The Mule and the Hill (Repost)

This post is a True story shared at: Tell Me a Story 

Return for my continued Fictional Stories that may be found here each day.

Mule
courtesy photobucket.com

My uncle Wiley bought a mule that was half native horse and half mustang. He was a small mule but very strong.

One thing was wrong, no one could ride him. Several guys had got hurt trying.

Uncle Wiley had a hired hand named Calvin who managed to ride him with no difficulty at all. We were all amazed knowing the past history of the mule.

It was harvest time, and we were gathering corn to put in the barn for the winter.  This work was exhausting, and the long hours made us extremely tired.  The river bottom was where the corn was growing, and in order to get it home it was necessary to climb a long steep hill. 

I wasn't looking forward to climbing that hill, especially since Calvin was going to ride the mule.  I said to Calvin, “Why don't we both walk, and we can talk on the way.”

Well Calvin said he had a better idea. “Lets both ride the mule.”   He reasoned we could both hold him down with our weight.

Now I'm going to tell you I thought that was a bad idea, but as I gazed at that hill, and being so extremely tired, I gave in, and climbed on board. 

Calvin told the mule to giddy-up and off we went.

 

As we started up the hill that old mule humped his back, which caused us to lean back.  That old mule jumped out from under us causing us to land smack dab on that hard gravel road.

We both got banged up something awful. 

The fact that we were so very tired made that hill a lot longer than it was.

We didn't see that mule until we got home.

Seems I can still hear his hooves pounding the gravel as he ran away from us, and they got quieter and quieter as he got further away.

I surely did underestimate him, for he was a lot smarter than I gave him credit for. 

He knew he wasn't about to carry us up that hill because he was as tired as we were.

The underestimation of many things can get us into trouble.

Concluding that entering into a business venture is a sound investment can cost you everything you have.

Vetting is a relatively new term to me, but it must become a practice when we involve ourselves with people both new and old especially with finances. 

(Vetting is a process of examination and evaluation to determine if it is safe to proceed)

Remember that the mule may have wisdom that you and I are not aware of.