Kimmie heard Dorothy was going to bring a cow heart to show and tell. Not a real one, of course – Dorothy lives in the city and has never even stepped foot into a butcher shop. No, Dorothy’s cow heart was going to be handmade based off library book pictures. Paper mache or clay, she couldn’t immediately decide the medium.

Not to be outdone, Kimmie wanted to bring a REAL cow heart. Having lived on a country farm her whole life, she had the resources. She thought about it and all of the cows were healthy. It might look suspicious if a perfectly healthy cow suddenly wound up dead. Then she thought there had to be enough cows that nobody would notice one missing, so she pushed worry out of her mind.

The teacher had only given the class two days to prepare. Outside the school’s front entrance, Kimmie eagerly waited for the school bus. If she could make it home before her father, she could do the job and have time to clean up.

On the ride home, she figured a cow carcass would be too much weight for a small girl to dispose of. She couldn’t just leave one out in the field with a hole in its chest and ribs sticking out. She then figured that once the cow was found, she’d be able to suggest a coyote had something to do with it and that would be the end of that.

Running down the gravel road to her house after jumping off the bus, Kimmie’s heart sank when she saw her father getting out of his truck. She slowed her pace and became unsettled when she noticed how quiet it was on the farm. Usually there was distant mooing and cows could be seen chewing grass at the edge of the fence.

“Dad? Where are the cows?”

“Sold ‘em!” said her father spiritedly. “Got an offer I couldn’t say no ta!”

Kimmie’s eyes began to water.

“Oh no, darlin’, it’ll be ok! We’ll get more at next summer’s auction!”

Next summer? It’s only just fall!

Kimmie desperately looked around, but she knew she wouldn’t see anything to help her predicament. The two nearby neighbors didn’t have cows, so Kimmie had to think hard.

That same evening, the only other kid on Kimmie’s road came sneaking over to steal flowers from the garden and terrorize the chickens. This was a regular occurrence that made Kimmie red. He was never nice to her and always tried to scare her off her bike whenever she road past his house. This time, however, she found him to be a welcome sight. As sweetly as her anger would allow, she ushered him into the basement to play.

Dorothy received weak applause for her paper mache heart. On the way back to her desk, she shrugged at Kimmie as if to say, If a beautifully crafted cow heart doesn’t capture their attention, nothing will.

Next up: Kimmie. She strut to the front of the class and let the tension build before opening a black tin lunch box. The children gasped when she pulled out a dark red, glossy heart.

“My show and tell is a human heart.”

Thinking it was a well put together prop, the kids laughed.

Kimmie did not.