Meequan's World Adventures

a story by Maggie Muth

Once upon a time there was a cow named Meequan.  He lived in Mequon, Wisconsin.  Meequan loved everything about his home except one thing, no one liked him! 

One day Meequan was walking along the road near his house when he saw his neighbor walking the other way.  “Hello neighbor, I’m going on a trip around the world”, Meequan said.  The neighbor replied, “Be Gone Meequan!”  Meequan hung his head and walked home.

That night when Meequan was lying in bed he thought, “Why do people not like me here? I better not think too hard” He decided to leave on his trip around the world in the morning.

When Meequan woke up he ate breakfast, packed a bag and drove to the airport.  Then, he flew to… Greece. 

When Meequan got there he was immediately greeted by a man named Dimitri.  They drove to a hotel that was in the shadow of the world famous Parthenon.  Meequan took a little nap and went downstairs for dinner.  Meequan had a delicious meal of pastitsio (a creamy macaroni meatloaf like dish).  When dinner was over he went back to his hotel room and fell right to sleep. 

When Meequan woke-up the sun was up and bright.  He got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast.  Dimitri met him downstairs.  He was standing next to a woman.  “This is Smaro,” Dimitri said, “She will be your tour guide”.  “OK,” Meequan said. 

After breakfast Meequan followed Smaro and they walked to the Acropolis.  They walked up to the Parthenon and Smaro started talking about how the Parthenon was the temple of the Athena and was built in 447BCE.  She talked more about the columns and epistyle of the Parthenon while Meequan snapped photos.  The best one turned out like this:

The sun was starting to set in the sky when Meequan and Smaro got back to the hotel.  Meequan liked Greece but something was missing, “I want to go to Egypt”, Meequan said.  “Be Gone Meequan,” Dimitri said.  Meequan sighed and walked upstairs.  He started packing his bags, when there was a knock on the door.  It was Dimitri.  He said he was willing to drive Meequan to the airport.  Meequan was surprised but said yes. 

The next morning Dimitri drove Meequan to the airport and Meequan flew to…Egypt!  A nice man named Walid met him at the airport and drove him to a campus.  Meequan got his bags and went to his dorm room, where he cooked himself a dinner of koshari (a traditional simple Egyptian dish with pasta, rice and lentils) and fell asleep. 

When Meequan woke up he thought, “Why was Dimitri so nice to me then said ‘Be Gone?’”  Meequan ate breakfast and thought some more.  Then Walid came in with a woman, “This is Amani, your tour guide”.  “Great!” Meequan said.  Next thing he knew he was in a car on his way to the Great Pyramids of Giza.  When they got there Amani told Meequan that the Pyramids were the tombs of the Pharoahs Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure and they were built in 2560BCE and Meequan was free to take pictures for the rest of the day.  Here is one of the many pictures Meequan took:

Amani asked Meequan if he wanted to go inside the pyramid but Meequan was too scared.  So they drove back to campus and ate lunch.

After lunch Meequan walked around campus and found a library.  Meequan sat in a comfy chair and read.  Then he walked back to his dorm.  Meequan thought, “I like Egypt but there is something missing.”  Walid came in and said, “Time for dinner”.  “I want to go to India,” Meequan said.  “Be Gone Meequan,” said Walid.  Meequan jumped and ran away.

The next morning Meequan took a taxi to the airport and flew to…India.  A nice man named Regi was supposed to meet him but got stuck in traffic.  So Meequan took a public bus to a nice green place called ECC where Regi met him.  “Change of plans,” said Regi, “we are going to Agra.”  “Why?” asked Meequan.  “Because you want to see the Taj Mahal”, said Regi.  “OK”, said Meequan.  So they went back to the airport and flew to Agra, which was somewhere else in India.  When they got there, Meequan followed Regi to a giant tour bus and hopped in.  Then they drove to a hotel right next to the Taj Mahal.  Meequan found an Indian buffet of basmati rice, lentil dal, palak paneer and spicy curry.  Then Meequan went to his room and fell asleep.

In the morning Meequan woke up and went downstairs to breakfast.  Regi met him and was standing next to a man.  “This is Ajay, he will be your guide.”  “OK”, said Meequan.  So they got back on the giant tour bus and drove to the Taj Mahal.  Ajay gave Meequan a few facts about the Taj Mahal like…the Taj Mahal is a Mausoleum (tomb) it was build between 1631 and 1648 CE.  Then Meequan was free to roam.  Here is a picture that Meequan took:     

After the sun had set and things were closing Meequan found Ajay and they headed towards the hotel.  They ate a lovely meal and Meequan decided he liked India but something was missing.  “I want to go to China,” said Meequan.  “Be Gone Meequan”, said Regi.  Meequan walked to his room and thought, “but why were they so nice? Maybe they don’t mean ‘be gone’ in a bad way”.  He fell asleep after that.

The next morning Meequan decided to head back to the airport and fly to…China.  When Meequan got off the plane a nice man named Bruce met him.  They got into a car and drove to a very nice hotel.  Meequan got out of the car and went to a restaurant inside.  He had a meal of dumplings, soup, noodles and roasted duck.  It was all served on a table with a spinning center.  Then Meequan went up to his room and fell asleep.

In the morning Meequan woke up ready for the day.  He got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast.  Bruce met him downstairs, “Where is the tour guide?” Meequan said.  “I’m the tour guide,” said Bruce.  “Oh”, said Meequan. 

After breakfast, Meequan and Bruce got in a car and drove to the Great Wall of China.  Bruce got out of the car and Meequan followed.  Then they started to climb.  Suddenly Bruce stopped.  He started talking about how the Great Wall was created to protect an empire from invaders and was built in 221 BCE.  Then Meequan could take pictures and climb.  Here is the best picture that Meequan took:

When Meequan was exhausted he found Bruce, ate lunch and drove back to the hotel.  When they got back they ate dinner.  Meequan liked China but he realized how much he missed home.  “I want to go home,” said Meequan.  “Be gone Meequan,” said Bruce.  “Thank you,” said Meequan, for now he knew that “Be gone” was a weird way of saying, “have a nice trip”.  Meequan immediately drove to the airport and took the next flight home.

When Meequan arrived at his house all of his friends and family were waiting for Meequan.  They were so happy to see him.  Everyone told Meequan they were so happy to see him and were sorry about being mean.  Meequan said, “No, ‘Be Gone’ is a good way to say, ‘have a nice journey’”.  Everyone cheered.

The end.