There once was a wealthy named Avery.  She was the richest woman in all of her village.  She always wore the finest clothes, ate the finest food, and bought the finest furniture.  But she was no spoiled brat, she was very gracious and helpful towards others. Not a day passed that she would not stroll down the village, offering food and clothing to those who needed it.  She is so kind to everyone, that she allows her best friend, Hannah, to live with her, free of pay. Avery loves nothing more than sharing her riches with her best friend. Though, Avery did not become this fortunate by luck, she is a very hardworking individual.  Every day, before she earned the money she has to day, she would plow away at her farm, harvesting crops to sell. Everyone loved her freshly grown food. If anyone ran out, Avery was the first recommendation. Everyone would flock to her farm, hoping to be lucky enough to get a case of homegrown vegetables.  After becoming wealthy, Avery purchased animals for her farm. She homed 6 horses, 5 cows, 16 chickens, 7 sheep, and 2 pigs. A few months back, Avery discovered a lost Boer Goat. She just had to save it, the wolves would have gotten the poor thing. Avery loved that goat, she felt like they had a real connection, like they trusted each other.  She named him Frankie. Sometimes she would have secret conversations with him. She wasn’t expecting a response, but she talked to him anyway. She talked to him about almost everything, sometimes even gossip. She didn’t want anyone to find out about it, because she feared people would think she was crazy. You won’t want to be the crazy one in her village, the people will treat you so horribly.  

One sunny afternoon, Avery was outside in the garden picking vegetables, and of course, talking to Frankie.  She thought she was all alone until...

“Avery?” Hannah asked with disbelief.

“Are you talking to that goat over there?”

“Ahem,” Avery continued.  “His name is Frankie,and I did nothing of the sort.”

“Uhmmm, then what were you doing?” Hannah questioned, raising an eyebrow.

‘“I was,” Avery continued. “Singing..”

“O-okay, well want to come inside?  You can have some nice cold water, yeah?  Maybe after, you can take a nice long nap!  You can never have to much rest, heh.” Hannah responded

“You don’t believe me, do you!?  Avery shouted.

“I heard you talking to it!  You can’t deny that, I heard everything!

Avery got up and approached Hannah.

“Can’t we just talk this out like mature adults? Avery replied calmly, reaching her arm out/

“EWW NO!  Hannah shrieked out and reached behind her and grabbed a nearby empty flower pot.

Hannah hurled it towards Avery, slamming into her head.  The impact of the flower pot knocked Avery out cold.

After almost an hour, Avery finally woke up.  Dazed, Avery got up, and looked around to find nothing but a deserted home.  Everything that she once owned, was gone. All of her furniture, household items, even her livestock, had completely disappeared.  Hannah was nowhere to be found, and immediately Avery knew that Hannah had run away, taking all of her riches with her. Avery saw some of her cattle in other people’s feild, and she knew Hannah sold them to get more money.  

“Oh Frankie, I can’t believe she has done this to us.”  Avery started, turning around trying to find him.

“Frankie?”  She said frantically.

“Oh no!  Hannah didn’t sell him too did she?!”

She started to run, but tripped on something and landed on her face.

“What the- FRANKIE!!  I was worried sick! Thank goodness!” Avery cried, relieved.

Avery ran up to Frankie and hugged him, and he burped.  They had no food or a shelter they could pay for. They needed a solution, and fast.

About a week of strolling through the village begging for food, she was approached by a mob of the people, and they didn’t look to pleased with her.  

“Hey you are Avery right?” Started one of the villagers.

“Oh uhmm yeah- yes t-thats me.”  Avery responded, unsure.

“Good, because you are leaving this village right now!” He firmly replied.

“Wait what?  Why?” Avery said, very puzzled.

“Because we don’t want insane people living here, you talk to that animal of yours like a person.”  One person stepped up, violently pointing directly at Frankie.

“I don’t talk to Frankie!”  Avery lied.

“Yes you do, we have witnesses!  We don’t want you here, now leave before we have to kick you out ourselves!” They shouted with rage.

