New Money

New Money

A Story by Delmar Cooper
"

An imagined history. This revision shortened to less than 600 words.

"

 

New Money         575 Words (give or take)

 

            The women must think I am deaf, or a child. They say my granddaughter is to marry a white man.  When the pain goes away, I will rise up and kill them both.  Better for her to be dead, and it is a long time since I killed a white man.

            The French priest comes by every day now.  He brings medicine in a blue bottle.  He reads from the black  book, and I sleep.  I do not think I ask for his medicine, but I am no longer sure.

            I was a man once. Now my belly grows like a woman with child.  I travail like a woman.  I lie here listening for the wagon that brings the priest and the medicine.

            A guest, Crooked Nose, has come from Ft. McLeod. When he was a boy his father and I rode with the Lakota and the Arapaho. Cheyenne were men in those days. Now he walks with a long stick; all the way from Ft. McLeod with his long stick… this will end soon; he would not have come otherwise.

            “Can you see?” Crooked Nose raised the lamp wick until it began to smoke, and then lowered it a little.  He pulled a tobacco sack from his pocket and emptied it into my hand.

            “What is this?  What have you given me?”

            “A piece of money, but not from Canada.  Look, American money, no fat queen , no fat king, new money, a new thing.”

             There was a buffalo.  I had not seen a buffalo in many summers.  Tatanka, in your father’s time they covered the Earth, the dust of the herds put out the sun.”

            “Yes, yes I know all this. The buffalo is good medicine, but there is better, turn the money over.  Tell me what you see.”

            “One of the People, an Indian.”

            “Look closer at this Indian.”

            ”It cannot be.”

“Look again, and tell me that!” Crooked Nose ordered.

 He looked older than I remembered. His fierceness vanished into stiff dignity, like those reservation Indians who stayed in America and posed for any photographer who offered a drink of whiskey, but it was him.  I was certain it was him.  “Two Moons.  This Indian on their money is Two Moons.”

 A grin broke across Crooked Nose’s face and he laughed.  He held my hand and laughed until I forgot the fire in my belly.  I joined him; I was, for a moment, once more a young man.  I felt summer heat; I heard blood sing in my ears; a taste of salted iron filled my mouth; and all that was then became now.  I saw the sloping hill above the Lakota village on the Greasy Grass River, that water white men call the Little Big Horn.  I saw horses, blue shirts, and arrows.  I watched Two Moons raise his arm, bloody to the elbow, high above his head.

 

I saw the yellow hair in his hand.

 

“May I keep this?” I asked Crooked Nose.

He put the money back into the tobacco sack and tied it around my neck with a leather thong.  It was a good sign that he came to see me.  I no longer think I asked the French priest for his medicine.  I do not think I have ever asked a white man for anything.

 

 

 

© 2017 Delmar Cooper


Author's Note

Delmar Cooper
Any comment will be read respectfully. Some readers may have seen a longer version of this story.

My Review

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Featured Review

I felt v-e-r-y emotional as I read this v--e--r--y beautiful story, Delmar. I feel the French priest was giving sedative drugs to Tatanka, but cannot ascertain the reason why. I ssssssoooooo loved reading all the names of the Native American tribes. Crooked Nose brought healing with him on his visit from Ft. McLeod. So kind and generous of him to allow Tatanka to keep the new money and thanks also to his visit, Tatanka no longer needed the 'medicine' from the French priest! You are a natural storyteller. For me, the story was a very gripping one and I was captivated from the first to the last word, a very willing prisoner! An amazing write, eloquently inked. I so enjoyed reading. A heartfelt THANK YOU! for sharing, Delmar...

Posted 4 Months Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

4 Months Ago

Thank you for reading and for your comment. This tale has a built in backstory that allows it to be.. read more
Marie

4 Months Ago

Thank you so very much for so kindly taking the time to explain the story behind your story, Delmar... read more



Reviews

I felt v-e-r-y emotional as I read this v--e--r--y beautiful story, Delmar. I feel the French priest was giving sedative drugs to Tatanka, but cannot ascertain the reason why. I ssssssoooooo loved reading all the names of the Native American tribes. Crooked Nose brought healing with him on his visit from Ft. McLeod. So kind and generous of him to allow Tatanka to keep the new money and thanks also to his visit, Tatanka no longer needed the 'medicine' from the French priest! You are a natural storyteller. For me, the story was a very gripping one and I was captivated from the first to the last word, a very willing prisoner! An amazing write, eloquently inked. I so enjoyed reading. A heartfelt THANK YOU! for sharing, Delmar...

