Unkie

In the nightstand beside his bed lies evidence of a life spent a little on the wild side. An intrigued curious child slowly pulled the drawer open wanting a small glimpse of what was hidden there. The four year old had no idea what would be found tucked away in the very safe place. When she saw the box of black leather tightly closed, curiosity worked its way up from her inner being then released to dexterous fingers which touched the box and opened it.The scream which emitted from her little pale lips drew the adults of the house to come running.What the little girl saw terrified her to no end and caused much distress.

Then at lunch when her aunt said, “You’ll have to sleep with Unkie tonight.” Wild thoughts were racing through that little pale blonde head. Maybe fear was the emotion rising from her heart. Unkie voiced this opinion, “If she sleeps with me and gets close, I’ll stick her with my pin”. The little girl full of fear withdrew into her thoughts as she observed Unkie with the black leather patch covering his right eye.

All afternoon fear rose up into her thoughts as the young girl considered the possibility of sleeping in the bed with Unkie, who slept with his eye patch and a straight pin. Playing outside though diverted her thoughts as she petted the cats, and watched the calves kicking up their heels. Then she climbed up a low growing tree and rested against its trunk.Time flies when fun times happen and the call to come to dinner was soon heard. Food for a hungry belly,conversation about the day, and Unkie with his black leather patch covering his eye like a pirate sitting at the table brought back the fear felt earlier in the day.

Unkie said, “ Sorry Girl is not sleeping with me”. “ If she does sleep with me, she better stay on her side of the bed or she gets stuck with the straight pin”. The little girl wanted her mother and her nice warm bed, fear rolled around close to bringing tears to those bright green eyes. Well, at least she had two eyes and no black leather patch like a pirate that had gotten his eye put out with a sword during a fight at sea.Then the little girl, Sorry Girl, overwhelmed by the thought of being in the room with his bed beside which the nightstand stood, the nightstand holding a black leather box that contained the eye. The blue eye detached from a human looking back at Sorry Girl’s face. Trembling on the inside with fear as she prepared for bed, slowly taking a bath, brushing her teeth longer than ever and putting on her p.j.’s. Then her aunt came in to check on her and began to explain that she would have a bed all to herself. Relief poured over the little green eyed blonde girl who was called Sorry Girl by Unkie. Her Aunt Francine helped her into a nice clean bed which was so snuggly and cozy. A place all her own to dream about this day’s events and fantasize about tomorrow. Sleep came swiftly in waves of sweet dreams about the calves racing across the verdant field of grass as their filled their bellies so they could lie down under the beautiful oaks at the edge of the swamp.

The midnight blue night raced swiftly among the dancing stars bringing the rising sun in its wake. First awareness is a pleasant thing at the crack of dawn when aromas float in from the kitchen. Sorry Girl’s aunt knew how to draw a little girl awake to hear the doves coo, roosters crow, and to be able to catch the scent of gardenia as it floated in upon the dew drenched air. Excitement drifted, touching every nerve as sleep slowly left Sorry Girl’s body coaxing her to dress, follow the scents coming from Aunt Francine’s kitchen.

At breakfast Aunt Francine informed Unkie that Uncle Benjamin said that a cow was missing from the herd. Aunt Francine asked Unkie to go see if he could find the cow for she was expecting to calf most anytime. Thoughts of adventure danced in Sorry Girl’s head about searching for the missing heifer. She asked if she could go with Unkie to search for the missing cow. Unkie dressed in his starched work pants, chambray shirt, and work boots emphatically said, “ No way am I taking Sorry Girl”. Aunt Francine said, “Quit calling her by that name for her name is Star and yes, you are going to take her along”. Unkie with his pirates eye patch, walking cane, and crippled leg with Star trailing beside went out the door toward the gap in the fence to find the heifer.

Not too far inside the gap which Unkie opened and closed was the dreaded swamp. Unkie said a swamp monster lived there and Star needed to avoid getting close. Fear gripped Star’s thoughts as she drew closer to Unkie who then told her to go on away. Trying to appease Unkie, Star fell farther behind and closer and closer to the swamp where the monster who resided there lived. Soon the sneaky swamp monster grabbed one of Star’s feet then the other foot. Star tried to move but the swamp monster gripped her shoes with a tight hold and pulled the shoe off with his big mouth then ate her other shoe while Star screamed and cried, “ Unkie, Unkie”.

Unkie came hobbling along while leaning on his cane which supported his leg that was bandaged in gauze every morning and night to protect the burned area that would not heal. An area burned so badly when he wrecked his car while driving intoxicated, even worse he was hauling moon shine that he had made. The car turned over spilling moon shine and gas. Unkie got out and lit a cigarette that he had rolled using Prince Albert and thin onion skin paper. The lighting of the cigarette ignited his clothes which left him with burns that wouldn’t heal. Unkie appeared just as the swamp monster ate Star’s socks letting swamp muck squish between her toes. Unkie held his cane out to Star who grabbed the crook and he pulled Star free from the swamp monster.He then miraculously got her away from that monster who was known to have a voracious appetite for shoes, socks, and little people.

Aunt Francine was not delighted at the sight of Star who had swamp muck up to her knees and a pair of filthy shoes with no socks. She chewed Unkie out for not taking care of Star but was glad to learn that the cow now had a calf and both were fine. Aunt Francine almost had lunch ready and told Unkie to go rest awhile for she had to clean the muck from Star’s feet, legs ,and shoes then finish lunch. Such an exciting morning on the farm wore Unkie totally out so he sat in his chair and slept. He dreamed dreams of his youth when he played on the farm, then a nightmare of a day when he was nailing a staple to hold the barbed wire in place but the staple flew back into his eye causing him to have his eye removed. He awakened with a start from that vivid dream and heard Aunt Francine call to come to lunch.

Unkie was a hard man but yet soft, he was stern but kind, he was not above doing wrong to make a few dollars and sad to say he never changed his ideas but he was unable to do the adventurous in his old age only dream of a time when he made shine, nailed staples into fence post, ran from the law, ignited his clothes, and cut his hand at the saw mill which all left their mark on his body in this life and in the life hereafter.

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