Excerpt from Book

Here is an excerpt from the book, Three Bags Full, that will be the prize in the upcoming contest.

Background: The sheep's shepherd is dead and the sheep are confused and uncertain, and wishing for their routine.

"Sir Ritchfield (the head ram) decided to count the sheep. It was a tedious process. Sir Ritchfield could count only up to ten, and not always that, so the sheep had to stand in small groups. There were arguments, because some sheep would claim they hadn't been counted yet, while Ritchfield said, yes, he had counted them already. All the sheep were afraid of being missed out of the count, because then they might disappear. Some of them tried to steal into other groups on the sly so as to be counted twice. Ritchfield bleated and snorted and finally came to the conclusion that there were thirty-four sheep in the meadow in all.

They looked at one another at a loss. Only now did they realize that they had no idea how many sheep there really ought to be in the meadow. The figure so laboriously worked out was completely useless to them.

It was a great disappointment. They'd hoped they would feel safer after the count. George (their shepherd) had always been so pleased when he had finished counting them. "Excellent," he used to say, although sometimes he just said, "Aha." In that case he would march off, either to the cliff tops to throw dried droppings at Zora (a sheep who would climb the cliffs and not come back in for George), or to the vegetable garden to find a bold lamb pushing its neck through the coarse-meshed wire netting and putting its tongue out.

After counting the sheep George always knew what to do. The sheep did not."

To clarify I put explanations of the names in parentheses. For all shepherds who automatically count your sheep many times a day---this quote is for you! ;-)