Cora and Penelope walked out to the east lawn after breakfast. The green against the gray reminded Cora of when they had driven through Kansas on vacation one misty summer morning.
Kansas had the greenest meadows she had ever seen. They looked so healthy and happy, and they were dotted with grazing black and white cows that were barely visible through the gray haze. What she wouldn't give to see a cow right here living in Gray Vale, dotting the boring gray backdrop with its lazy, happy life.
"I want a cow," she sighed, sitting down on the hill that overlooked the sloping land below.
"It used to be that you wanted a pony," Penelope chuckled and sat next to her.
"I never wanted a pony," Cora scoffed. "What makes you think that?"
"Isn't that what most little girls want?" Her mom asked, following her daughter's gaze.
Cora shrugged, chuckling in the echo of her mom's laughter. "I don't remember wanting that."
