🚜 The Red Barn

The first light of morning slipped through the cracks in the old red barn. Nora pushed the heavy door open and breathed in the sweet, dusty smell of hay. Every morning she fed the animals before school, and every morning Clementine the cow refused to budge from the doorway.

"You are the most stubborn cow in the county," Nora said, scratching Clementine behind the ears. The cow blinked slowly, then finally stepped aside — but something clattered to the floor behind her. It was the brass lantern that had been missing for a week, dented but still shining.