Now he became Isaugh and as much as he welcomed the change in life He longed for the days only youth can bring.
“Isaugh!….” his grandson called out to him, “How come you got old?”
“What do you mean old?” he replied.
“Well you don’t ride your horses anymore
…. and you wear glasses”
Hmmmm….
He thought for a minute
“Well… there was a time when I did all that… Now my grey war pony just gets me to where I have to go…. sooner than before…. but I remember the feeling of freedom when I was young like you.
Nowadays, thats what they become…. remembering and dreaming.”
“You also talk funny isaugh…. I don’t even know what you just said.”
“Well when I was your age I use to dream of how my uncles used to ride all the time and told me that I am a man… and one day I would need to keep the horse as my friend.
Even though I didn’t know what they meant I sure liked riding with them and pretending i was an old warrior out in search of animals or the enemy. That’s the game I played in my mind…”
“Well I want to be like you Isaugh… Can I be a man like you?”
“Of course Mishit’la…. You have to carry on after I am gone… You’re almost old enough to ride your own horse. We are already the sons of horsemen and the sons of Warriors...”
“What do you mean Isaugh?”
“Well even though the old people are gone we still ride our uncles and dad’s magic horses made of clouds and wind. We will ride through the prairie darkness led by the stars to the big mountains where we will say hello to them and when they ask us if we became men…
We will smile at them and we will say yes….”
“What do I say to them? ’cause I am too small to be a man…”
“No Mishit’la…. You are already a young man… You treat your mom and dad with smiles everyday and that is your paint that you put on your body
You look after your younger cousins without even complaining and that is what makes you already someone they look up to when they are scared…
That’s what men do.
Remember…. you do already look after yourself everyday by going to school.”
“Well everybody does that Isaugh… or else we would be bored of everything. I like recess when I can go outside to play
One time when we were playing I thought I saw some old Indians riding by on their horses. I shouted to my friends…. Look!!!!
but they didn’t see them. They said I was just trying to fool them.”
“Well I would like you to use your mind to paint powerful pictures of what you want to do as you grow older.
Can you do that for me Mishit’la?”
“Yes I can Isaugh
… but your going to be here forever with me anyways so don’t worry so much. I’ll look after you… You can stay at my house and we can go riding all the time…”
“You shall be a good man my little brother……”
(Oct. 12, 2015)
