Courtney raised a steer as part of her 4H classes.
She never gave it a name or talked to it. Just wrote X on every form.
It won competition after competition, until they got to the State Fair.
They never managed a win there.
But it did place, and at the auction, Courtney came away with enough scholarship money to pay her way through State.
The steer ended up as steaks and burgers, and its horns adorned a Russian billionaire’s golf cart.
At her graduation, Courtney thanked her parents and her teachers.
Not a single thought about X the steer.