Posted 4 Months Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

4 Months Ago

Thank you for reading and for your comment. This tale has a built in backstory that allows it to be.. read more
Marie

4 Months Ago

Thank you so very much for so kindly taking the time to explain the story behind your story, Delmar... read more
I thought this story was beautiful, in a way that makes me believe it might have taken a bit of emotional toil to complete. It suggests that you have a deep connection to the characters--maybe through a shared heritage? And even if not, it comes across impressively authentic. There's much to be said about a writer who can exhibit strong emotions, character building, and scene setting in fewer than 600 words; and without leaving the reader with that lack of closure, that closure that many short story writers seem to neglect. I plan revisit this story again. I find it inspirational in its sincerity. I admire your skill of writing vulnerably, but succinctly.

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

3 Years Ago

Thanks for your flattering review. I have no relationship to the characters. I was reading the "Ol.. read more
49k_jdys

3 Years Ago

You're most welcome! Please keep writing!
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wtp
This is impressively efficient storytelling! You have effectively presented the intertwined life stories of Two Moons and our narrator in a single death bed scene. As someone that "writes long" by nature, I am curious about what you excised from the first version.

There is also a great deal of history embedded in those 575 words. I inferred the narrator was a follower of Sitting Bull but did not return with him. Was that your intent?

Thanks for a very entertaining read!


Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

3 Years Ago

". I inferred the narrator was a follower of Sitting Bull but did not return with him. Was that your.. read more
You convey the mood & spirit & sound of this kind of conversation. It sounds authentic & reads like a compelling interesting little ditty (((HUGS)))

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

3 Years Ago

Thanks for reading and your comment.
DC
pulled me right in I didn't even think about it... I was instantly inside. what a skill! This isn't a story I read I just stole somebody else's memory.

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

3 Years Ago

If I could do poetry like you do poetry all I'd do would be poetry. But, I can't so I do this.
read more
Robert Trakofler

3 Years Ago

LOL well "this" is great!
I've spent a fair amount of time reading mainly about how the plains natives were conquered by eliminating the buffalo and the still lasting, sorry after effects
I do see now that there is a movement to introduce buffalo back into large (prairie?) native reserves where there are large areas of unused grassland
Could something positive possibly happen?

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

3 Years Ago

Dave Brown writes: "Could something positive possibly happen?"

Sure, but only if ther.. read more
Interesting Story Cooper, I like the way you unraveled the plot. Also, the character sketch is unique

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

3 Years Ago

Thank you for reading and letting me know. I appreciate your comments.
Having taught U.S. history I feel more than just acquainted with the plight of the Native American. I tried reading "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" I was so disgusted I couldn't read more than a third of it. I did a research paper on the Effect of Alcohol on Native Americans. It dealt with how traders took advantage of the fact that they, physiologically, could not abide alcohol. I tried, while teaching, to develop more empathy for Native Americans.

Take care - Dave

Posted 4 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

4 Years Ago

I am delighted you found time to read my story and hope you enjoyed it. I don't maintain the story .. read more
Dave

4 Years Ago

Historically true or not, I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing. - Take care - Dave
There are things here that one may only understand if you walk in the shoes or wear the skin of the other. I will simply say that the writing does bring the reader into that curious place where we ponder for a while and try to understand things we may never, but we want to. And when a writer can make a reader stop to ponder and feel I would call it a success.

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

6 Years Ago

I think any story has some measure of success if it gets read. I'm not consumed by ambition - that.. read more
"New Money"
Delmar Cooper, I see by your author's note, imagined history. Concise at six hundred words. It works.
I enjoyed the descriptiveness of the narrater and Crooked Nose. I suppose the point in being quite focused on the thoughts and direct feelings brought on by the piece of money is really a good tool. I found it refreshing. It's so nice to see how others approach descriptive blocks. Is this a chapter in something? I have a very distant norwegian great grandmother. Digging for information is the only way to bring her back to life. I wish more stories could be found. What info did you already have from your own family in putting your story together. I felt like I was allowed a l glimpse of one facet of human history since the world came to be with the sharing of this piece. Lovely!
Blessings,
Katthy


Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

6 Years Ago

Thanks for reading. Bits of published history with a speculation sauce, no inside knowledge.

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Added on July 19, 2017
Last Updated on July 19, 2017

Author

Delmar Cooper
Delmar Cooper

Trussville, AL



About
I write- a little. I don't write to reinvent the wheel, or discover fire. I just drag along from sentence to sentence hoping for a spark. more..

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