König didn’t mind the farm, honestly. Sure, sometimes the cattle were a bit too rambunctious, especially during heifer season, but they meant well and could be calmed with a few handfuls of tender sprouts. Then there were the geese, but those violent waterfowl stayed by the lake. His least favorite part was the loneliness .

There were no hybrids like himself, or at all. He wasn’t fully human according to people or the farm hands, and not really an animal like the chickens or horses. It made for quiet, lonesome days and long nights.

Then, one day, it was his birthday. Or so the farmer, Horangi, said it was. König never kept track of his birthdays, it felt like too much work, and he didn’t really know when he was born either. He only really knew it was close when snow started to fall.

But this year, a big trailer was parked outside the farmhouse, and a new stall was being prepared. König watched the trailer the whole day, then, Horangi went over.

He led someone from the trailer, and König saw it was a hybrid, a fellow hybrid!