Where Oh Where Could Mollie Be? And What Was Happening Behind Closed Stable Doors...

Considered to most as foolish, vain, and rather selfish, it was not a surprise or dread when the news broke out of Mollie's disappearance.  While she is a dainty, pretty white mare who makes for a perfect show horse, at some point most realize the inside makes a bigger statement than one's outward appearance.  Obsessed with sweet lumps of sugar, being pet, and swaying ribbons to adorn her mane, nasty rumors began circulating about how Mollie was an unproductive weight to carry around the farm.  An unnamed source openly declares:

"The stupidest questions of all are always asked by Mollie.  I've accidentally taken to a habit of rolling my eyes whenever I hear her dainty voice tussle the air during meetings, or the hottest part of the day when the animals sweat the most from their outside work."  

Just before the Rebellion, as I again watched a secret Rebellion meeting from the rafters before the expulsion of Farmer Jones, the first thing Mollie said was, "Will there still be sugar after the Rebellion?"  She was then shot down my Napoleon, who firmly denied her wishes by pointing out that she would have the necessary oats and hay.  She then continued to question, "And shall I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane?"  to which then Snowball shot her down.  Surprisingly, it seems the only times Napoleon and Snowball agreed were when they were refusing Mollie's vain requests. 

As time wore on, the predicament grew worse with problems such as: 

• Mollie was not good at getting up in the mornings
• She refused to learn any but the six letters which spelt her own name 
• She had taken to flight as soon as the gun went off during the Battle of the Cowshed
• She was late for work every morning
• She claimed about pains often, although her appetite was healthy
• She would often visit the drinking pool during her work time just to stare at her own reflection in the water

However, an even worse rumor arose.  A source puts in:

"This morning I saw her looking over the hedge to Foxwood, where one of Pilkington's men was talking to her and stroking her nose!  I confronted her about it later, but she denied it.  Even so, she was making lots of nervous movements and avoiding my gaze.  After asking for her word of honor, she just ran away from me.  After a thought struck me, I went to investigate her stall and found lumps of hidden sugar and bundles of ribbons.  However, I would never tell on her.  Besides, I was rather far away, so maybe my middle-aged eyes were deceiving me."

Contrary to what this source's conclusion was, Mollie disappeared three days later, and is now missing.  However, fellow pigeon reports have come in claiming to have found Mollie on the other side of Willingdon with a fresh appearance and a face expression full of joy as a man stroked her nose and fed her sugar.  

To each her own... No one really mentions Mollie anymore, anyway.  

Mollie's "badges of slavery"