds on the roads. Bright yellow sun begin to vanish out of sight leaving us the water itself.

Everything was everywhere. The goat barn crying inside it self with the goats not making it very helpful scared and have no clue what going on. We knew there was a storm coming from the start. But I had no clue that then boom. Lighting crashed in like a baseball crashing through a window out of nowhere with only about eight hundred meters away from the goat barn. Goosebumps appeared. My brain had two very important things on my mind. Is my heifer ok and when are we going to get done with the show?

Buck show finally started. Rushing, I came over to my dad and asked “ dad can I go over to check Agnus (my heifer)?” He gazed at me giving the wait-till-you-show-your-buck-look. I listened. Walk across the rain into the pens grab the goat and begin walking again across the road the the show ring. I slowly walk in ring. Sweat falling into  my mouth while the rain drops fallen and soak into my shirt. I ended up last again and taken my buck back to his stall.

Sprinting, across the roads, parking lots, and puddles I finally made it over.

Cattle people had straw to keep the water out of the cattle pens. I rushed over to Agnus and found two inches of water already in her area. Brushing and scooping the rain water was harder than mowing the grass. Good thing it wasn’t bad of rain coming into the basement. I gave her fresh water to drink, new bedding of straw, and a tub of feed for her to devour. There was no tieing out her for the night. Unless you want to get your cattle wet and muddy.

The rain dial down a little but now you can tell it was dark when you could only see the lights in the barns light up. I said goodnight to Agnus and zoomed back up to the goat barn. My brothers were feeding and water the goats as my dad came up and spoken, “we are done here, are you ready to go home?”  I didn’t had to tell him when he see my sleepy, tired, wet face ready to hit the hay. “Hop in the truck we are ready to go home” my dad spoken with only some of us hearing it.
 

We were lucky where we parked. Vehicles were flooded in Happy Hollow and campers and trucks were flooded to the top like I never see before. Vehicles in the stadium couldn’t leave because of the traffic and some floods and puddles. Our gray truck moved out by Happy Hollow as headed to exit gate eleven. Cars stop. Trucks go. Cars drive. Trucks halt. The madness traffic leaving the fair that night was terrible than the storm itself. We drove out finally with a ten minute delay heading home from Springfield to Monticello. My eyes started to turn off and on. Gaining rest. Losing what going on right now. Glaring out into the pitch black of night it self I only now had three things on my mind. When do I sleep? Is my animal going to be okay? What will tomorrow be like? Then I looked at the truck cloak to see the time. I slept.