Mickey the Goat
MICKEY THE GOAT – May 22, 2025 – Ventura, California, USA
Of all the 21st century inventions, Sasha loved Instagram best. It soaked up much of her free time and brain cycles. She loved the way the image filters made her look ten years younger. She loved the thrill of posting a picture or video and seeing likes and comments appear. She could not quite describe the feeling of importance the icons and words brought. Some people said it was like a drug. Sasha did not care if she was addicted.
She knew that the more followers she had for her account, the more positive feedback she would get. Her follower count became an obvious way to measure success and importance. She heard the term influencer all the time, but no one ever defined how many followers you needed to qualify as an influencer. Sasha decided 10,000 was a nice, big number and the level she needed to reach.
On her way to 10,000 followers, Sasha tried a little bit of everything. If there was a fad or trend popping in the Instaverse, she jumped on it. She made ice bucket challenge videos. She learned all the Fortnite dances. At one point, she felt famous for her instructional videos on how to make avocado toast. She was also a vocal advocate for beach jogging and yoga. When printed leggings were popular, she made videos unboxing new designs and then modeling them.
Every picture or video might bring new followers. The effort to produce content was exhausting and sometimes frustrating, but eventually Sasha crossed over the 10,000-follower plateau she had defined for an influencer. She could not say what she was influencing, but she had arrived. Funny thing was, instead of feeling gratified and proud of herself, Sasha felt burned out. When her count rolled to 10,000, it was as if the creative juices drained from her body. She had no more points to make or things to photograph, which was a true shame now that she was an influencer. While in this conflicted state, she visited her favorite friend, Renata, on her farm.
Renata lived on four acres of rural land located ten miles inland from Ventura. Her property may not have qualified as an actual farm, but there was room enough for a horse, chickens, pigs, and goats. Renata took care of them mostly for fun.
At one time, not many years earlier, Sasha and Renata dreamed together of being fashion models. They drove to Los Angeles for photoshoots and casting calls, hoping to be discovered by a clothing brand or ad agency. When she got married and moved to the farm, Renata said goodbye to modeling with no regrets. Her hunger for fame and stardom disappeared completely. She did not even like social media. While she did follow Sasha’s Instagram account, she rarely posted anything herself.
As Sasha tromped behind Renata on the way to her chicken coop, the influencer tried to explain her Instagram slump.
“It’s like I’m not interested in anything anymore. I’m all danced out. I barely get excited about new clothes.”
Renata looked up from the basket of eggs she was collecting. “Maybe you need a new hobby. You could try something else for a while.”
Sasha stepped back and crossed her arms, clearly offended. “Instagram isn’t a hobby.”
“Then what is it?”
“My way of expressing myself.”
“You could try a blog and say anything you want.”
“No one’s going to read a blog,” Sasha said dismissively. “I like being noticed.”
“By lots of people?”
“Yes, by lots of people. You remember when you wanted a modelling contract and for everyone to recognize your face. It’s that kind of feeling.”
Renata nodded but Sasha was not convinced she understood. As Renata carried eggs back to her house and then strolled through a field to deliver hay to her horse, Sasha followed behind explaining the thrill of a post going viral. With the horse fed, Renata moved to a pen filled with miniature goats.
“How cute! When did you get goats?”
“Right before Christmas. We’re raising the babies to sell. People love them for pets right now.”
Sasha gushed over the six black and white goats that were no bigger than large puppies. One especially playful goat caught her attention as it jumped on top of a stack of wood pallets. Sasha stared as the goat bleated playfully.
“Is that for real?” Sasha asked Renata.
“Is what for real?”
“That marking on its forehead. It looks exactly like the Mickey Mouse logo with the head and the ears.”
“Oh yeah. I noticed that too.”
Sasha could not take her eyes off the black marking on the little goat’s otherwise white face. Like a lightning bolt or sunbeam flashing through the sky, Sasha had a revelation. The goat was going to solve her Instagram drought.
“You ever take pictures of that goat? Is it a boy or a girl?”
“It’s a boy. And no, I’ve never taken his picture.”
“Disney fans would love seeing that spot on his face. They go crazy for hidden Mickey stuff.”
Renata shrugged her shoulders.
“You know, the one thing I haven’t done a lot with is animal videos. If goats are hot right now and you combine that with the logo, we could get huge views. Will you let me take him?”
“You want to buy him?”
“More like borrow. I’d take him places for little photoshoots. I could dress him up and pretend we’re doing stuff like going to the beach. I’ll bring him right back afterwards.”
“You’re going to be in the pictures too?” Renata asked with a laugh.
“Yes. What’s so funny?”
“Oh nothing. Sure, go ahead and take him if you promise to be gentle.”
That afternoon, Sasha and Renata loaded the goat into the backseat of Sasha’s car and they drove to a nearby playground for some sample pictures. During the drive, Sasha had a second revelation. This one was about the goat’s name.
“I’ll call him Mickey. Mickey the Goat. Kind of obvious because of the mouse ear mark.”
Mickey proved to be cooperative in the car. He happily perched on the seat and stared in wonder at the window. When they reached the park, Renata acted as videographer to capture Sasha and Mickey on a slide and balance beam. Sasha posted a compilation of videos with closeup shots highlighting Mickey’s forehead. Two days later, she took Mickey to the beach and a spin class where he was supposedly riding a bike.
After posting pictures and videos containing Mickey, Sasha noticed they got more views and likes than anything she had recently uploaded and all the comments were about how cute the goat was. As she read the feedback, Sasha had her third revelation, which she explained to Renata.
“I created a new Mickey the Goat page. It’s all about him.”
“I thought the reason you wanted to borrow him was to make stuff for your account.”
“This new account will attract different kinds of followers. But I’ll encourage them to visit my original account. It’s called crossover.”
“What if someone from Disney sees it and sues you over the name?”
Sasha smiled dreamily. “That would be amazing! Just think of all the publicity that would generate.”
Mickey the Goat’s Instagram feed started with only the followers Sasha persuaded to visit from her original account. But after only a few days, she knew she was managing a hit. People loved videos of Mickey on a surfboard and balanced on a bowling ball at a bowling alley. When Sasha posted videos of Mickey at the movies and sitting behind a desk in a classroom, his account pulled in hundreds of new followers every day.
At the beginning, when everything seemed promising, Sasha embraced her role as photographer, producer, and wardrobe designer. She loved shopping online for cute outfits for Mickey and planning outings at interesting settings. She bought a tiny fireman’s costume and talked her way into using a fire truck as a prop. While wearing a miniature tie and jacket, Mickey pretended to be a CEO behind a desk in an office.
People could not get enough of Mickey’s adventures. Within four weeks, he surpassed Sasha’s follower count of 10,000. Despite all the new eyeballs, Sasha could not get the exposure to rub off on her. She encouraged Mickey’s new followers to also follow her original account but there was little crossover. Mickey’s fans wanted to see the goat, not her. The fun began to wear off for Sasha.
During the fifth week of promoting Mickey, Sasha planned a visit to the Ventura marina. She purchased an adorable sailor outfit and carried Mickey down to the boats that were secured to a floating walkway. Usually, Mickey was happy to cooperate, but that morning he refused to put on his costume. He whined and cried and embarrassed Sasha as she tried filming next to an expensive yacht.
“What’s wrong with you today?” Sasha cried. “Be quiet. You’re making a scene.”
Sasha was forced to retreat from the marina without the shots she wanted. With Mickey back in her car, she complained to him about his lack of gratitude.
“After all I’ve done for you, how can you treat me like this? You weren’t always a prima donna.”
Mickey bleated and pooped on the backseat. It was the first time Sasha had failed to cover the seat with a plastic sheet. She was crying by the time she reached Renata’s farm and she knew her relationship with Mickey was over.
“I can’t be his manager anymore,” Sasha explained to Renata. “It’s just not working for me.”
“I thought things were going well,” Renata replied in surprise. “What about the Instagram account? I thought that was taking off.”
“You can take it over if you want. Here, I’ll give you the password.”
Renata handed over her phone and let Sasha enter the login information for the Mickey the Goat account. After Sasha drove away still acting like her world had collapsed, Renata had no plans to post anything new for Mickey. Then she noticed how especially cute and curious he was. He acted a lot like a joyful puppy and climbed over every inch of his pen as he explored.
“It wouldn’t hurt to take a few more pictures,” Renata said to herself.
She started with shots around the farm. Mickey driving a tractor. Mickey picking tomatoes. Renata had so much fun with the pictures, she organized tea and dance parties with Mickey and the other goats. Like Sasha, she dressed Mickey in fun outfits and was soon driving to Los Angeles to show off Mickey at famous sits. He strutted down the Hollywood Walk of Fame wearing miniature sunglasses.
Renata was a better videographer than Sasha and had an eye for funny visuals. She was also more patient than Sasha. As she posted clips, Mickey’s site truly blew up. After a month, he had 100,000 followers. After four more months, he had over a million. That was when Renata got her first messages about sponsorship deals. Suddenly, Mickey was making promos and commercials for Toyota, Old Navy, and Jersey Mike’s Subs. He appeared on local news segments and on morning talk shows broadcast from L.A. He showed up at the Golden Globes and the NBA playoffs. He walked the red carpet at three different movie premiers.
As Mickey’s owner and manager, Renata did all the talking for the little goat. She got on camera as much as he did. For the more glamorous events like the movie premiers, she wore high-fashioned dresses from designers she only dreamed about during her modeling career.
Sasha watched all of this from a distance. She scoured video clips for any mention of her first discovering Mickey and launching his stardom. Renata never voluntarily mentioned her and none of Mickey’s interviewers brought it up. Sasha jealously stewed and paid no visits to the farm.
Like all celebrity, Mickey’s star eventually faded. People grew less interested in cute goats and Renata ran out of ideas for funny videos. The sponsorship deals ended. Posts on the Instagram account became rare.
After Mickey reached the end of his fame arc, Sasha showed up unannounced at the farm one day. Renata greeted her warmly and they walked together to Mickey’s custom-made pen. A wall of waterproof photos showed some of Mickey’s most popular poses and encounters with famous people. Sasha stared at one picture that also featured Renata wearing a red sparkly dress.
“That should be you in the picture,” Renata said to her friend. “You were always better in front of a camera and with all the celebrity stuff. If only you would have stuck with Mickey a little longer.”
Sasha bit her tongue and said unconvincingly, “Oh well. It doesn’t bother me. I never wanted to be famous for knowing a goat.”
Renata smiled to herself and suggested they look at some baby pigs. “There’s one I think you’ll like.”
When they reached the pig pen, Sasha immediately spotted the special gray and black pig Renata intended to point out.
“That mark on its side. It looks just like a Valentine heart,” Sasha said with new excitement in her voice.
“A perfect little Valentine,” Renata said in agreement.
“You know, tiny pigs are hot right now. I wonder how that one would look in a hat.”
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