Photo: Weston MacKinnon on Unsplash; Saskatchewan, Canada
“Look Papa!” the boy’s voice rose in excitement.
“I see,” the man replied. His deep voice resonated in the small space.
“You didn’t even move your head,” the young eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“I did not need to.”
The child exhaled and shook his head and the movement reminded the man of a yearling. Impatiently straining at the edge of youth, eager to race headlong into life.
The man eased the pressure on the pedal and moved his foot to the other, stopping the car.
“I am looking now,” he smiled. “Thank you, Son.”
The boy’s eyebrows rose but he asked nothing. They watched the buffalo together, the sun and field and beasts a golden-brown.
“Is this their farm?” the boy finally asked.
“It is their home,” the man replied. “The farm came to live on it.”
The boy nodded, his ancestors evident in his soulful eyes. “They are like us.”
For What Pegman Saw
Na'ama Yehuda 
Beautifully done, Na’ama. So many layers to this.
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Thank you, my friend. History is a layered thing, isn’t it? … 🙂
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It definitely is. And you did a beautiful job
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Yay! I’m so glad it resonated! There is such a rich history that is not often being told, that I find that to even touch the surface of it sends ripples through my heart.
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Very much so.
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I like the way that’s phrased, that the farm came to live on the land 🙂
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That’s the simple sequence of things, oft forgotten or minimized, yet no less true, in my view …
Thanks!
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Aye, the land comes first. It has to, else how else can anything else.
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Exactly. And the Buffalo were there long before humans came, and the land did not ‘belong’ to anyone till the Europeans claimed it as their own.
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As Europeans will… Yet I suspect the same thing happened in Western Europe when the horse-rearing, bronze-age cultures moved in from the Steppes. Ancient dna shows a complete replacement.
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Humans have been brutal even when there was little cause for it, alas. Hopefully we will evolve beyond it soon, though current voices-in-power seem more inclined to hate than to incorporate.
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Yea. Disappointing. So, we’ll die, we’ll reincarnate, and 500 years on, what will have changed? Apart from technology.
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We will all die. The question is, will we have lived with kindness and open minds and open arms and acceptance of the need for change and for knowledge and the possibilities of not repeating histories … or will we fall into the same traps of power, greed, fear, hate, xenophobia, and righteousness … all of which lead to more death and worse death besides.
I’ve hope for humanity and I think there are many voices for the better and for tolerance and for empathy and for NOT repeating history. Will these voices prevail? We shall see.
Meanwhile, there are soapboxes and technology to utilize … in the best way one can manage, I suppose.
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That last sentence, “They are like us.”! It can be taken both ways but you have cleverly portrayed it in such a manner that one could not but take it as them being colonised with a simple phrase “his ancestors evident in his soulful eyes”. Very well written!
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Thank you, Tien! I am gratified that the meaning was effectively conveyed! 🙂 Great comment!
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I love the idea that it was the buffalo’s home that the farm took. Nice one.
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Thank you, Iain! For it is, though, is it not? We just forget, a lot of the time …
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Na’ama Y’karah,
This takes my breath away. I love the way the farm came to live on the land. So much story layered between the lines. In few words I know who the father and son are. Brilliantly written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
I applied a lighter touch this week. https://rochellewisoff.com/2019/12/09/bivouac/
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Thank you, Rochelle! I think you know how I feel about the realities of forgotten/minimized/partial history … because I think I know how YOU feel about it, through your magnificent writing about unknown and under-known history. I’m glad that this tiny story communicated some of that.
Off to read yours!
Na’ama
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Indeed…there’s room for the both of us on this soapbox. 😉
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Yay, a party-size soapbox!!! 🙂
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It should be. 😀 At least the history is coming to light more and more.
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🙂 Yep and yay indeed! 🙂
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Great father/son, elder/younger, wise/energetic dynamic here. I especially liked the line about the boy “ompatiently straining at the edge of youth.”
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Dear Na’ama
Thank you for this beautiful and moving story. And I love your comment to Crispina!
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Thank you, Penny! I am glad it spoke to you … and I am glad the comment did, too! 🙂
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Love the wisdom here. Lovely writing as always!
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Thank you, Karen! 🙂
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says so much in a few words
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Toda! 🙂
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Beautifully written and very poignant. Food for thought.
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This piece is poignant and beautifully written.
~Cie~
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Thank you, Cie! 🙂 I’m so glad this resonated!
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