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Short essay The River
By Steven D Elwood   
Rated "PG13" by the Author.
Last edited: Thursday, March 06, 2008
Posted: Wednesday, August 22, 2007

This is also a true story.

                       THE RIVER

   Many scores of stories have been told about the Mighty Mississippi. Here is one that has never been told.

     A boy was born the seventh and last child of a couple that owned a large house in Newport, Minnesota, a quarter mile from the Mississippi river.

     The boy was four years younger than his next sibling. There were five boys and two girls. At the tender age of two, his father died.

     The other children played kick the can, dodge ball, football and all kinds of other games with him. There were always other children to play with.

     When the boy was seven, the third oldest boy died. He had drowned in lake Phalen.

     One year later the oldest boy got into trouble and went to prison. The mother became withdrawn. The other children, being older, did not have time for the boy anymore. The boy became lonely.

     Every day the boy would ride his bike to the river, where he would catch turtles and crawfish. He would play with them, then give them back to the river.

     He would return home as the sun set. His mother would tell him that his dinner was in the oven, never asking him where he had been. Then she would go back to her room. He would then fix himself a plate and watch television while he ate.

      The boy became used to being alone. He started to daydream all of the time. His teachers noticed this, and that his grades were falling. They were concerned, and kept asking the mother to come in for a conference. She always refused, saying the family was just going through a hard time.

     One day the boy was poking around the old garage and found a rusted saw that belonged to his father. He also found a large broken piece of particle board. No one had ever showed him how to use a saw. The first day he had to run into the house several times for band aides.

     The boy finally taught himself to use the saw sufficiently to cut a rough piece of board 8"x 4". He also learned to utilize the vise that was bolted to the work bench, (after a few more trips to the house for band aids), to cut 45 degree cuts on one end of the board to make a point.

     He thought long and hard for what to use as masts on his boat. He had decided to use coat hanger wire. The old rusted wire cutters he used to cut the wire would sting his hands with every cut. He cut three pieces of wire, two approximately 6" long, and one about 8" long. He pounded a finishing nail into the particle board and then pulled it out with the hammer to make three holes in the middle of his boat. Then he carefully tapped the wires into the holes.

     That Friday he asked his teacher if he could take home a couple of pieces of gold heavy construction paper. The boy spent all Friday after school in his room. He made several drawings of how he wanted his sails. Then he meticulously cut the seven sails. Five sails were 2"x 4" to be placed on the masts at either end and one on top of the main sail. The main sail was 4"x 4" with a 2"x 4" sail above it, and a 1 ½" x 3" sail above that. He made the bottom of the sails arc by tracing a coffee can lid then cutting them carefully with a scissors. To the boy the ship looked beautiful and majestic. He named his boat the Sun Goddess.

     The boy went to sleep that night with a smile on his face dreaming of pirates on the high seas.

     The boy woke up before the dawn. He got dressed quickly. He clutched his boat with one hand and steered his bike with the other. He wobbled his bike to the river, almost falling twice. He jumped off his bike and let it slam to the ground. He hurried down the short path to the river. The sun had just peeked over the horizon. He looked at the calm dark water, then at the boat in his hands. A smile appeared on the boy’s face as he carefully placed the Sun Goddess on the black smooth surface of the river. As he gave the boat a gentle push, a soft breeze caught the sails propelling the Sun Goddess straight and true . His mouth fell open as he watched his beautiful, majestic ship sail. He plopped on his butt in the dirt, and watched her with awe as she sailed out of sight.

     Afterward he looked around at the beauty of the river, really seeing it for the first time. He felt so happy and joyful. He had to share his joy with someone. He raced home and burst into his mother’s bedroom. "It’s a beautiful morning mom!" His mother sat up quickly, blinking the sleep from her swollen eyes.                         

     "What?..What?"

     "Mom, it’s a beautiful morning." They looked at each other for a moment. The boy noticed she had dark circles under her eyes. "Mom, I love you."

     A smile slowly grew on her drawn pale face. She held her arms out to him. He raced into them. She hugged him so hard it took his breath away. He didn’t care, he hadn’t been hugged for a very long time. She held him tight for a few long moments. "I love you too, and it is a beautiful morning. How would you like some pancakes?"

     "That would be great, mom." The boy couldn’t remember the last time she had made pancakes for him, or if they tasted as good as they did that day. They chatted happily as they ate. From that moment on she always greeted him with a smile at the door when he came home from school. Her face had color and the dark circles were gone.

The river has power indeed.