The Saga of the Runaway Clay, Part 1

Once upon a time there lived a cow, a bee, and a penguin. They belonged to the Moral Clay family, and had recently been adopted by a young lady in Kentucky. Thus, this story begins in the rolling hills of the Bluegrass Region, home of thoroughbred horses, rock fences, and lots of other farmy/picturesque things.

The cow, bee, and penquin had always dreamed of living life wildly and free. Being tied down to the tops of pencils was not their idea of a good time. No, they wanted more. They wanted long nights of staring at the moon. They wanted to travel, and see things. Cow, for one, had always wanted to try out the hobo life and follow where the train tracks may lead him.

This didn't seem like it would be a likely path for their lives to take, as they were safely atop the young lady's desk. Unless, of course, she was showing them to relatives in excitement. However, as fate would have it, the creator of Moral Clay had an idea. "Wouldn't it be great to have pictures of the family in their new habitats?" The young lady, unable to speak the language of clay, agreed. Little did she know of the inherent danger in what she was about to do...

The young lady decided to snap her new adoptees posing in front of typical Kentucky scenes. She went on a quest, along the back roads of the county, to find the best places for picture taking. Such a quest could not last long, due to the abundance of horse farms in the area.

The cow, bee, and penguin had a wonderful outing. They saw horses grazing in the fields. They held long conversations atop rock fences on philosophy and cosmology. The young lady had no idea the dreams of escape that were floating through the minds of the little clay figures.

As evening came, and quiet fell over the rural landscape, the young lady began to think about heading home. She had some trouble rounding up her crew though. The cow was especially stubborn. She started to think it a little odd how wistfully cow seemed to be staring after real cows in the field.

The thought didn't stick though, and soon the young lady had all three back in the car to head home. They were driving along, jamming to some Tori Amos, when the young lady was suddenly struck by the magnificence of the moon. Wasting no time, she pulled over and prepared her camera. No more than a minute could have passed until she was in the car again. But that minute, that lonely minute, was more than enough. The cow, bee, and penguin, seeing their small window of opportunity, decided to jump out of the car. By the time the young lady realized they were gone, it was too late.

No one really knows where the clay decided to go. They never bothered to call, or send a postcard. For all we know, they could be in China, or Australia. We do know one thing though. A tourist, after picking up their pictures from a recent vacation to a Train Museum, found this: