I had farm that afternoon.

It was nice to see Cornelius.

But he had a big sign on his pen

that said:

OUR GOAT’S NAME IS

ALFIE!

CONGRATULATIONS

TO JACKIE BOBROW,

PRAYING MANTIS

I felt like tearing up that sign.

Alfie was a stupid name!

Cornelius was so much better!

I bent down

and looked that goat in the eye.

“Do you like Alfie?”

I asked.

He gave a little snort.

“Me neither,” I said.

Soon after that,

the farm counselor gathered all the kids in the barn

and taught us how to clean the pens.

“Yuck,” Kylie kept saying

as we shoveled out Cornelius’s stall.

It was pretty yucky.

But I figured

Cornelius couldn’t clean his stall himself.

And he deserved a nice space.

So I didn’t mind.