Cascade Cow Parade: First Sighting
By Swellison

Jim Ellison parked his truck in the last available space on the block. He and Sandburg got out and trudged wearily towards the street entrance to the loft. Their early morning stake-out had lasted all day, yielding no results, which meant an encore stake-out early tomorrow morning. They had almost reached the glass door to the loft, when Jim felt something was...different. He glanced over to his right, towards Colette's, and stared. "What's THAT?"

Blair turned to look, too, rubbing his tired eyes.

A life-sized statue of a cow was placed on the sidewalk, its four hooves anchored to a triangular base that had a small brass plaque between the two right hooves. It stood squarely between the apartment entrance and Colette's, the tail end closest to 852 Prospect. The cow was painted to resemble a lady. She had a v-neck maroon dress that matched the color of the Colette's awning perfectly. The dress had a slit up one leg, revealing the fish net stockings that the cow was wearing on her back legs. Her front legs were painted flesh tone, including the hooves, except for the thin lilac-colored triangles meant to resemble fingernails. She wore an intricate gold bracelet around one front hoof, with a matching necklace following the V-contour of her dress. Her flesh-toned bovine face had been expertly made up, displaying lilac lipstick, two mauve circles of blush, and luxurious black eyelashes highlighting her sparkling green eyes. A short cap of curly auburn hair had been painted on her head, and her protruding horns were the same maroon color as the dress. A pair of gold hoop earrings dangled from the cow's ears.

"Oh, wow!" Sandburg stepped over to the cow for a closer inspection. "I forgot about that. The Cow Parade started today! I didn't know that Colette's was sponsoring one, though." He glanced down at the plaque and read the cow's name. "Cowlette." He chuckled, glancing at the clothing boutique's windows. "Great advertising gimmick."

"Cow Parade? What's that?" Jim grumped, but he walked over to join Blair and the cow.

"Don't you ever read anything but the sports section?" Blair teased. "The Cascade Cow Parade is a huge charity art event. These cows are going to be all over Cascade for the next two months, an art exhibit on the hoof. Each cow has a patron or sponsor, who selected an artist to design and paint the cow. Some of the painting is a group effort, I read that Stanley Elementary School fifth graders worked on one. Anyway, after the cows finish their tour, they'll be sold at an auction benefiting the Cascade Children's Hospital. Neat, huh? Meanwhile, they're here for us to enjoy."

"Enjoy?" Jim glanced askance at the obstruction on his sidewalk.

"Ah, don't have a cow, man--" Blair broke off, giggling. "Actually, we do have a cow, right on our doorstep."

"I noticed."

"Well, you'd better get used to Cowlette, here, Jim. She's gonna be part of the scenery for the next couple of months. I bet she grows on you, too."

"Oh yeah? What's that supposed to mean?"

Sandburg patted the cow's face. "She's a redhead, after all."

Jim grabbed his partner's arm firmly. "Moooving right along," he growled, and herded Sandburg back to the loft's entrance.

THE END?