The Bull Who Loved Baseball

Leo wiped sweat from his forehead as he stepped up to home plate. The summer sun beat down on the dusty field, and in his hand, he gripped his favorite baseball bat. His golden retriever, Buster, sat nearby, tail thumping excitedly against the wooden fence. Every day after school, Leo practiced his swing while Buster chased imaginary flies across the grass.

But today was different. Today, the fence gate had swung open, and Buster had wandered off. "Buster!" Leo called, dropping his bat. "Buster, where are you?" Following his dog's paw prints, Leo crept toward Farmer McGregor's pasture — where the enormous black bull named Thunder lived.

Peeking through the tall grass, Leo gasped. Buster wasn't running away in fear. Instead, the dog was wagging his tail furiously as Thunder, the massive bull, gently nudged a baseball with his giant nose. The bull would toss his head, sending the ball sailing through the air, and Buster would leap to catch it, returning it with a proud bark.

Leo stepped out from the grass. Thunder froze, his dark eyes widening. The bull lowered his massive head, looking guilty, as if he knew he wasn't supposed to play with humans' things.

"You like baseball?" Leo asked softly.

Thunder nodded his enormous head slowly.

"My name's Leo. This is Buster. Want to play?"

For the next hour, something magical happened in that pasture. Leo pitched, Buster fielded, and Thunder — with surprising gentleness — used his strong nose to hit the baseball farther than Leo had ever seen. The bull had been watching Leo practice for months from across the fence, dreaming of joining the game.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Leo asked as they sat in the shade.

Thunder looked down at his giant hooves and powerful horns. Leo understood. Sometimes the biggest, scariest-looking creatures just want to make friends.

"Tomorrow," Leo promised, "I'll bring two balls. One for Buster, one for you. And maybe..." he grinned, "you can teach me how to hit so far."

Thunder let out a happy snort that sounded exactly like laughter, and Buster barked in agreement. The bull who loved baseball had finally found his team.