Penny the Cow-

Ten-year-old Norma Jean is now living in a countryside orphanage after losing her beloved Papa. Before her grandfather passed away, he and Norma Jean would sit for hours having wonderful conversations about the life they shared together. “A penny for your thoughts,” Papa would say to his creative, imaginative granddaughter. This meant he wanted to know what she was thinking. Then he would drop a shiny penny in her hand after Norma Jean shared her heart and thoughts. She learned from her Papa how valuable her thoughts were. She also learned how valuable a penny was, so she saved every coin she earned.

To fill the void in her life after her beloved grandfather passed away, Norma Jean loved to create adventurous stories to share with the other orphaned children. She loved all the farm animals surrounding the countryside orphanage, especially a black and white cow she had named Penny in her mind. Using her creative imagination, Norma Jean would make up an exciting, adventurous story about Penny the Cow, the main character in all of her suspenseful episodes.

She would stand upon a tree stump in the backyard of the countryside orphanage. The other orphaned children would gather around the tree stump, anxiously awaiting one of her stories. “A penny for my thoughts,” Norma Jean would cheerfully say, quoting her beloved Papa, and then she would hold out her hand for collection. Delighted in hearing her suspenseful stories about her favorite cow named Penny, the other orphaned children would reach into their allowance and eagerly drop shiny pennies in her hand.

Dramatically, Norma Jean expressed her creative, imaginative stories. She loved to tell her tall tales, and she loved to collect shiny pennies for sharing her fabulous fantasies! Norma Jean was becoming quite the little entrepreneur, meaning she had created her own story-telling business and would collect coins in exchange for her imaginative ideas and story-telling efforts. Her coins were adding up. She never failed to deliver an adventurous or suspenseful tale which contained an element of surprise and a moral lesson to last a lifetime. Each story she shared revolved around her favorite cow who was extremely cautious and wise. Soon, the children were growing just as fond of Norma’s imaginative cow, a beloved black and white cow she had named Penny.