1.

Pindle rested his chin on the trough. He looked into it bleakly. It was empty. It had been empty when he had looked at it earlier, and it was empty now. He was thirsty and his face crumpled. He bleated.

The other sheep heard Pindle’s cry, and ambled up to join him. The twelve stood around the trough on all sides, peering into it. It was dry. It was hard to look at, but they managed it.

‘Where’s the herdsman?’ said Harold.

‘He don’t like the warm,’ muttered Gary.

‘He’ll be along,’ said Rose.

‘Grass is crispin’ up,’ said Duffy.

2.

‘My nose is dry,’ said Cobble, Duffy’s little lamb.

‘I’m parched,’ said Pindle. ‘Where can we get a drink from?’

‘Water,’ suggested Cobble.

The sheep chuckled. The little ones made your sides hurt sometimes.

‘What a good idea,’ said Pindle. ‘Where shall we get water from?’

‘The trees, the sky, the ground, the river,’ said Cobble, all at once.

‘Good gracious,’ said Pindle.

‘That’s a lot of water,’ said Harold.

Duffy glowed with pleasure at her daughter’s acuity.

Cobble was delighted at the response to her suggestions.

‘The bucket, the well, the farm, the rain,’ she dashed out once more.

3.

The sheep looked at each other in consternation. This was a serious problem, and even those who hadn’t felt thirsty at first were beginning to now.

‘I’m not thirsty,’ said old Chaz. ‘You youngsters can sort it out.’ He shook himself, stepped away, and went off.

‘He’s been looking awfully pale these last few days,’ said Shilto, who had a soft spot for Chaz.

‘It might be his arthritis,’ said Duffy.

The remaining sheep fell quiet. Pindle shivered at a sudden drop in the air temperature. And that was when a single raindrop fell into the trough from the sky.

4.

The sheep looked in wonder. A second raindrop spattered down, followed by a third. The backs of their necks started to tingle.

‘Baa-aa-aa-aa!’ they sang.

The grey sky came to life, and the rain streamed down. Over the sheep and the trees and the land.

Pindle raised his head and opened his mouth. He savoured the taste of the water, and felt deliriously happy.

Cobble skipped in circles. ‘I said the sky. I said the rain. I said the water.’

The rain pelted down, white fleeces became sodden, and the trough welcomed the life-giving fluid. All was well once more.

5.

When the water level had risen, and they could reach it with their noses, the sheep enjoyed a thirst-quenching drink.

The water reached an aperture in the side of the trough, and spilled down a pipe into the lambs’ trough below. Cobble cried out in delight, dipped her nose and her face into the water, and took her fill. Then she raised her spindly forelegs and jumped in joyfully, splashing everyone within range.

Each of Harold, Gary, Rose, Duffy, Cobble, Chaz and Shilto liked to think that they were happiest sheep. But they weren’t.

The happiest of all was Pindle.

The end.