Fable

There once was a boy named James who had two wonderful parents who loved him dearly. James lived near the edge of town in a small cottage with a straw roof. His family worked on a dairy farm owned by their neighbors.

One day his mother, who was sick in bed, gave him $5.00, because back where James lived $5.00 went a long way, to go and buy the family some groceries. James was excited with the chance to run an errand for his mom and be the dependable guy she expected him to be. He replayed her words in his mind, "Go straight to the store, do not stop for anything, buy only what is on the list and hurry home."

He hopped on his bike, flung his sac over his shoulder and began peddling as fast as he could. He thought about his up coming summer vacation as he began his six mile journey. Riding down the dirt road, with the dust flying behind, he saw something up ahead. From where he was it just seemed to be a black blob. His little legs peddled as fast as they could to reach the road obstruction. The closer he got the more he realized what lay before him. It was a herd of cattle.

In the middle of the cattle was a young calf that could not get up and walk. His mom's voice rang in his ear "don't stop for anything." But he knew that stopping right now would meet his mother's approval. He quickly turned around, road his bike back half a mile and turned down this side dirt driveway to Farmer Ted's house. He quickly dismounted his bike and ran to the front door. After several rapid knocks, Mr. Ted Smith answered the door.

"What can I do for you James."

"One of your calves is in the middle of the road, he appears hurt."

"Thank you James!." Mr. Smith said as he grabbed his keys off the side table and shut the door behind him.

"Throw your bike in the back of my truck and I'll give you a ride up the road."

"Thanks," replied James as he threw is bicycle in the truck bed, "I am in kind of a hurry my mom is sick and I need to do some errands for her."

They quickly reached the herd of cattle. Both of them stepped out of the truck. Mr. Smith headed straight to the injured calf, and James grabbed his bike. As James peddled off, Mr. Smith scooped up the young cow and put him in the back of his truck. He herded his cattle back behind the fence.

James now back on track and not too far off from his time schedule began to slow his feet, as he started on paved roads. Cautiously he watched for cars and trucks on the highway, though they were far and few in between they were fast.

He heard a car far behind him so he moved closer off the shoulder. When the car sounds came closer, they began to slow down. The car was driving at an almost stand still as it pulled in front of the young lad, and came to a stop. A little old gray haired lady, rolled down the window and beckoned James to her. That is when he noticed that her back tire had gone flat.

"Can you please help me young man? I must of hit a nail back there or something. My frail hands are not strong enough to change out my tire. Do you mind helping me?" Before he could let her know he really was in a hurry, he blurted out "Yes, Ma'am I'd be more than happy to help you."

15 minutes later, he tightened the last lug nut and wiped his greasy hands on his shirt. The lady graciously thanked him and offered him a $1 for his trouble. Even though money was tight, he refused her offer and told her it was his pleasure. He peddled off and thoughts of what he could have done with his money flooded his brain. "Why didn't I take the money?" he thought to himself.

Finally he arrived at the store. While pulling the shopping list out of his pocket he walked through the self opening doors. Milk, bread, eggs, apples and ice cream were on the list. He chuckled at the list, thinking about the fact that they lived next to a dairy farm and they had to buy milk. They also had an orchard of apple trees in the back but those were a few months off from producing fruit.

He grabbed a cart, walked down the aisles and tossed the necessary items in the basket. He approached the check out stand, to see three people in line before him. He looked down at his wrist to see that he was expected to be home in five minutes. "hurry hurry...why don't they have more than one check out stand. I am going to be late and my mom is going to be worried."

He placed his items on the black moving belt. Ching. Ching. Ching. Ching. Ching. "$4.95" the cashier said. James took the change and bills out of his pocket, while counting it out he placed it in the out reached worker's hand.

As quickly as possible he left the store, already a few minutes late, and unlocked his bike. As he rode out of the lot, he saw Farmer Ted's truck.

"Hey James, I put the calf in the barn and remembered you saying you were in a hurry, so I thought I'd catch up with you and see if you need a ride."

A big smile marked James face as he hoped into the truck. "Thank you so much! My mom worries if I am just a minute late, and now I am running on 7!"

"I'll get you home. And while I have you hear I have a question for you. Would you like to earn some money this summer by helping me out on my farm? I spoke with your parents and they said that I'd have to ask you but that they were ok with it."

"That will be great" James said as they drove down the dirt road.

The day turned out to be a good one, James thought as he opened the door to the cottage.

"I am home Mom! Mom?"