Sister Zero by Nance Van Winckel

Mister Ed Aloft

Forget the circus, Mister Ed wants to join space! To be NASA's first horse in orbit.

But dagnabbit he's too fat.

Vowing to WORK off the pounds, he allows himself to be hitched to a plow. My sister and I scoot closer to the screen. Harnessed Ed fills our den with woe.

The plow, he reports, is the weight of the world.

Next it's Ed vs. an enormous tree root, a small man, and the snarl of a whip.