Until Fate Decides

The Curse

"Brian please bring me some ropes, Austin go bring my hammer and five inches long nails, and Joe come help me make sure this donkey stays down" shouts Mr Carlton to his triplets sons.

Mr Carlton has been waiting to harm that donkey for months now since it destroyed his mushrooms farm that he worked so hard on it.

"Today would be your last day on my farm, and specifically this Earth" states me Carlton

" But Papa, it's wrong to harm an innocent animal" Joe tells his father.

" I don't care what's wrong or right, what I want is to get this donkey away from my farm, what is taking your brothers so long? I don't have time to waste on this animal any longer. BRIAN , AUSTIN, HURRY UP WILL YOU?" He shouts towards the end of his sentence.

As if on cue, Austin and Brian came bustling through the double doors of their farm house carrying the supplies they were sent.

"Now Austin and Brian secure the hind legs with all your strength while I tie a rope around it's front hooves, Joe make sure the front legs are secured I don't want any accident" Mr Carlton barked out his orders while he works at tying the front hooves together with a tight knot.

Brian and Austin were struggling with the hind legs but they managed to hold tight until their father secured the hooves in another tight knot.

Mr Carlton moved back and took the hammer and nails and went ahead and hammered the front hooves together and to the ground same as the back hooves. The donkey brayed out in pain over and over but that didn't bother me Carlton, finally he stood up and admired his handiwork clapping his sons on the shoulders and congratulating them for helping out.

Soon an old lady who looked battered up and wore rags for cloth passed by eyeing the donkey then the people who stood above it.

"You should untie the donkey and remove it from it's misery or bad misfortune will befall your family" the old lady told me Carlton.

" Who are you to tell me what to do on my land? Now move along before I make you the next victim, old lady" me Carlton replied back spitefully.

" Now you three,go tell the workers no one is allowed to feed the donkey or give it water until it succumbed to death, only then will I remove it's  corpse from my gate"

" Yes Papa" the three said in unison.

The donkey was left out in the open near the front gate for all to see, its braying got weaker by the minute.

The triplets were sixteen years old, and due to working at their father's farm after school, weekend and holidays, they were well built for their age, that's why it didn't bother them securing the donkey while their father put it into it's misery.

For the following three days the donkey struggled to free itself to no avail, it's bray got weaker until it stopped. It just lay there awaiting it's demise.

For those three days the old lady passed there every morning and evening looking at the donkey sadly but didn't attempt to free it. She wanted the family that brought it misery to free it.

On the third day on her evening walk, the donkey took it's last breath and died there, just then Mr Carlton and his sons walked out to confirm its death.

Once they reached the site they noticed the old woman. Standing there still looking at the dead donkey.

"What are you doing here, don't tell me you want to mourn and give a proper burial to the donkey" Austin the arrogant son of them all snickered at the old lady, both his dad and Brian joined in and laugh at the old lady, Joe the quite one stood in their shadows not saying a word.

The air was chilly since it was approaching the cold season of November. The old lady brought her rags closer to keep her body warm.

"I warned you but you ignored my warning, now you will have to face the consequences. Your three sons as from now will have donkey hooves instead of regular human foot, and every month of November Austin and Brian will turn into a full donkey, only Joe will be spared turning since he was a bit sympathetic, but did nothing to stop the three of you, thus he will be stuck with the hooves--"

" As if you have the power to do that" Mr Carlton scoffed.

The old lady raised her fingers in the air and the four of them lost their ability to talk instantly, their mouths refused to move no matter how much they struggled.

"-- as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted is, Joe won't turn into a full donkey, and you Carlton, your punishment is to see your offspring suffer, watch them as the society would be afraid to even breath the same air as them, watch as no girl would look in their direction, and watch them go through the pain of shifting, every born in their body will break before it realign to that of a donkey, and you won't be able to help them. But out of the goodness of my heart, I will give you a way out of your misery,  the only way to break their curse is to do a good deed, both your sons together, willingly and to expect nothing in return, not even the return of their legs and the end of their painful shift to a donkey, just do good from your heart" she said last part looking at the triplets directly in their eyes

After that speech she disappeared into thin air and immediately the three sons started shifting, Joe developed hooves while Austin and Brian screamed in pain, the cracking of their bones were hard and after a long torturous hour they stood on four legs, both were donkeys.

Mr Carlton was curled as a ball on the ground tears silently running on his cheeks, the only thought running in his mind was he brought this to his sons, but was grateful their mother wasn't around to see her son's suffer. She died giving birth to her daughter who was stillborn when the boys were five.

Joe was on the ground looking at his hooves unbelievably.