The Mule Egg

I couldn't have the mule, so I kept the next best thing!

We arrived at Bubbeh's and Zaideh's just after breakfast! Which was the best time because most of the hard work had been done; Bubbie's cooking and Zettie's early morning farm work. This meant that Bubbeh would let us get an ice cold mason jar of cow milk (not to be confused with store milk) from the milk refrigerator to go with our biscuits and syrup. Oh, to a six-year-old city girl it was ambrosia! As the boys and I devoured "the best breakfast in the whole world” the grown-ups talked work, city, and farming.

"I better go feed up," Zaideh rumbled, "Anyone want to help?"

He always asked the same question and we always screamed a resounding, "Yes!" thick with syrup and biscuits through milk circled mouths.

He would push himself up from the table very slowly and deliberately saying, "Well, if no one is interested I'll be off." Then he'd be out the screen door with a trail of grandchildren squawking behind him.

It was a wonderful place, a magical place filled with everything a city child could dare wish for; cows, horses, ducks, chickens and fields full of real vegetables (not to be confused with store vegetables). As we neared the barn, the boys headed for the watermelon patch to select the perfect melon leaving only Zetie and me.

The barn was a cavern of stalls for the milking cows, and horses. I loved visiting the barn, taking in the aroma of horse and hay. Zetie would always let me feed the horses handfuls of hay; I loved them so. This morning, however, there was a new member to the stable. I ran to the last stall to find the most beautiful animal in the world. She was perfect. She was the color of warm chocolate and possessed the most soulful eyes. I loved her. I wanted her.

"Well, Susie,” Zaideh chuckled, "I see you've met Anya."

"Anya? That's her name? It's as beautiful as she is!" I climbed on the wooden planks of the stall and managed to reach over to pet her. Her ears were like velvet and her muzzle, soft beyond words.

"Oh, Zaideh, I love her!"

"Even more than the horses?" He laughed again as he entered the stalls to take the horses out.

"Anya is just a mule, Susie, hardly worth such devotion."

I couldn't believe he said such a harsh thing. Couldn't he see her beauty? Her intelligence? Her soulfulness? Sometimes adults amazed me with their ignorance of life!

As we walked back to the house Zaideh said off handedly, "Maybe tomorrow when you go visit your new friend, you'll find a mule egg." My heart stopped.

"What?"

"Well, if you clean out her stall tomorrow, maybe you will find a mule egg."

"And, and if I do can I keep it?" He nodded and I ran to the house delirious over the prospects of having my own mule.

I woke up the next morning to discover that Zaideh had gone to town and Anya had not laid an egg. Both were extremely disappointing but the boys and I were quickly distracted when the cousins suggested we build a fort with the dried corn stalks. The thought of me having my very own mule was never far from my thoughts.

The weekend flew and it was now Sunday morning. I knew we would be living for home after lunch and still I had no mule egg. As we finished breakfast, Zaideh smiled at me and said, "Susie, let's take a trip to the barn and see how Anya is doing." Zaideh walked, I ran to the barn praying the whole way that this morning there would be an egg. I stopped at the opening afraid to go any further, fear of disappointment keeping me from entering. From behind me a voice said, "You'll never find out if you stand out here." Slowly I walked to her stall. She was standing there looking at me with those great brown eyes. I climbed up the boards and peered into the stall. There in the corner was a beautiful brown egg!

"Zaideh, Zaideh, look! Is it an egg? Is it a mule egg!” I could not contain my joy as Zaideh opened the gate and walked over to the egg. He squatted down and looked it over.

"Yep, I believe we have ourselves a mule egg." He picked it up and brought it to me. As I held out my hands, he placed the egg gently into them.

"Now, you're gonna have to hatch this little fella because that way it'll think you're the momma."

"Hatch it?"

"Well, of course."

As we walked toward the house, I contemplated sitting on a mule egg. It was rather large, very hard, and sort of fuzzy. It looked very uncomfortable, but I was determined to have a mule. If that meant sitting on a egg, I'd do it!
I walked to the back porch and place my prized possession in the center. I then sat on top of the egg ready to sit there until it hatched. As I sat slowly swinging, Zaideh stopped to survey the little scene.

"It might take a long time to hatch that egg, Susie."

"Oh, it's not bad at all, Zaideh,” I replied beaming, "I could sit here all day!"

He chuckled and entered the kitchen. I heard soft murmuring from the kitchen and Bubbeh saying, "Oh, Shirley, you didn't!"

As the morning wore on the boys came running around the house and asked if I wanted to go with them to the creek. I politely refused explaining that I had more important things to do. They gave a collective shrug and ran screaming into the woods. Time marched, then it trod, and finally it drug to a hateful stop. The egg was getting very, very uncomfortable and readjusting the cushions didn't help. Bubbeh came out to the porch and sat next to me.

"Susie, lunch is about ready,” She put an arm around me, "Are you going to come in and eat?"

"I have to sit on my egg, Bubbeh, but...” I hesitated.

"What, honey?"

I paused, looked down at my sneakers. "It's very uncomfortable."

"Well, you know, sweetie, mules are very stubborn." She was smiling down at me with her bright blue eyes; "I'm not sure little girls can out stubborn a mule egg."

"But, Bubbeh, I want a mule so badly!" I couldn't keep the tears welling.

"Where's my lunch, woman,” Zaideh came through the screen door onto the porch laughing until he surveyed the scene. Bubbeh stood up, a frown on her sweet face and swiped him with her cup towel as she walked past.

"Unless, you make my ziskeit smile very quickly, Shirley, there'll be no lunch for you today or any day." With that, she entered the kitchen with the slam of the screen door adding the exclamation point. I wasn't sure what just happened but I knew that Zaideh had some how gotten on the wrong side of Bubbie!

"What's wrong, honey?"

"I don't think I can hatch my egg." There was no holding back the disappointment.

"Well, now," he said slowly, "that may not be such a bad thing. If you think about it."

"Sure it would, Zaideh, I couldn't have my mule."

"And where would you keep this mule?"

"I was going to keep it in my room, Zaideh."

"Susie, a mule needs a lot of room. A mule needs fresh air and a pasture to roam. It needs lots of fresh hay and a cozy stall to sleep in." I couldn't fault the logic there. He was right, of course. I had a big room but it certainly wasn't big enough for a mule and me.

"I guess you're right." I sniffed back the tears brought on by the realization that I wasn't going to have my own mule.

"You know, if you didn't hatch that egg you could take it home with you." Of course, why hadn't I thought of that!

"It would be like a mule in a box!" We both laughed and went into the house for lunch.

After lunch, Bubbeh found me a proper box and lined it with quilting batten so my egg would be safe for the ride home. As we packed the egg, my older brother came up to the table.

"Whacha doin'?"

"Bubbeh is helping me pack up my mule egg," a proclaimed proudly.

"You're such a doofus! That's not an egg, it's a coco...” Before he could finish Bubbeh shot him a look heard 'round the house. A puzzled look crossed his face then he shook his head and walked off in disgust.

"She'll believe anything,” he muttered.

I still have my mule egg and every family holiday, I go into the attic to bring it down and look at it. My nieces and nephews love to hear the story and each one of them owns their own mule eggs. My older brother still shakes his head in dismay, but I don't care because I know he's just jealous.