What's in the Barn

Another writing prompt inspired short story to make you giggle a little bit.

What's in the Barn?
 

Jacci rolled over in her bed, arm flopping with her. She noticed immediately Brad wasn't there and she sat up with a start. She slid on her slippers and padded across the room and opened the creaky door hoping not to wake anyone up.

Jacci checked the children's rooms. Tina was sleeping soundly, her thumb in her mouth as usual and her bear tucked under her other arm. Billy was snoring softly, his robot tucked in next to him. She checked the bathroom and the guest room, but could not find her husband.

Wandering down the hallway to the stairs she called softly to see if Brad was in the living room. Hmm, she thought. Where is he? She walked slowly down the stairs using only the glow of the nightlight, holding tightly to the railing. Once on the lower level she checked went into the kitchen. The double swinging door swung back and gently patted her backside making her jump. There was a glass, still half-full of milk and the remains of a piece of pie on the table. She chuckled softly as she placed the dishes in the sink.

Brad, she concluded, was just not in the house. Looking out in the yard, she saw his old farm truck was still parked where he left it. The dog was missing, though, and he usually only left the yard when he was following Brad. She finally scanned the corn and soybean fields and then over to the barn. Lights were shining through the windows.

Jacci pulled on her boots and a jacket over her pajamas. She turned on a flashlight and walked across the dew soaked yard to the barn. She opened the door and nearly dropped the flashlight when she saw what he was doing. She broke up laughing as she watched her husband milking the cow at two in the morning. He didn't actually have a bucket; he was just going through the motions. The cow looked annoyed and mooed when she saw Jacci.

"Brad, what are doing?" she said, still laughing.

Brad looked her direction, without blinking and stood, patted the cows flank, and took the imaginary bucket. He walked right past her and out of the barn, turning the light off, leaving Jacci in total darkness.

"It's okay, Bessie; I think he is sleep walking." She turned the light back on and fed the cow some hay and then followed Brad back to the house. When she went inside, she found him back in bed, sound asleep.