"Mother, stay here, with me." "Lily, you know I have to leave, I trust you." "Mother, the spirits are calling to me, you should not leave." "Lily, I know you like to use spirit talk against me, that changes nothing." "Mother!" My mother walks out of the teepee, taking slow steps to let her feet touch and feel the Earth below here. The next thing I see is my mother being hit, straight to her heart on her beast, Marigold. I see myself running, running as fast i could, from the tribe out to the battle field, dodging past cowboys and fellow tribe members, running to my mother. But it's too late, I find her laying down on the Earth, red blood all over her heart. I scream.
"Ah!" My heart pounds as fast as I am going. I sit up in sweat from my body. I uncover the bear fur and sit up. Bad Spirits, just another bad spirit. What do they want with me? This is the third night in a row. I turn around and look above my sleep area and see my Dream Catcher, the last one I made with my mother before she left us. It can't be bad, not yet, we just made it. I lift up the Dream Catcher from the teepee walls and hold it in my hands. No, you have to be alright, you cannot be taken over by the bad Spirits, not yet. A Dream Catcher calls on the Spirits over your head to protect you, but they only last so long before the Bad Spirits take over the Dream Catcher, scaring away all the Spirits and harming you as you sleep. You can't, you have to stay with me mother, you cannot let them make you leave. I need you.
I cry as my father walks through my teepee opening. "Lily, bad spirits again?" I nod my head as i continue to look down at the Dream Catcher in my hands, feeling the wool strings crossing each other as a sign of protection. Some strings are lose and swing side to side, a sign that the bad spirits are taking over and the Dream Catcher itself won't last long. "She has to stay, they all have to stay, not yet, they canno't leave." "Lily, I know this is hard for you, but the bad spirits are taking over more and more of the Catcher each sundown. It's not her fault, they will be back next Dream Catcher Lily, I promise you." "No father, this is the last Dream Catcher since she left us, I will always use it." My father sigs and looks at the Earth below him. " Lily, you will have bad spirits constintly harming and hurting you every night, you need a new Dream Catcher for the Spirits to protect you. I know it's not easy, we will get through this together." "No!"
I lay back down on my bed and feel the bear fur through my fingers, remembering the day my father brought back the bear in the fall and how happy I was, knowing I would get the soft fur as a blanket.
"Lily! You are not 2 years anymore, your a young woman at 19 years. I know it won't be easy, but I want you to sleep." I softly begin to sob. I know it's true, I am a young woman, I know I am a princess and have to take on duties. But I don't want to, I feel like my mother left something behind for me to see before she left. I feel like there is more to discover than take on small responsibilities. I want to be something more than that. I want to be my mother.
My father lays his hand on my hands and pulls me up in a sitting position. Then pulls me to his shoulder so that my head rests on the shoulder. "I know, I don't want you to grow up, I want you to be the little princess I remember you by in my dreams. I want you to be happy, but thats just not the way things work around in life, we never expect things to happen, like..........just think about it, we can talk later."
My father kisses me on my forehead and tucks me back into the soft bear fur like he used to do when I got scared when mother left. My father leaves the teepee and I slowly sob myself to sleep. When will this nightmare end?
I wake up to the sounds of the morning drums, banging for everyone to wake up from their slumber. I sit up and rub my eyes. My sister runs in, out of breath. "Tiger, father is ill! He woke up and wasn't feeling good, the doctor.." "Anya, settle down, catch your breath, there is no need to rush life."
