Grandma's Cursed Golden Eggs

After my fatherinlaw died, the family hen suddenly started laying golden eggs.

The bright egg sat there on the table.

So bright it nearly blinded me.

But my motherinlaw only stared at his portrait, weeping.

"The old man knew how poor we were. He couldn't bear to leave me here alone to suffer."

"Last night he came to me in a dream, on purpose, and sent this hen that lays golden eggs."

"He said whichever of you children is the most dutiful, the hen goes to that one!"

My sisterinlaw and I glanced at each other, both of us unable to hide the excitement in our eyes.

Back when we were paying for my fatherinlaw's treatment, the family had piled up a mountain of debt.

The children's tuition, next month's grocery money, none of it was covered yet.

If we could have that hen, every one of those problems would sort itself out.

I was about to step forward and speak up, when I heard the old ox lowing in the yard.

"Silly girl, don't believe her."

"That's no golden egg. That's money to buy a life."

"The old woman means to trade away your years to stretch out her own!"

1.

In the moment I stood there dazed, Daisy Gray had already dropped to her knees.

Thud, thud, thud, three loud kowtows to my motherinlaw.

"Mom, what are you saying? Isn't being good to you the most natural thing in the world?"

"From the day I married in, you've treated me like your own daughter."

"Even without this golden egg, I'd still owe it to you to take care of you."

My motherinlaw nodded, satisfied, then turned her eyes to me.

I hadn't come back to myself yet before Daisy cut in ahead of me.

"My sisterinlaw came from the city. She's never thought much of country folks like us."

"Not long ago I even heard her on the phone with my brotherinlaw, saying she wanted to take the kids and move to the city."

"Mom, her heart left this place a long time ago. Taking care of you in your old age, that'll be up to me and your younger son."

As she spoke, Daisy poured a cup of hot coffee.

Blew on it, and eagerly held it out to my motherinlaw.

"I'm not the kind who forgets a kindness."

"You've been good to me, and I'll be dutiful to you like you're my own mother!"

My motherinlaw's stiff face softened a little.

She picked up the golden egg from the table and put it in Daisy's hands.

"Nolan's wife really does have a heart. This first golden egg is yours."

"The rest depends on how you two do from here on out."

The heavy golden egg glittered in the sun.

Daisy bit down on it and grinned so wide her mouth wouldn't close.

"This has to be fifty grams. Worth a fortune."

"Mom, you just wait. I'll go make dinner right now, and I'll take such good care of you you'll live to a hundred!"

A fiftygram golden egg, at today's gold price, was at least fifty thousand.

More than half a year of Otto Gilbert breaking his back on the construction site.

I stamped my foot, sick with regret.

I wanted to step in and explain, but that heavy, aged voice sounded in my ear again.

"Don't! That egg is for buying a life. Whoever takes it dies."

"You just clawed your way back from death. Don't you dare do something you'll regret!"

The foot I'd started to lift hung in the air.

I froze in place again.

This time, without waiting for me to say another word,

my motherinlaw impatiently drove me out.

As I left, she made a point of reminding me.

"Nolan's wife, I know you've got schemes running in your head. But take my advice and don't try anything sly."

"I'm the only one who knows the secret to the golden eggs. Steal the hen and it'll do you no good!"

The words left my face red with anger.

They say old folks dote on the youngest.

My inlaws were both honest, decent people, but even they couldn't rise above that.

All these years it was Otto and I who'd put in the most money and the most work.

Yet in my motherinlaw's heart, we could never measure up to sweettalking Daisy and her husband.

I went back to my room with a bellyful of grievance, no heart even to cook.

And of all times, right then, a cry of alarm came from outside.

"Daisy, something's happened!"

"Your little boy went down to the river to play in the water and drowned!"

"What!"

Daisy Gray didn't even stop to untie the apron at her waist. She bolted out the door.

The moment she saw that small body, her legs gave out beneath her, and she broke into a wailing howl.

"My boy, you can't even swim. What were you doing down by the river?"

A few villagers who'd found the child gathered around, shaking their heads and sighing.

"There was no telling with this one. He walked straight to the river holding something the size of an egg."

"A few of us called out to him. He didn't listen."

"The look on his face, like something had gotten into his head."

Daisy let out another round of shrieking sobs and clung to her son's body, refusing to let go.

In the end it was Nolan Gilbert, hurrying back, who had to pull her off.

Once everyone had gone, the motherinlaw came out of her room too, unsteady on her feet.

Her clouded eyes were brimming with tears.

But I couldn't tell if I was imagining it.

It seemed like the white at her temples had thinned.

When she saw the old woman come out, Daisy, until then torn apart with grief, suddenly lifted her head and scrambled on her hands and knees to her feet.

"Mom, my life is cursed."

"All these years I've been married in, and Wyatt was the one child I finally managed to have."

"Who could have guessed he'd treat the golden egg like a toy and take it down to the river to play?"

"Now he's gone, and the golden egg can't be found either. I don't even have the money to bury my own son!"

The old woman helped her up, aching for her, and she understood well enough what Daisy was getting at.

"Don't grieve just yet, dear. Taking care of yourself is what matters most."

"Wyatt was a dutiful boy from the day he was born. As his grandmother, of course I can't just stand by and do nothing."

"When the hen lays another egg, I'll bring it over to your house."

"Whatever else, let's give the boy a proper burial first."

The sudden, terrible news swept away every trace of joy the hen's golden egg had brought.

I sat blankly on the bed, lost in thought for a long while.

A hen that lays golden eggs. An ox that speaks like a person.

Things this impossible, and yet every one of them was happening right in front of me.

While I sat there dazed, the old ox in the yard suddenly began butting its head anxiously against the fence.

"A child's pure lifefate is the most nourishing."

"The old woman has gotten a taste of it, and now she's coming for your daughter. Go and see, quickly!"

I jumped, startled, and pushed the door open at once.

At the back door, the old woman was pressing a golden egg into Yvonne Acevedo's hands.

"Yvonne, it's time to pay your school fees, isn't it?"

"Grandma knows you've been the most dutiful child since you were little. How could I bear to watch you unable to go to school?"

"It's just that Wyatt had his accident today, and I couldn't bring myself to hurt the second household's feelings."

"So Grandma's giving the golden egg to you now. You have to hide it well, and whatever you do, don't let anyone else see it!"

The tenderness in the old woman's eyes was no different from before.

All these years she'd favored the second household, but she'd been wonderful to both children.

When Yvonne was sick, the old woman would sell her own blood to scrape together the money for her medicine.

When Wyatt felt unwell, she'd sit up all night keeping watch by his side.

How could a plain, honest old woman like that suddenly turn on her own grandchildren?

While I hesitated, the old ox in the yard struggled harder still.

"Men die for wealth, birds die for food."

"One golden egg for one life!"

"This little girl's birthfate was weak to begin with. Once she takes that golden egg, she'll be dead before the night is out!"