Bobby Toe's Legacy (standard:drama, 1309 words)
Author: chelbell	Added: Feb 28 2004	Views/Reads: 3414/2353	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A boy remembers his seeing his uncle run in track, and what that ment to him, and to everyone on the Indian reservation he lives on.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

Uncle would run again. 

When he got to the car, he reached for the door, but it swung open
before he got his hand on it. All I saw was a gun barrel pointing out 
of the door. I closed my eyes and heard a shot, and when I opened them 
again my uncle was on the ground blood poring out from his leg. Later 
the police would come with accusing looks and questions for my Uncle 
that sounded more like accusations. Later the drunk man would say he 
thought the Indian (my Uncle) was trying to rob him and that would 
sound reasonable to the police. Later I would get home take off my new 
running shoes, with some of my uncle's blood still on them, put them 
back in the box and put the box onto shelf deep in my closet. 

I have never tried out for track. I haven't given anyone hope I ever
would, but sometimes late at night my legs wake me up. They talk to me. 
They tell me they want to run. They tell me, they talk to the muscles 
of my ancestors and they are jealous. They tell me my ancestors muscles 
are warriors and they want to be warriors too. I tell them to be quiet. 
I roll over and try to go back to sleep, but they say they will never 
be quiet never shut-up until I am running. 

One night, they will we wake me, and I will listen to them. I will get
out of bed, put on my shoes and walk outside. I will step off my porch 
and run. I will run so fast my feet will never touch the ground. I will 
run so fast the wind won't be able to catch me. I will run so fast I'll 
make the earth reverse, go back in time to before my uncle was shot, to 
before my mother gave up hope, to before the salmon stopped running. I 
will run past the time of the first white man back into the arms of my 
ancestors taking my whole tribe with me and than maybe we will never 
have to run again. 


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