A Grim Fairy Tale

Illustrations by Sandy (Nutter) Langford

There was, once upon a time, a family of goats; a Mama and a Daddy and one Kid. This family was called Mountain Goats because they lived on a big mountain. The snow got very deep on the big mountain every winter. The goats did not ski, even when the snow was deep in the winter. They did not even have skis. Even if they had skis they would not have skied because they did not know how to ski. They did a lot of fun playing and jumping in the snow so they did not miss skiing.

The Mama goat was called Nancy because that was her name. She was a very wise Mama, even for a goat. Daddy goat was called Mac, because that was his name. Some of his friends called him “Big Mac” because he was a big goat. Some of his friends called him other names. He was a wise old goat but at times was very cranky. The Kid was called Billy by his Mama and Daddy, because that was his name. His Uncles

and Aunts often called Billy “the Kid” or just “Billy the Kid” because he was always getting in trouble, that is, almost always. Bill was a really good Kid but he was kind of absent-minded and often forgot what his Mama had told him. He stayed very close to his Mama when he was little but started to run away as he got older.

One day Billy ran away from his Mama early in the morning and got lost. He wandered down the mount-side where he had never been before. It was Spring and the sun was quite warm and Billy felt real frisky. He found a beautiful meadow where there was deep grass and tender clover. There were many pretty birds in the meadow and they sang cheerful songs for Billy. He also saw his first butterfly and saw two lady-bugs. Billy ran and jumped and chased the birds and the butterfly but of course he did not catch them. He did not chase the lady-bugs. That would have been silly and besides the ladybugs hid from Billy.

Billy had never had so much fun before in his whole life. He had never eaten so much clover and grass before and all at once he became very sleepy. He laid down in the soft grass behind a big rock and before you could have said “Merry Christmas” he was sound asleep. When Billy woke up several hours later he became very frightened because he did not know where he was. He was lost. It is very scary to be lost, even if you are a goat. All at once Billy wanted his Mama more than anything in the whole world. He began to cry real hard but finally stopped crying because he realized that he was all alone and no one could hear him.

Suddenly Billy remembered that he was a mountain goat and lived high up on the big mountain. He began to climb very fast, jumping from rock to rock. He did not know for sure where he was going except he knew he was going up higher all the time. He kept thinking of his very wise Mama and all the things she had taught him. He realized that he had been a bad Kid for running away from his Mama and Daddy. The more he thought of his Mama the sorrier he felt for what he had done.

While he was thinking of his Mama he saw a lot of very pretty flowers on the side of the big mountain. He picked a big bunch of lilies, petunias and some Goldilocks. He later threw the Goldilocks away because he remembered that Goldilocks were not flowers. Goldilocks was a little girl that his Mama had told him about. Also Billy knew that petunias did not grow on mountainsides but he kept them anyway. Billy was sure that his Mama would like the flowers and be glad that he had picked them just for her. Nobody ever brought her flowers, not even Daddy. One time Billy’s Mama had said to him “Billy, please do not eat the flowers” so Billy knew that she liked flowers.

Billy became very tired and began to cry real hard. It was almost dark and he was becoming very much afraid.

All at once he heard the long, sad howl of a big wolf and a little later he heard the scary hoot of a big old owl. He heard other noises all around him; little noises and funny noises. He began to climb faster and faster toward the top of the big mountain. He climbed to the top of a big rock so that he could see better and as he looked around in all directions he saw his Mama all at once. She was coming down the side of the big mountain. She was looking for Billy but did not see him. Billy yelled as loud as he could yell several times and then his Mama heard him and saw him on top of the big rock. She yelled at Billy so that he would know that she saw him. He gave a big jump from the top of the rock but was so excited he tumbled right on his nose. He scrambled to his feet and rushed head-long to his Mama and handed her the flowers very proudly. Then Billy began to cry very hard because he was so happy to be with his Mama again. Then his Mama began to cry very hard too because she was so happy to have Billy safe with her.

Billy lived a very happy life on the big mountain and got to be a great jumper, even for a goat. He became very strong and good-looking as he grew up. He grew a long white beard which made him look much older than he really was. He never got his hair cut because he was a wild sort of Kid. He looked almost like a “hippie”. His Mama did not scold him because of his beard and long hair. Lots of kids looked like Billy in those days.

Billy did not have a sister and he missed her very much. He did not have any friends, either but he did not miss them. When he was really grown-up he got married and soon had two Kids of his own. He loved his Kids very much and often remembered when he was a Kid and ran away down the mountain-side and got lost. Sometimes when he remembered he would pick a big bunch of flowers and take them to his Kids’ Mama. He did not pick any petunias because he remembered that petunias did not grow on the Big Mountain. Often when he gave flowers to his Kids’ Mama she would cry very hard because she was so happy. Billy and his Kids’ Mama were very good friends.

Billy’s Kids were called Eric and Tracy because that was their names. Tracy was a real good little goat and was very smart. Eric was a little bit naughty sometimes and one day when he had been very naughty his Mama butted him real hard and knocked him head over heals. Billy was very surprised at his Kids’ Mama becoming so angry and asked her what had happened. The Mama looked at Billy and said; “that naughty son of yours finally got my goat”. To this day you can hear Mamas all over the world say to their Kids’ Daddy, “that son of yours sure got my goat today”. Also many Daddies, all over the world sometimes bring flowers to their Kids’ Mamas. And the Mamas cry because they are so happy.

Milford Nutter wrote “A Grim Fairy Tale” in the mid-1970’s