Just like that, She and Frankie had no home.  That night they searched for a suitable living quarters, and stumbled upon a small, abandoned cave.  It was only big enough to fit about three small beds, but it would have to work for them. Avery gathered up some grass and leaves into a pile and shaped it into their beds.  Avery layed down and covered herself up with her makeshift blanket.

“Goodnight, Frankie” Avery said out loud, quickly falling right asleep.

A few weeks passed, Avery and Frankie still lived in that cave, they had a stable life.  It wasn’t what Avery had before, but they had food, shelter, and fresh water from a nearby creek.  One afternoon, Avery and Frankie were out picking berries for lunch, when all of the sudden, Avery heard something unordinary.

“Thank you for feeding me all this time, you deserve better, you are a good person.”  said an unfamiliar voice coming from behind her.

Avery shot her head around, with wide eyes searching for whoever said it.  She scanned the area around her, seeing nothing, until she looked down to see Frankie at her feet.

“Did you just..” Avery said under her breath.

“Talk?” Interrupted the voice.

“Frankie,” Avery continued.  “Can you talk? What did you say?”

“Well I just thanked you for taking care of me, and that you are a good soul.”  Frankie replied.

Avery couldn’t believe what she was hearing, astonished, she triumphed with joy.  She was right, and this time she had proof! Which gave her an idea. Her plan was to present Frankie to her village, so they will finally believe her!  Maybe she will even get her riches back, and everything will be back to normal.

The next morning, she and Frankie travelled back to the village, and she stood on an empty crate in the center of town.

“Greetings my former neighbors, for I have some news for you all!”  Avery said aloud.

The people focused their attention to her and one of them stepped up.

“What about?”  He questioned her.

“My goat can talk!”  She announced.

Murmurs and whispers flooded the area with disbelief and outrage.

“Then prove it!”  An angry woman shouted from afar.

“I will!  Watch carefully!”  Avery turned behind her to get Frankie when a man stopped her.

“Not so fast.”  He began. “If you are telling the truth, we all will reward you with half of the village wealth.  If you are lying, we will throw you off the cliff for wasting our time again!” He threatened.

“Fair enough!”  Avery confidently resoponed.  “You will all see!”

Avery picked up Frankie and put him on the wooden crate.  

“C’mon Frankie, say something!”  She urged

Frankie did absolutely nothing, Avery began to fear the worst.

“Frankie,” Avery whispered urgently, worried.  “Speak!”

The annoyed villagers gazed at Frankie, raising their eyebrows.  Then after about 4 seconds, the snapped their heads directly at Avery.  Without any hesitation, two villagers grabbed Avery by the arms, and started to drag her up the mountain, shouting curses on the way.

Avery tried to put up a fight and plead for mercy, but she got no response from them.  They eventually reached the top, and they shoved her towards the edge.

“This is what you get for wasting our time after we told you not to!” A man furiously shouted.

They started to charge at her, ready to push her off, when all of the sudden.  

Frankie galloped up the mountain and shouted:

“You cannot push her off, for she speaks the truth!”

The towns people stood there wide eyed, mouths hanging open.  Astonished, the villagers pushing her, dragged her back away from the edge of the cliff.  People started to look at Frankie then at Avery, waiting for her to say something.

“I told you, I didn’t lie and I never will!”  Avery announced, still shaken from her near death.  The crowd began to cheer, feeling quite foolish for doubting her.  They carried her down the mountain, continuing to cheer. When they reached the bottom, they placed Avery on a velvet rug, fanning her and showering her with goods.  

Avery became the wealthiest woman in her village that day, once again, she was finally happy.  Nobody called her crazy anymore, and some people rewarded Frankie with nice sleeping spots and the greenest grass in the fields.  

However, Avery was still enraged that Frankie didn’t speak up when she told him to.  She almost died! She approached him when everyone was asleep.

“Why didn’t you talk when I told you too?!  She furiously questioned.

“Well,” Frankie continued, with a complacent smirk on his face.

“I didn’t feel like it.”