This is my post for #freewriters 2404 prompt golden desk hosted by @mariannewest
He lived at the end of the road and no one ever saw him leave the house except to go to the grocery store or feed store, but little did they know, he left every night, saddled up his old mule, and headed to the river. Once there he panned for gold. There were rumors of him once being a prospector and finding the mother lode but they were rumors because the way he lived told he had no money.
He was home before first light, the old mule fed and watered and was happily back in his stall. The old man felt the mule was his best friend and he made sure the mule had the best feed and the purest water to drink.
He had one person he thought of as a friend, he met him many years ago. One day as he walked from the store he saw a child, a boy around 10 years of age, sitting on the side of the road, he was sad. The old man stopped and asked why he looked so sad. The boy said he had no friends, they had moved here 3 months ago and all the other boys ignored him or made fun of him because of his missing leg, he had cancer as a baby and it was removed, but it did not bother him, he got around with his fake leg, he only walked differently than others.
The old man grew a soft spot for the boy and invited him to stop by anytime he wished. The boy came every day after school, he helped the old man with his chores, and cleaning his house but the boy never understood why all of the furniture was so heavy to move around while sweeping. The furniture in his house was not this heavy.
30 years had gone by but not a day went by that the old man did not think about his friend the young boy. He had not seen him since his parents were killed in a car accident, he had heard the boy went into foster care but he did not know who he was with or where he was, all he knew was the child's name.
For 30 years the old man sat on his front steps every day from 3pm to 4pm, that was the time the little boy would come to see him people saw him there and would wave at him but no one ever stopped to talk. For three days he never moved he did not wave and someone noticed he had not been going inside after 4pm, they called the law to check on him, he had passed away.
He had a hand written will, leaving all of his furniture to the little boy. The boy, who was now a man living a simple life with a wife and two children was found and told of the will. He had fond memories of the old man but knew he had nothing of value he cared about but the old man's kindness toward him.
He told his wife the story and she insisted they go, so he put his wife and children in their beat-up old car and drove the 3 days to the old man's house. The house looked worse than he had remembered and once inside he remembered how he hated moving the furniture, it was so heavy.
One of his boys knocked over a lamp and it fell to the floor with a loud crash, it too was heavy. He picked it up and saw a shiny spot where the fall made the paint chip off. The lamp was made of solid gold, he took his pocketknife and scratched the desk that the lamp sat on, it was a golden desk. Every piece of furniture in the house was painted over gold, the kitchen table and chairs, living room chairs, his bed, everything was made of gold.
The boy sat down and picked up the old man's will, it was all left to him and in the envelope was another paper with the boy's name on it, it was a deed to 50 miles of land that ran along a river and a note that said take the mule, she is old but she knows where you need to go.
photo is mine