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Children of the Valley
George walked along the bluff pondering
the serenity of the valley. It had been five years since their home had been
destroyed by fire sweeping off the prairie into the valley. His wife and three
girls had perished. Even though George still worked the farmstead, he had
rebuilt only a one-room shack. He wondered why he had been spared. Just then, two youngsters rode out onto
the rounded promontory below him. George recognized Ada and Jack - children of
two neighboring families. Both about 10, they often rode the trails through the
tree-lined gullies bordering the valley. Many times, George had likened Ada to
his girls and Jack to their playmates. George stood motionless as the children
dismounted. Chattering indiscernibly, they flung small rocks out over the promontory
into the canyon. He could hear their cries of exhilaration as their projectiles
soared into the air and downward in endless flight. George smiled, remembering
the times he had thrown rocks as a boy. Just as good ideas are wont to grow, the
children’s rocks grew. Jack and Ada soon forsook the pebbles and graduated to
fist-sized rocks – ones that made four or five good smacking sounds as they hit
the rocks below. Soon, these were abandoned in favor of small boulders that had
to be carried to the edge with both hands and dropped near the edge of the
promontory to slowly roll over and tumble down with a crashing and smashing
below. Of course, Jack had to take the game to its
absurd end. Finding a large, round boulder, he rolled it toward the slope,
heaving and pushing. With one last vigorous shove, the rock moved swiftly out
of Jack’s grasp. But Jack’s thrust carried him forward, too. Falling
face-forward onto the rounded edge, he slid downward. Quick as a cat, he rolled
onto his belly and clawed at the rock. With a squeal of fear, Ada raced
forward, dropped to her belly, and began edging forward to grasp Jack’s hand. George turned and ran to his horse,
grabbed his rope, and ran back. He quickly tied one end to a cedar stump and
the other around his waist. Sliding down the canyon slope on his backside,
George ran over to the edge. He dropped to his belly beside Ada and pulled the
rope taut. He squirmed toward Jack and threw his arm around Jack’s waist.
Slowly, George pulled hard on the rope and edged them upward, sliding on their
bellies toward safety. Ada, too, squirmed backward to level ground. As they stood looking out over the
valley, Ada exclaimed, “That was scary!” Jack replied firmly, “I wasn’t that
scared.” George smiled softly, “You two git on
home now.” Barely needing the suggestion, the two turned and ran to their
horses. George pulled himself back up the hill
to his horse. As the fear now came alive, George mounted his horse, shaking.
Deep in thought, he held the reins loosely and let his horse guide itself back
to the shack. |
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