The toys were confused. Nobody had ever acted this way before. All of the toys got along and were friendly with each other. After a few days, some of the animals got together and tried talking to him. He just looked at them and then walked away.

This wasn’t just unfriendly, this was rude. The animals had had enough so they went to Horace to ask what they should do.

“He’s not just unfriendly with us, he’s rude. We try to talk to him, and he just walks away. We don’t think he’s very happy to be here. What do we do, Horace?”

“Let me try to talk to him and see what’s happening. Maybe he just needs more time to get used to being here.”

Together, they walked back the barnyard. The animals went back to hanging out and playing while Horace looked around for the new toy. He found him out back, munching on some dinner. Even when the tiger walked up and stood next to him, he didn’t stop.

“Hi there,” said Horace.

“Hmph,” muttered the other toy.

“I just stopped by to see how you’re doing and if you’re happy here.”

The toy looked up from his dinner and sighed.

“You’re some kind of welcoming committee? I’ve had enough of that.”

“No, I’m just Horace. I like to make sure that everyone is happy.”

“Don’t you know who I am? I am the goat.”

“Yes, I know that you’re a goat.”

“No, I’m the goat.”

“But, there are other goats who live here. Have you met them yet?”

“You don’t understand. Goat. Greatest of all time.”

“The greatest at what?” asked Horace.

“Everything.”

“Oh…well, the annual toy games are coming up. Maybe you would like to compete.”

The goat nodded and went back to eating. Horace walked away, puzzled by his behavior. Nobody had ever acted that way in the toy store before. Everyone was friendly and cheered for each other. Nobody thought that they were better than anyone else.

The day of the games arrived, and all of the toys were excited. There would be races and jumping contests and all sorts of games. Everyone gathered at the first event, the long jump. They couldn’t wait to see who could jump the farthest. The competitors lined up and on the count of three, they all ran and jumped as hard as they could.

The goat won and everyone cheered for him. Horace gave him his medal and then they all moved to the next event. This was the big race. This year, the cheetahs, Harley, and the goat were all competing. While they waited, the goat told everyone how he was going to win. The other toys just smiled and took their places.

Then the whistle blew, everyone took off and ran as hard as they could. As usual, the cheetahs got tangled up in a ball and rolled right off of the track. They giggled and laughed as they tried to untangle themselves and get back to the race. Harley started off slow, but she was moving quickly around the track. In the front was the goat. It looked as if he was going to win.

Then, it happened. Suddenly, he stopped running and grabbed one of his legs. Harley came running up and stopped next to him.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I have a cramp in my leg,” the goat whimpered.

“Let me help you.”

With that, she rubbed his leg until it felt better and then together, they ran across the finish line. Everyone cheered for them, and they both received a medal. Before Harley could leave to go to the next event, the goat stopped her.

“Why did you help me? You could have won,” he asked.

“It wouldn’t be right if I won while you were injured. We help each other here,” she answered.

“My name is really the GOAT. It’s Frank. I think I’d like it if you called me that.”

“It’s good to meet you, Frank. Shall we go see how the baseball toss is going?”

“I’d really like that.”

After that, Frank got along with everyone, and everyone became his friend. He still competed, but he no longer thought he would win at everything.