As a member of a dairy farming family, you knew Jessica would want to visit the cows. And so, you exited the Farm Living Exhibit entrance hall and started following the various signs that guided you towards the cattle barns.
The first building you came to was the dairy. You stepped inside and were immediately hit by the strong smell of cattle, as 50-or-so cows were busy having their morning milking. A chorus of various long, deep moos also filled the room, as most of the animals seemed to enjoy having their udders drained.
As you moved deeper into the building, you dropped down into a lowered walkway, which ran between the two rows of cows. This walkway was presumably to grant easier access to the cows’ udders, which was confirmed when you saw a farmhand adjusting one of the milking machines nearby. There were also a handful of guests standing within this walkway, but still no sign of Jessica.
“Excuse me,” you said as you walked up to a young female farmhand, “I was looking for my girlfriend Jessica. Have you seen her?”
In response, the red-headed young woman smiled sweetly before replying. “Why hello honey, and welcome to the Farm Living Exhibit. Now, what did - erm… does, darling Jessica look like?”
“Well,” you replied after a slight pause, “she’s a few feet shorter than me, blonde, 25. I think she got here about an hour ago.”
“Hmm…” the farmhand said as she paused for a moment. “Ah yes,” she said with a wide smile, “I do remember seeing someone who matched that description. She’ll be over in the milking parlour, which is where we let guests milk the cows by hand. I’ll take you there if you like.”
With a nod, you let the woman lead you out of the dairy and towards the milking parlour. Once inside, you briefly glanced around in order to get your bearings. This was quite a small barn, with perhaps 20 stalls divided by a path running down the middle.
“She’ll be in one of these stalls,” the farmhand said with a slight grin on her face, “let’s see if we can find her…”
With that, you slowly followed the farmhand as she led you deeper into the building. You didn’t know what it was, but something immediately felt off. Firstly, you couldn’t see any other guests in here, just a few other farmhands performing various chores.
As for the cows themselves, there seemed to be quite a wide range of emotions on display. Loud moos were ringing out from a couple of the animals, as they kicked their stall doors in distress. A few others had their heads hung low as they stood towards the back of their stalls, hardly making a sound.
However, by far the most disturbing specimens were the ones that seemed to be looking straight at you and mooing in your direction. You briefly stopped as you met the gaze of one such cow, who was mooing softly as she stared at you with her large, round eyes. As odd as it sounded, you got a strange sense of sadness from this particular cow. None of the cows on Jessica’s farm had ever looked at you in such an expressive way, which only made you feel more uneasy.
Seeing this made your heartbeat speed up, as you tried to make sense of everything you had just seen. However, this didn’t stop you following the farmhand towards the back of the barn, until she finally came to a stop outside one of the stalls.
“Here we are,” the farmhand said with a happy smile.
Hearing this made you relax slightly as you stepped forward to greet your girlfriend. However, you were immediately shocked to find…