The Reaper (Pt II)

Though a rural girl of poor stature, the mother desired the things of the city life. She had an appetite for money and wealth, which drove her misdirected soul to sell the thing her husband admired above all else.

Now she lay at a crossroads with her son. Day by day, she saw her little one take steps from her. She watched him like a cloud drifting in the sky. Surely there must be a way to save him. She sought out the city life to rescue her son. She marveled at men parading around in pinstriped suits and speaking in tongues above her head. They would fashion the boy into a businessman. He'd have money growing from his fingertips, toiling at his desk all day. Yes, that would be his rightful living.

"So you want your boy to be a businessman," laughed the cowboy she sold her husband's land to.

"Yes sir," she answered amicably. "I come to you sir. You are the only man I trust and know."

"Does your son possess desire or an appetite for learning," the cowboy interrogated. He was sizing up the case he was taking on.

"I'm afraid he has no desire for business," she wailed. "He is a poor scholar and shows very little interest in academics." Fear and anxiety grew in her eyes. She prayed continually to God for the man to take her son.

"These are all strikes against him," the cowboy confessed and stroked his chin in thought. "Unless your boy possesses physical prowess. Is your child athletic?"

"Athletic? I am not sure. He is very strong though and tall. He has inherited the strength of his father."

The cowboy said no more but took of his hat and sat in a great revelry.

"I shall visit you shortly."