The next part by BLZBub. I'll post a long one of mine some time tomorrow, so stay alert.
The Roots Fairy II: Indian Summer
(Part 3)
(Part 3)
by BLZBub
The night before she was going up to the Indian
Reservation, Sahkyo couldn’t sleep. She had put off going to the
reservation for a while so she could enjoy her temporary adulthood, but
now she’d be going there. She knew she ought to be
excited about it, but she couldn’t help but feel some dread. It still
seemed very likely to her that the reservation was going to be so
boring. She couldn’t imagine there’d be a lot to do up there. But she
was out of excuses now and she had to go now. She
hoped the Roots Fairy would keep her promise that it wouldn’t be dull.
The next day, Sahkyo got dressed up in more casual
clothes. She didn’t know what to expect out at the reservation, except
that it was probably going to be hot. She hoped the place wouldn’t be
completely tech-free. There were still a few
electronics she could operate without a problem, like fans. And she
would desperately need a fan if it was going to be hot as she thought it
was going to be.
And yet, when Sahkyo got there, it was not nearly
as uncomfortable as she was dreading. The abode houses were build to
keep the interiors cool despite the desert heat. Besides, just because
they lived the Native American way didn’t mean
they were savages: they had plenty of fans and Wi-Fi here. Not that
Sahkyo could enjoy the Wi-Fi very much since she didn’t have a phone.
It also turned out that Sahkyo’s family wasn’t the
only ones revisiting their roots this month. There were plenty of other
families here and there other women that were in Sahkyo’s apparent age
group. One of them was particularly friendly
with her. “Hi there, you must be new around here,” said one young
woman, “My name’s Cherish. You’re gonna have a lot of fun here.”
“Well, I hope so,” said Sahkyo, “There doesn’t seem a lot exciting here.”
“You know, I thought that too the first time I came
here,” said Cherish, “But there’s a lot to enjoy about the Navajo way.
For instance, I learned how to make my own dress.”
“Really?” asked Sahkyo.
“Yes, I’ll show it to you,” said Cherish, “Just give me a few minutes.”
“What do you think?” asked Cherish. Sahkyo had to
admit Cherish’s dress was better-looking than she had expected. She
wasn’t sure how close it was to true Navajo style. She was pretty sure
that the Navajo wouldn’t wear so much grey or something
so reflective. But the lapis stones did compliment the dress very well.
Sahkyo felt it was a bit close to what Cherish had been wearing before
and that was probably not a coincidence.
“Did you make this by yourself?” asked Sahkyo.
“Well, I had some help from my grandma,” said Cherish, “And Radmilla was a big help as well.”
“Who’s Radmilla?” asked Sahkyo.
“Oh, you haven’t met her yet? You simply have to,” said Cherish before taking Sahkyo’s hand and leading her through the village.
Cherish led Sahkyo to a house separate from the
rest of the reservation, one that was a lot more modern. It was meant to
be a community center for those who couldn’t bring their own computers
to the reservation. In the computer room, they
found two young women who were chatting happily. It was pretty obvious
that they were sisters. It was also obvious that they had something
other than Navajo ancestry. Sahkyo wasn’t the best judge on these
things, but she was fairly certain they had some African-American
in their bloodline. But that wasn’t that out of the ordinary. There
were as many people of mixed blood here as there were pure Amerindians.
“Sahkyo, these are Radmilla and Jamie,” said Cherish, “Girls, this is Sahkyo. This is her first time here, believe it or not.”
“Good to see new blood here,” said Radmilla, shaking Sahkyo’s hand.
“This wasn’t what I expected the reservation to be,” said Sahkyo.
“You were expecting it to be dusty and low-tech?”
asked Jamie, “So did we. But we still have modern stuff. It doesn’t get
in the way of following the old rules. No rules against technology in
the Navajo.”
“So…I hear you guys helped Cherish make her dress,” said Sahkyo.
“Yeah, that was a bit of work,” said Radmilla, “But
it was fun as well. I put just as much effort in my dress. You want to
see a picture?”
“Sure,” said Sahkyo. Radmilla pulled out a photo and showed it to her.
“Wow, you did a great job with this,” said Sahkyo.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Radmilla, “I suppose I could make you one, though it will take a while.”
Sahkyo was tempted to say ‘yes’, but she’d probably
be back to being a kid long before the dress would be done. “No
thanks,” she said, “But I have to say, the Navajo way is a lot more
impressive than I thought it would be.”
“Oh, this is nothing,” said Radmilla, “Tomorrow, we’re going to be doing some reenactments.”
“Reenactments?” asked Sahkyo.
“Yeah, we’re going to dress up like actual Navajo
and act like we’re really living in the Old West,” said Cherish,
“There’s also going to be some cowboys coming over. You should totally
join us.”
“I’m not sure,” said Sahkyo, “I don’t have anything to wear and I don’t know how to act.”
“Oh, we can get you the stuff to wear,” said Jamie, “And acting will be no problem. It’ll be fun.”
Sahkyo was doubtful for a moment, but hanging out
at the reservation was more fun than she had imagined. Maybe this
reenactment thing wouldn’t be so bad either. “Ok, I’ll give it a try.”
How would one go about proposing a reader entry? - Harpy
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