Hey Diddle Diddle

Hey diddle diddle

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon,

The little dog laughed to see such fun,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Crickets chirped in the hedge, stars filled the sky, the moon beamed
down serenely on the dew-coated field.

And the cow, who was chewing cud and staring up to the heavens, was
suddenly overcome with the greatness and smallness of it all, and gave
a worldly sigh.

"The sky is beautiful tonight!" She mooed.

"Ah Cow, you're such a sentimental soul," drawled Cat, who was crouched
calmly in the grass, his fiddle resting in the curve of his tail.

"But it's true!" cried Cow, "can't you see it? It's so? So?" She
stopped, lost for ways to describe the sheer endlessness of
Space.

"Big?" barked Little Dog. "Dark?"

"That's such a dull way of putting it," sighed Cow.

There was only the sound of crickets for a while, as Little Dog gazed
up trying to work out interesting ways of describing the night sky, and
Cat washed himself thoroughly.

"Cat?" mooed Cow, "can you play something? I need to dance?"

Little dog gave a short yelp.

"What are you so amused about now?" asked Cat.

"Nothing!" said Little Dog, "you wouldn't understand."

Cat's tail twitched in annoyance.

"There is nothing funny about a fiddling cat," he said. Little Dog
began to laugh, but abruptly stopped at the look Cat gave him.

"I never said there was," he barked, "A dancing cow, on the other paw?"
he lifted one paw, then the other paw. "The other paw! See!" He rolled
on the ground with laughter.

"That isn't funny," said Cat dryly. "Are you drunk?"

Little Dog was panting to get his breath back, his nose between his
paws.

"Never mind," said Cow, "please play something Cat, I can't stand
this!"

The cat gave Little Dog another disgusted look before he picked up his
fiddle.

"What will it be tonight Cow?" he asked, tuning it a little with one
paw.

"Oh? something lively I suppose,"

"Hey Diddle Diddle?" he suggested.

"Oh yes!" mooed Cow gratefully, "you know how I love that one."

Cat tested the notes on his fiddle, closing his eyes in contentment as
they came out warm and clear. He finished tuning and then gave Little
Dog a warning look.

"You are to stay quiet," he said sharply, "music needs to be taken
seriously."

"Absolutely, Cat," said Little Dog, his eyes sparkling with mirth. "I
won't say a word."

Cow was waiting, standing poised in the grass, her head tilted upwards.
Cat glanced at her and lifted his fiddle and bow.

When he began to play the music was slow, beautiful and quiet, so quiet
that it could barely be heard over the swishing of the trees and the
whispering of grass stems. So quiet that it sounded like the wind
itself was playing. Cow let out a sigh and began to sway gently in
time.

Then the fiddle sang out lively and loud, and Cow sprang into life: She
lumbered and skipped, she span and leapt, she flicked her tail and she
clicked her hooves, and a more graceful cow was never seen.

And Cat played his fiddle with beauty and warmth, and felt the music
tingling from his whiskers to the tip of his tail, and purred under his
breath as the bow flowed in his paws and the notes danced from the
strings, and a more talented cat was never seen.

And Little Dog watched and grinned with sharp teeth, and laughed under
his breath, and his tail whipped from side to side as he felt joy
stirring in his young heart, and a happier little dog was never
seen.

The music was frantic and fast and Cow span and moved with it, hooves
clicking faster, faster, faster, until they were blurring with speed
and she huffed as she danced, and the bow flickered on the fiddle, and
little dog's tail was barely to be seen for the wagging, and the music
was louder, louder, louder, and Cow gave a moo of joy as she jumped
from the grass.

And a higher leap from a cow was never seen.

And when her hooves touched grass again, the last note faded away, and
could barely be heard over the swishing of the trees and the whispering
of grass stems, and then it faded until the only music to be heard was
the chirping of the crickets in the hedge.

The cow stood huffing deeply at the ground, the cat laid down his
fiddle and it rested in the curve of his tail.

The little dog was silent for a moment before a laugh gathered in his
throat and he lay rolling in the grass and howling.

"Right over the moon!" he howled, "a cow that jumped over the
mooooooooooooon!"

"Nonsense," said Cat, shaking his head, "that's physically
impossible."

"I felt the stars, I felt the moon!" whispered Cow, "I could almost
touch them."

"Over the mooooooooooooon!" howled Little Dog.

"Oh do be quiet," snapped Cat, "it was a giant leap, Cow, but I
wouldn't go that far."

"One small jump for a cow," barked Little Dog, "one GIANT LEAP for
cowkind!" he exploded with yelps of laughter.

Cat gave him a sour look. "That isn't funny."

"Oh but it is!" he yelped.

"Over the moon?" said Cow, "well, I always did say I was a good
jumper."

"It wasn't over the?" began Cat, and then stopped. "Oh what's the
point? It was a good jump anyway. Well Done Cow."

"Thank you? It was nothing really? Besides it was your music that did
it. Your playing was beautiful tonight," said Cow humbly. "I never
heard such a wonderful fiddler."

Cat's green eyes glowed intently at her in the darkness, he purred- and
then looked down and washed his ears in embarrassment.

Little Dog panted for breath with his nose between his paws. Cat curled
up in the grass, Cow raised her head and gazed upwards, silently
praising the stars.

After a moment there was a flicker of something white through the
hedge, and a faint sound of giggling.

Cat raised his head sharply, his eyes fixed on the spot. His tail
twitched. Cow looked around, Little Dog's ears pricked.

There was rustling in the hedge a little way off, and out came the Dish
and the Spoon, they held hands as they ran, the air sparkled with
childish delight where they passed. They skipped lightly across the
field and vanished into the hedge on the far side.

The three friends gazed at the spot where they had been.

"Where are they going, at this time?" asked Cat curiously.

"Oh?" mooed Cow, "I heard them whispering about it among the
buttercups, they're in love!"
The other two stared at her.

"The Dish and the Spoon? Eloping?" said Cat, "my whiskers! I never
would have guessed it. There will be talk."

"It's so romantic," sighed Cow.

"Sounds a bit funny to me. Whoever heard of a dish and a spoon
together?" Cat shook his head.

"I know!" mooed Cow, "it's tragic- poor souls, their parents would
never approve."

Little dog suddenly yelped with laughter.

"Oh what now?" Cat asked.

"Just imagine the children!" he spluttered.

Cat ignored him, curling up again and closing his eyes.

"Dogs," he murmured, his voice muffled by his tail, "they never take
anything seriously."

Little Dog lowered his head again, the laughter dying into a snort. His
eyelids lowered as he thought of a suitable response.

"Cats," he growled sleepily, "can never take a joke."

Cat didn't respond, his lithe body rested peacefully in the grass, he
purred as he slept.

Little Dog chuckled with pleasure at having the last word. He watched
Cat for a minute, and then got up and trotted over to him, he paused,
looking down, and licked the sleeping cat affectionately on the ears
before lying down next to him. The fiddle rested between them, and the
little dog closed his eyes, and chased rabbits in his dreams.

Only the Cow was still awake, gazing wistfully heavenwards, remembering
how she soared among the stars.

Crickets chirped in the hedge, stars filled the sky, and the moon
beamed down serenely on the dew-coated field.

And on a Cow, a Cat, and a Little Dog, who were all fast asleep.