Flop-eared Mule

This is a 6,500-word short-fiction western with a humorous twist. Two down-on-their-luck cowboys, Sandy and Russell, are desperate to find a job-any job-to fill their empty bellies. The town marshal has told them "I'll jail you for vagrancy if I see you here in the morning." The job the marshal offered to them later isn't what they expected. The local banker hires the two cowboys to run an errand over to Fort Worth, which is a week's travel by wagon. However, they are dismayed to find the errand requires using a flop-eared mule.