Pick your Path – Lost Gold

“Let’s hike over the hills”, you suggest to Jay. “I hear that riverbeds can be dangerous places to travel”. Jay agrees and you two shoulder your packs, grab your shovels, and head out toward the hills.

A couple hours later, and the two of you are pretty exhausted. Uncle Hiram’s map shows that there’s small brook just a short way further on, and Jay suggests that you two push on to the brook, then rest. By the time you two reach it, you can barely stand. You fill your bellies with cool, clear water and flop down to rest. You drift into a deep sleep filled with images of glittering gold, only to awake to Jay’s jabbing finger in your ribs.

“Wuh?…..jeez Jay, why’d ya wake me up??” you whine, rubbing your eyes.

 “Look over there!” Jay says pointing down the brook at a couple of brownish blurs. You rub your eyes again and realize that you’re looking at two desert burros, the wild descents of the donkeys that the Spanish brought over centuries ago.

“So what?” you yawn. “Those are burros, Jay….they’re all over the desert.”

“I know, squirt. They’re pack animals, right? So lets try and get ‘em to carry our packs and shovels for us. That’ll save us a lot of effort!”, Jay exclaims.

You start to tell Jay off again, then stop. They might actually save you some time and effort in getting to the gold – especially seeing as how the sky is getting increasingly dark and overcast. Still, they may not be exactly friendly….

• Approach the burros
• Let them be