Stories

WIND OVER SOUTH DAKOTA

Melissa and her husband George decided they had saved enough to buy a house. They went to the local realtor in town and asked him if he had anything for sale on a couple of acres. He took them out to see an old farm house that had not been lived in since the old lady that lived their died.

Walking around the house George told the agent it would not take much to bring the house back to the way it was all those years ago. The agent told him the price of the house and land was $20,000. Looking shocked Melissa said, “why is it so cheap?” The agent mumbled something about the house being haunted by Native American Indians. George laughed and told him they did not care they liked the house and land and wanted to buy it.

The moved into the house two weeks later and George began his renovations. While he was busy doing that Melissa decided to go up to the attic to see what had been left there. Walking into the room she noticed two big journals and when she opened the book on the first page was the date 1830. The following page the story began.

My name is Nancy and I moved here to South Dakota with my husband Sam. We built this house and raised our children here. I wish I could say we were really happy and loved the house but it always had a strange feeling in it. I used to see Indians in the house all times of the day and night. One of them did not like us living on this land and would do things to hurt us all the time.  The day George died is one I will never forget. He had been helping me fix something in the bedroom when he thought he heard someone at the front door. Going to the top of the stairs he called out if anyone was there. No one responded back to him so he thought he had been hearing things. Turning to come back to the bedroom he was pushed down the stairs and by the time I got to him he was dead. It looked like he had broken his neck.

Putting the book down Melissa went back downstairs and showed George the journals she found and told him what she had read. He was shocked but told her the spirits in the house won’t bother us as they are our ancestors and should not be feared. They had both been born to Native parents of the Lakota tribe and they were proud of their ancestors. Sitting on the front porch later that afternoon George told Melissa the reason he was so keen on this house.

He told her the tribe his people belonged to had always lived on this land they had hunted and raised their families. One day the soldiers came and told them they would have to move to a reservation and this land would no longer be theirs to live on. Apparently white settlers wanted to live on the land they had to get rid of the Indians so they could sell it and become rich.

Melissa had heard of this as her grand father used to tell her stories of the past generations and how hard life was for them.  She never thought she would now be living on the land that her family used to live on so many years ago. Now she knew why she felt at home the moment they stepped onto the property.

After lunch George went back to working on the house while Melissa went outside to do a bit of exploring. While walking through the garden she heard a noise behind her. Turning to look she saw a tall Indian man standing looking at her. She was not afraid; he had a stern face although she could see his eyes were kind. He said, “I walked and lived on this land a long time ago until the white man came and moved us onto land that was useless for hunting and growing crops.  Now you are back on the land of your ancestors and we can now protect you both and any children you may have.

Two days later George decided to go up onto the roof to fix a leak and as he sat looking over the land, he noticed a shimmering in the distance. At first, he thought he was seeing things until he saw an Indian village and as he sat and watched he saw people going about their lives. Small children were playing, the woman stirred pots and the men were making arrows. The scene faded and as he leaned over to pick up one of his tools, he slipped off the roof and the last thing he saw was his grandfather holding out his hand to lead him onto his journey.

Melissa called out to George to ask him something and never heard an answer so going to where he had the ladder, she saw his body laying on the ground near the house. Running to his body she could see by the color in his face he was gone and leaning forward she cried onto his chest and told him to please come back to her.  All she heard in response was the sound of the wind blowing the leaves on the ground.

It has been six months since Melissa lost her George, she called out to her ancestors. You said you would protect us and then my George died. How could you let that happen? This is not how it was supposed to be. George and I were going to grow old together and have children and grandchildren. Now I am alone and have nothing but an old house and a couple of acres. She stood looking out at the land and could feel the tears gently falling on her cheeks.

Turning to go inside she noticed a man standing near a group of trees. Walking closer she realized the man was George. She went running to him he put his hand out. Melissa I cannot hug you or even touch you but this I want you to know. You will live a long life and eventually you will marry but when your time comes to walk a different path, I will be here waiting for you. I know you wanted us to have a long life together but this was not the path I was chosen for. I love you and have always loved you and will watch over you until its time for you to join me. When you feel the gentle breeze on your face, the soft rain drops falling onto your hair or the warm sun drying your tears please know it will be me always protecting you. He then faded away and it was then Melissa realized although death had parted them; they will still be together when her time came to walk that different path.

All rights reserved @2021 Kerrilynne McFadden