Chapter Text
The skyscrapers were replaced by trees and the occaisonal farm long ago on her exhausting drive. Now nose-blind to the pungent smell of rural Iowa, Elora takes her last few turns into her father's dirt driveway. As she opens the door, a wall of the most horrific animal-created aromas bitch-slap her right in the face and she gags, plugging her nose and mouth with her hand.
"Elora, is that your car I hear?" Her father's low, course voice asks. She looks up, a hand still covering her lower face, and she waves with the other.
Wearing a flannel and jeans, Farmer Joe laughs when he sees her. "Oh, Sweety. Breathe in deep and you'll get used to it. Be happy—that's the scent of a successful farm!" He makes a show of waving the air towards him and breathing with a smile, exhaling with an, "Ahhhh!"
Cheeks flushed from holding her breath, Elora contemplates suffocating to death. But her body gets the better of her and she gasps for air, then immediately regrets it as she scrunches her nose.
"Long ride, eh?" Her father pats her car's hood. "Wow, she's a beauty. Your mother really spent on you, huh?" He looks down, and Elora realizes he's trying to hide his expression. "Say, how is your mother? Is that new man treating her nice?"
Elora sighs. It's been over a decade, and he still asks about her first-thing whenever she calls or sees him. "Yes, Dad, she's great. But how are you? Are you feeling okay? Any aching or…" When she got the call a week ago, her own chest ached so bad that she thought she was having a heart attack too. Thankfully, her roommate/bestie, Shiara, talked her through the panic attack and she was able to get to the hospital and be there when he woke up.
"Honey, no need to worry about this ol' man. I'm as strong as a bull and will work this farm 'till I croak—which will be a long time from now."
Elora smiles despite the pit in her stomach. "Of course."
"Well hun, want some food? Or would you like to see the farm grounds first?"
Her stomach growls, but the curiosity burns more. "Show me around."
"Wow, and you work all of this?" Elora waves her hands around the sea of greenery.
Her father sighs. "I've had to let ten workers go in the past year. I'm afraid I've only been managing a portion of the 200 acres." He mutters, almost indicipherably, "My main focus have been the cattlemen."
"Oh, show me the cattle!" Elora smiles. She loves animals. She's studying to be a doctor for them, after all.
Farmer Joe leads the way, and Elora smiles at the familiar sound of mooing and munching grass.
But as they get closer to the pen…Elora takes off her glasses and wipes them on her shirt. The smudge moves around, but clears enough for her to put them back in and gasp. "Why are there a bunch of naked women in there?!"
Her father tilts his head at her, as if she's said something crazy. "Those are no women, sweety. You need better glasses."
They walk closer, and she starts to question her father's sanity. He's shown no signs of dementia yet, or…maybe he has? Either way, this is definitely illegal—
She gasps again when she looks down. "The women, they all have…"
"They are no women, dear. They are minotaurs."
Hooves and furry legs blend to skin at the wait line. A normal body follows, but their heads resemble cows'.
"Their milk is worth ten times that of a cow's. And they are much easier to manage."
Elora shakes her head. Who—how—what?! What is happening??? This must be a dream. Better to play along. "D-Dad, this doesn't seem right..."
"If it weren't for me, these—minotaurs—would be out on the street. This way they get paid to eat and sleep in shelter." He points to the barn—old and falling apart. "It's all above board, I have papers to prove it."
Elora shakes her reeling head. How is this real? Mythical creatures? Her father? Beautiful women just roaming the grounds? Willingly?
She doesn't want to know. But she has to. "Are there any…others…here?"
"Well, we have one male minotaur, of course. But other than a handful of chickens, this farm is mainly agricultural."
Elora nods, trying not to picture what the male one looks like. This is all too much for her. "I…I need to lie down." She leaves her father to nap in the farm house.