by Joellen Jones

*some swell Christmas eve reading for all you Mule fans

It was Thanksgiving and Luther was happy only because it meant Christmas was almost here. Thanksgiving was just okay, but grandma’s chairs and couch were always covered with fat aunts and cousins asking “is there anymore of that pecan pie?” Lord, it looked like they had already eaten the pie, the turkey, and half the grandkids. How did anyone get that fat?

Christmas, on the other hand, was just exciting. Especially all the events leading up to it. The biggest thing in town was the Christmas parade. A few years back the city decided to have the parade at night so everyone could put the newfangled Christmas lights on their floats , bicycles, and even horses. It was a grand night and almost everyone came to town to witness it. Santa Clause was on the last float and he always handed out candy. Luther had heard that before the parade Santa would give a whole bag of candy to all the kids who were in the parade. Every year Luther wanted to be in the parade.

Every year he tried to think of something he could do. He didn’t know anybody who would let him ride on a float, he had never had a bicycle and he certainly did not have a horse. He thought about putting lights on the dog, but nobody had ever done that before, besides the dog had a crippled hind leg and could barely walk.

One day as Luther was walking home from school he passed the house across the street from his. Henry and Oleta had lived there forever. All their kids were gone off somewhere and hardly ever came to visit. Luther’s momma sometimes took food to them and Luther ‘s daddy tried to keep the steps from falling and the roof from blowing off the house. Luther often went around back to talk to Sloakum, Henry’s mule. He liked the way the mule would reach across the fence to be rubbed.

That day, as Luther walked by, Oleta came to the door and asked Luther to come in. When Luther stepped in he saw Henry lying on the couch covered with a blanket. He was surprised because Henry loved his recliner and wouldn’t hardly sit on anything else. In fact, he didn’t like to go anywhere because he couldn’t take his recliner. Luther looked at Oleta. She told him that Luther had had a stroke and wasn’t doing very good. Luther walked over to Henry and said hello, but Henry just stared into space. Luther felt funny inside. He had never been around a sick person before and he really did not like the way it made him feel. He wanted to get out of there, but Oleta put her hand on his arm. She told him that things were going to be hard now and she would not be able to do everything. The thing she wanted to do was to ask Luther if he would take Sloakum home and take care of him. Luther couldn ‘t help but be excited, but he held himself back and just said, “I will have to ask my daddy if I can.” He slowly backed out of the door, then ran across the road to his house. His daddy was still at work. His momma was there , but he didn’t want to say anything to her yet. She might say no right away and then he couldn’t ask his daddy. It seemed to Luther that it would be a long time before his daddy would be home.

Luther went into the kitchen and helped his momma get supper ready. He set the table, put milk in the glasses, and fed the dog. His momma was curious about what he had on his mind, but she kept quiet. She knew he would get to it sooner or later and besides she liked the help.

They heard the whistle blow at the plant and about 10 minutes later daddy walked into the house. It was nice living so close to the plant even though the houses were run down and the roads were still dirt. A ten minute walk was all it took to get there in the morning and come home in the evening. Better still, since Luther’s family did not own a car. Life was hard especially since momma couldn’t work anymore after that last baby was born dead. The doctor said her insides were messed up and she couldn’t stand on her feet all day .

Daddy washed up, and finally they sat down to eat supper. Luther was so excited he could hardly keep still. Mamma said, “Orvis, our boy helped out a lot with supper tonight, and I believe he has something to tell us.” Luther had been wondering how to start the conversation and then there momma went opening the door for him. How was she so smart? “Well”, Luther began. “Henry has had a stroke and he isn’t doing so good.” “Oh, my goodness”, exclained Luther’s momma. “I didn’t know that”, said daddy. “What are we going to do to help them?” Luther realized they were just going on without hearing the rest of what he had to say. “Wait”, he said as loud as he could without being reprimanded for yelling at the table. “Oleta has asked me to bring Sloakcum home and take care of him.” “She said that would be a big help to her.” Suddenly it was very quiet at the table. Luther’s momma and daddy looked at each other. “Son, that’s good, but we can hardly feed us, much less a mule.” Luther was ready for that. “I can work and make the money for Sloacum.” “People need their barns cleaned out and their yards mowed. I can haul firewood into the house for some of the older people. Heck, I can even mop floors.” He was about to go on and on when his daddy said “whoa”. Well, it will be a good thing for us to help Oleta and Henry and I’m sure you can find enough work to buy feed. There’s already an old shed for him to live in and I know you will take good care of Sloacum.

So, it was decided. The next day Sloacum came to live with Luther.
At the school the poster for the Christmas parade hung in the hall. Luther looked at it everyday and wished he could be in it. How fun it would be for everybody to be looking at him, plus he had never never had a whole bag of candy. He read again the list of possible entries. Floats, bands, bicycles, horses. Oh well, he thought. It’s fun to be at the parade and he always caught several pieces of candy.

