Gooney Bird Greene

On Wednesday, Gooney decides to tell her story about how Catman was “consumed by a cow” (71). She reminds the class that her cat had no tail because it was cut off in a lawn mower incident, but she reassures them that she won’t go into detail about it. Wearing her furry jacket and holding a cowhide purse, Gooney stops to compliment the class, including Mrs. Pidgeon, on their fine fashion choices before she starts her last story.

Gooney’s story begins where her flying-carpet story ended. She and Catman were in a field of all sorts of flowers when they came across a cow. Catman had never seen a cow and became intrigued by its smell, movements, and sounds. He seemed to fall instantly in love with the cow, and no matter how much Gooney called to him, he would not return to her. Gooney was later found, but Catman had long since followed the cow back to his farm. An illustration shows Catman rubbing himself on the cow’s leg as the cow continues to munch on flowers. When the farmers saw Gooney describing her lost cat on the news, they knew they had him but regretted to tell Gooney that Catman was completely attached to (“consumed by”) their cow.