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Through the Eyes of a Wild
Turkey
I can remember when I was first born my
mother and father both held me in their soft, fluffy
feathers and smiled at me gently. The first food they fed me
was a long worm with fly wings on it. It tasted wirey the
very first time but then I got used to it as I got older.
When I turned one year old my mother and father gave me my
first tour out in the trees. I was scared of getting out of
the nest but I had to. I got used to it though when me and
my other brothers and sisters started to play together. When
it started to get dark we had to turn back to our nest. In
the grass we all saw a little rabbit eating bark from the
trees. But then it turned around and ran back to its
family.
Around 7:00 P.M. we had supper. My father
had caught some mice and we had a roast of little skinned
mice. When we were done eating my mother went out for a walk
alone because she was not feeling good. When I was about to
go to bed she came home. Just in time, because we heard men
walking around searching for turkeys to shoot. My parents
always told me never to fly out if a man was close by
because he would kill you.
When morning came my parents called my
name. "Angela, come over here and help with the cooking.
Today is a big day. Nobody but you and your father is
allowed to go out today because there are a lot of men going
hunting. You little children might get killed out there. And
if we ever leave this grass house we are going to walk.
There will be no flying if something goes wrong. I was told
that sometimes they burn the grass. Last year your aunt died
because she was so panicked. If something goes wrong just
walk as fast as you can through the grass into the trees,
and then fly away as fast as you can."
"Right now," my mother said," we have to
get our cooking done. Tonight is Thanksgiving, and we are
having a nice fat muskrat. Your father caught it with a
man's trap in the lakes. I also picked some blue, rasp,
salmon, and cranberries from the tundra. I thought it would
be a good dessert. I hope we can all be here to eat
together, because now you and your father have to go out and
get some pine needles and leaves for decorating the house
tonight. But be careful. I'm staying home with the little
ones. I don't want them wandering around the grass or trees
alone. There might be traps that are set, or even open
ground holes. Some other friends are going along
too.
When we left we had to be really quiet
because we heard men speaking really quietly out there. As I
was picking some leaves my tail got stepped on by a man, but
I just lay completely still. My father got really scared. So
he made some noise and ran in the other direction. Then all
of a sudden he got shot in the side. He yelled for me to go
home and not to come back for him because it was too late.
He was done for.
When I reached home I told my mother that
dad was killed. She got so pale and felt so confused. She
went looking for him but all she found was some of his blood
on the ground. She cried so hard. She just couldn't believe
it for awhile. Then she finally came back home.
We had our Thanksgiving without our
father for the very first time. But when we were at the
table saying grace, suddenly my father's spirit appeared and
told us,"Don't worry, I will always be with you, and you
won't have Thanksgiving alone,ever!"
BY: Carmen Pitka
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Marshall
Cultural Atlas