That night as he was feeding Sloacum and talking to him he told him about the parade and how he wanted to be a part of it. Sloacum stood very still and listened. Suddenly, Sloacum began to pick up one front foot, then the other. Over and over again he did this. Luther was puzzled. Then it hit him. Sloacum was marching. Sloacum could be in the parade. Luther had never seen a mule in the parade, but surely it would be allowed. He would find out the next day.

The parade people laughed when Luther asked if a mule could be in the parade. “Well, it’s never been done before”, said Mr. Daniels, the parade committee leader. “But, I guess it will be alright.” Luther could hear them continue to laugh as he walked out of the newspaper office where they met. Luther didn’t care. He was going to be in the parade.

He’d gone a few steps when he stopped in his tracks. “Lights!” What am I gonna do about lights on Sloacum. Luther’s family had never even had a fancy light on their Christmas tree. Luther did not know anything about lights and there surely was no money to buy any. “Now what?”, he thought.

That night Luther told his momma and daddy about Sloacum and the parade. His Daddy said, “well, it’s time a mule got to do something special.” Momma asked about what he was going to do about lights? Luther told them he would think of something.

For several days, Luther went from excitement to depression. He was working all the odd jobs he could find, but that was only enough money to buy feed for Sloacum. The night of the parade was quickly approaching. Luther was a big boy, but now he just wanted to cry. He had waited so long to be in the parade, but he could n’t enter without lights on Sloacum.

The day of the parade came and Luther began to realize he and Sloacum would not be a part of it. He told Sloacum that he had tried his hardest, but he still did not have lights. Luther thought Sloacum looked disappointed too.

When his daddy came home that night, he brought the frozen turkey that the plant gave all their employees for Christmas. As usual it was wrapped in bright red and silver foil. His momma carefully took the foil from around the turkey and folded it and put it in the drawer where she saved the pretty things. The turkey then went into the refrigerator to wait for Christmas Day.

Luther had watched the foil as it glistened in the light of the kitchen lamp. Suddenly he had an idea. Momma, can I have that foil ? “Why?,” she asked. “ “ I think I can use it for the parade.” Luther said. Momma took it from the drawer and handed it to him. “Now, please don’t be too disappointed if you can’t be in the parade son”. Everyone else uses those fancy new lights ….,” but Luther was already out the door running to the shed. He quickly brushed Sloacum and paid special attention to his short mane and tail. Once that was done, Luther began to tear the foil into strips.

He first twisted the foil strips into Sloacum’s mane. The foil was stiff and stood up showing silver on one side and red on the other. He took longer strips and tied them around the top of Sloacum’s tail allowing the strips to fall down over the tail. He had enough left to tie to the side of the halter where they blew in the wind. At last, he looked at his handiwork and smiled. He was sure Sloacum was smiling and holding his head very high.

Luther, his momma and daddy and Sloacum began the walk to the parade site. The street was filled with people going to town. Luther was so proud.

People looked at Luther and at Sloacum and he could hear them say, “That’s a mule”, “What’s a mule doing in the parade”, “Have you ever,”

“What’s that stuff hanging on that mule.” Luther didn’t care. He knew how that foil was going to look under the street lamps.

Momma and daddy left him at the parade beginning and hurried to get a place to stand in town so they could watch Luther in the parade. Sure enough, Santa came around before the parade handing out bags of candy. Luther had never seen so much candy in all his life. Santa patted him on the head and even gave Sloacum a pat and a smile. This was as good as Luther had thought it would be.

Now, it was time for the parade to begin.

All the floats, bicycles, bands, and other stuff began marching. The horses would be last. Finally, it was time. The parade officials lined up the horses and snickered as they assigned Luther the last place. That’s OK, Luther thought. Sloacum and I are in the parade and that’s what matters the most. Slowly, the horses began to move. Then it became Sloacum’s time. Luther was not riding Sloacum, he was leading him.

As they approached the crowds and the street lights, Luther began to lead Sloacum to the left and then to the right, taking advantage of all the light. The foil strips on Sloacum waved in the wind and as they did they twinkled with blazing red and silver light. The lights on the other horses looked dim in comparison. Soon, people were pointing at Luther and cheering him on. Sloacum began to prance. Never had a mule looked so magnificent. On and on they marched, shimmering and glistening all the way.

The next day the paper reported that Luther and Sloacum had captured the attention of the audience more than any other entry and how people were wondering what kind of lights Luther had used for them to be so brilliant.

Christmas came. Momma fixed the turkey and daddy helped Oleta bring Henry over for the meal. As evening came and they sat down to eat, they couldn’t help but notice how the Christmas tree glowed red and silver . Sloacum had fresh oats and a warm bale of hay. All was well.