When Grnadfather Journeys Into Winter by Craig Kee Strete Read Free Book Online Page B

this
world!"
    "I hear them, Grandfather!" said Little
Thunder. "It's the wild geese! They're flying south early this year!"
    "Run to the window and see if you can see
them!" said Tayhua. "Hurry! Are they in sight?"
    Little Thunder ran to the window and looked
up at the sky. He looked in all directions. He couldn't see anything. Then, a long way off, he
saw them. A long, sweeping V formation high in the sky. They were flying toward Tayhua's
house.
    "I see them! I see them!" said Little
Thunder, excited.
    "Help me up!" commanded Tayhua.
    "But you're not supposed to get up," said
Little Thunder, worry in his voice.
    Tayhua slowly sat up in bed. "My mother said
the day I was born the wild geese were making their journey across the sky. Today is the day I
die, and I want, once again, to see the wild geese in their winter flight. So please, help me
up!" pleaded Tayhua.
    Little Thunder rushed to his side and helped
him out of his bed. Tayhua could barely stand. Little Thunder had to hold him up to keep him from
falling.
    Somehow he managed to get Tayhua over to the
window.
    The old man leaned against the window frame
and looked up into the sky. "Where are they? I can't see them. My eyes are too weak."
    Little Thunder pointed. "Here they come,
Grandfather! Look! They're heading straight for us!"
    The honking of the geese grew louder and
louder.
    On and on came the wild geese, until they
were right overhead.
    They swooped low over Tayhua's house, almost
as if they wanted Tayhua to be able to see them.
    "I see them! I see them!" cried
Tayhua.
    Then they were gone, the sound of their
honking getting fainter and fainter.
    "It is finished," said Tayhua. His legs gave
out. He fell slowly against the window and slid down to the floor. Little Thunder could not keep
him from falling.
    "I can't make it back to the bed," said
Tayhua, gasping for breath. "It is all right. Let me rest here."
    "Is there anything I can do for you,
Grandfather?" asked Little Thunder, his heart heavy within him.
    "No," said his grandfather weakly. "You have
already done it for me."
    "What is death like?" asked Little Thunder.
"Will it hurt you, Grandfather?"
    "It is said that there is no death, only a
change of worlds. But no one knows, because it is not ours to know. I don't think it will hurt
me." Tayhua was very tired. His voice seemed to come from faraway.
    "How do the birds know when the season is
over?" asked the old man. Little Thunder had to bend closer because his grandfather's voice was
so very weak.
    "I don't know," said Little Thunder, a lump
in his throat.
    "Because..." Tayhua's voice was below a
whisper now, "because they are here..." he coughed a little "....here on this earth to remind us
of the gift given to all the things of creation."
    Little Thunder had his ear next to his
grandfather's mouth. He could just barely hear what Tayhua was saying.
    "We have...all been given a gift...given a
gift of a journey...a journey into winter." A strange looked passed over the old man's face, and
then Tayhua spoke no more. His head settled back upon the floor and he passed away quietly as if
in a dream, asleep forever.
    Little Thunder took Tayhua's blanket off the
bed and gently pulled it over him. He loved his grandfather and he was crying. He would miss his
grandfather for a long time, a very long time. But down deep, a part of his heart was happy for
his grandfather, who had died at peace with the world.
    Happy for his grandfather, who, like all the
things in creation, had taken one final look at the sky and made his journey into
winter.