Although Jeff's spirit had departed, his presence still lingered in the world, now confined to countless packages. He was shipped to a supermarket, where he was stocked on a shelf as prepackaged meat, joining many of his peers who had met the same fate. In the background, the voice of a famous cow singer echoed through the supermarket speakers, mingling with the clatter of carts and the bustle of late afternoon shoppers filling their grocery needs. The sentient cows carried on as if life had always been this way, completely unaware that just months ago, they had all been simple-minded farm animals.
Strolling down the meat aisle was a lively cow family, all with white skin patterned with black spots. The mother, fresh off work, was still dressed in her professional attire: a purple blouse, black slacks, and black flats. Her face was carefully made up, and her black hair was neatly styled around her horns. Accompanying her were her three calves, whom she had picked up from school or daycare. Her oldest walked beside her, wearing a black sweatshirt, gray leggings, and black sneakers. Her black hair, similarly styled around her small, newly sprouting horns, mirrored her mother's. The younger calf led the way at the front of the cart, dressed in a blue hoodie, dark blue jeans, and white sneakers, with his hair in a wild, untamed mess. The youngest calf sat snugly in the shopping cart, dressed in a pair of blue overalls.
The mother pushed the cart, which was already half-filled with groceries, mostly junk food that her calves kept tossing in. Now, in the meat aisle, she could finally focus on getting some real food. She studied the meat on the shelves, contemplating what to make for dinner. It had been a while since she made sloppy-joes, and the craving had suddenly struck her.
“What do you say, calves? Sloppy joes for dinner?” the mother asked.
“Yeah!” her young bull shouted eagerly.
“Count me out.” her heifer said with a scoff, turning away from her family in disgust. Having recently watched a documentary about the inbovine treatment of humans on farms, she had sworn off on meat entirely and started embracing a vegetarian lifestyle.
“Suit yourself.” the mother replied, dismissing her daughter’s angst as just a phase. She was certain her daughter would return to eating meat soon enough. “Go on, Colten, grab some.” she instructed her other calf.
The young bull opened the freezer door, feeling the cold air hit him as he scanned the rows of packaged ground beef. He grabbed one at random, completely unaware that the red meat inside was once a human named Jeff, the individual responsible for dooming humanity to be nothing more than livestock for the now-dominant bovine species. The bull tossed the package into the cart, where it landed among bags of chips and boxes of cereal. The cow family continued their shopping, passing by another bull.
This brown bull had just finished work and was dressed in a blue polo, khakis, and brown loafers. He had been looking forward to a quiet evening at home, but his wife had texted him earlier, announcing she was inviting some friends over. To make matters worse, she had volunteered him to grill for the gathering, hence why he found himself at the supermarket, picking up ground beef to make manburgers. He opened the freezer door and selected a package at random, unaware that the red meat inside had once belonged to the being responsible for his new lifestyle. As he dropped the package into his shopping basket and headed to the checkout, he passed by a cow.
This cow, with white skin adorned in brown spots, was dressed in blue scrubs and white Crocs. Her brown hair, tangled around her horns, showed the strain of a 12-hour shift. Exhausted from the week’s overtime, she was tired of fast-food manburgers and craved something different. With a box of spaghetti noodles and a jar of pasta sauce in her shopping basket, she knew what she wanted for dinner. She reached into the freezer for a package of ground beef, perfect for meatballs to go with her spaghetti. Quickly closing the freezer door to escape the cold, she headed to the checkout, unaware that the meat in her basket had once belonged to an intelligent being—the very reason her species had become the dominant force on the planet.