Nomo

Nomo
by Johnny Rustywire
She wore her hair in pigtails, she was sort of small, when you looked
at her some thought she was Chinese. She wouldn't say anything much at
all, just look down and smile. This little Indian girl played alone
and had a few brothers around and one brought home a rabbit, with fur
and plastic button eyes.

Her home on the indian reservation was not real fancy but it was warm
and when she left to walk to school she would put that crazy pink
rabbit in the window to watch her go and he was there when she came
home. She had a hard time at school with the way she talked, and
wondered why when she talked to the children, they would just look at
her.


She tried to talk to them over and over, but they did not understand.
She talked only her native tongue and it took a long while for her to
understand. She had to learn a new way of talking. She fell into
silence at school, finding herself at the back of the room and slowly
with time understood what the other kids said.


She would come home and see that rabbit waiting for her, she called
him "Nomo". I used to see her playing out back on a big rock climbing
to the top and sitting there with her friend Nomo. He had a special
place next to her at the table and slept close by at night to fight
off monsters who hid in the shadows, but somehow they were afraid of
Nomo. When he came they did not show themselves anymore.


As time went on his newness wore off and he became dingy and worn, so
that his bare threads were showing. She would sew him up and drag him
out to play, his long ears were tattered and torn but he was there
everyday for her. He would play with her outside and find himself all
muddy and dirty. She would take a bath and she would wash him up too.
He just seemed to attract the dirt spots and they would not come out.


Then one day her father said, it is time to put that old rabbit away,
he is all torn up and good for nothing. She quietly slipped away and
hid her friend, but he was not yet dry from his bath. A day then two
went by and her father found him by chance as he put her clothes away.
Opening her drawer there he was, Nomo, turned gray and moldy. It is
time to put him away.


When she came home Nomo was gone, her old friend. She went to her bed
and cried and cried. When it came time to go to bed, I happened to
drop by and wondered waht was going on. Her father told me about Nomo,
I said, I know him. He looked at me like I was a child, I said don't
you remember, my friend, that little lamb you raised long ago and then
it was gone and you felt so bad. I could see it in his eyes and in an
instant he knew what it felt like. He said he had to go. I said
goodbye and went on home. As I left I heard some one going through
what looked like the trash can. Some poor soul who had no Christmas.


I thought about her at home alone wondering about her friend and
mentioned it to my wife. She listened and grew quiet, it was Christmas
Eve. I said I had to go out for a little bit, to get gas for the old
wheels, just in case we needed to go somewhere.


I went looking for a store open this late hour and found one by
chance, a walk around the place and up on the shelf way up high was a
little tabbit, shiny and new. What is that rabbit doing way up there?
The clerk said it was left over from Easter, so I said let me have it
and so I took it home and put it away, wrapping it late that night.


My wife went to get some extra pie pans from a couple doors down, and
later she came home and made pies, staying up late...so I went to bed.


There was snow on the ground, a White Christmas, we got up early, just
before first light and I went out to cut some wood. I could see my
neighbor was gathering wood for his fire as well. I went inside and my
wife said let us go over and see our friends for a minute. I thought
it is so early but she would not have it any other way so we went next
door, to the place of Nomo's family.
We went and visited a little bit, since they were up early too. We
left them a pie and came home for our Christmas.


The little girl got up and woe was her Christmas her friend was gone.
She layed there in bed for a while and did not want to get up. She
finally got up with some coaxing from the other kids. She went to the
Christmas tree and the presents were opened up one by one.


There were three brightly wrapped gifts for her and when opened these
were new rabbits, all brothers the night before at that small store.
She looked at them but did not smile. Tears were coming to her eyes,
the thought of Nomo, gone somewhere dark and lonely filled her mind on
this of all days.


Her father made his way to her and took her back to her bed. She
crawled up on it broken hearted. It was a sad day, then he turned to
the window, and lo and behold there was Nomo, all clean and patched.
He told his little girl, you have been a good girl, and Santa left him
just for you. She jumped for joy and ran to the window, his eyes were
shiny buttons, they were there and he had different colored patches,
clean and rough looking but in better shape than before.


At the Christmas table Nomo sat quietly, and watched this family and
Christmas had come early for him, rescued by rough hands once small
that worked through the night stuffing and sewing, bringing him back
to life. Who was this, this little boy now a man. Nomo looked across
the table and could see the father with tired eyes and saw the little
boy from years ago and it was Christmas all over again. So it goes
with kids and stuffed rabbits named Nomo


Johnny Rustywire