Dreams That Burn In The Night by Craig Strete Read Free Book Online Page A

unseeing eyes did not slow Na­tina in the least. She ran with great confidence, never
stumbling or tripping over any obstacle in her path.
    The white-head
hawk rode her shoulder like a second head.
    Although her own
eyes were sightless, Natina saw better now than she had ever seen in her life. It was a great
vision. She saw the world with the eyes of the white-head hawk. The trees in the forest many
miles away were as clear as if they lay at her feet. She saw the world as if she flew above it
too, as if the hawk on her shoulder sailed across the sky and looked down at the world
below.
    She saw the world
in a green and clear and swift way, better, a hundred times better, than she had been able to see
it with her own eyes. And so she ran after her father, with this great gift of seeing perched on
her shoulder and a great song of joy in her heart.
    Elk Dancer heard
her calling his name, and he stopped and turned to face her. He was angry. That she should follow
him was not right or proper.
    She must go back
to the village, to let him face the thing that he and he alone must deal with. Death with honor.
Elk Dancer's heart was heavy as stone. It walked upon the ground.
    Natina stood
beside him now and Elk Dancer spoke, "Go home, little one. The world has grown cold for me. It
has grown cold for all of us."
    Natina reached up
and took the white-head hawk from her shoulder.
    "No, father. The
sun has not died in the sky. It is here within us." And she held the hawk out toward her father, who could not see it.
    She gently set the
hawk on her father's shoulder.
    She almost
stumbled in the sudden blindness that fell upon her as the hawk left her hands. For a second
there, filled with a sud­den panic, she wanted to put the hawk back on her shoulder, but she knew
Elk Dancer's need was greater than her own.
    Carefully, she
stepped back. The hawk had been reluctant as she pushed him off her outstretched hand, forcing
the hawk to step from her hand to her father's shoulder.
    The hawk shrilled
once, as a mother cries when her young is threatened, but settled there finally, using his
powerful claws to hold himself upright on Elk Dancer's shoulder.
    As it had happened
to Natina, so it happened to Elk Dancer. He saw with the white-head hawk's eyes, saw again deep
into the depths of the forest and deep into his own life again.
    Soaring on
sun-filled wings, his eyes saw the deer and buffalo dancing in the secret places of the forest,
saw the trees moving in the wind as he passed high above them, saw the love in Natina's face, and
his heart soared like a flying bird.
    It was no longer a
good day to die. It was a better day to live. This time when Natina put her arms around him, he
did not push her away or want her to go back. He held her tightly to him, and the hawk's wings
brushed their tear-stained faces as the world began again for them.
    And indeed it did
seem to be a new world.
    Now, as each day
traveled into night, Elk Dancer hunted the world with the white-head hawk's eyes. Many deer fell
to his bow.
    It was a thing of
great wonder, of powerful magic. He sees as no one has ever seen before, said the people; and
indeed it seemed so.
    Elk Dancer became
the greatest hunter in the telling and mem­ory of the people. It was all because of the
white-head hawk that Natina had cared for with healing skill and love.
    And for the first
time, Natina's family enjoyed a time of plenty. Now they had meat where others had
none.
    And they shared
their good fortune with others. Elk Dancer brought home more than they could possibly eat. Those
who had not been so lucky in the hunt
could always count on a rabbit or a haunch of deer; so it was that no one went hungry.
    The white-head
hawk became a symbol of hope for all the peo­ple.
    And of all the
children, blind Natina was the most honored. For blind she was, totally now, for the white-head
hawk saw only for her father; still she had a heart full of kindness