Let me start my story by telling you my name is Big Blue, a name given to me by a small Hu-man boy (Edmund).
I was born and raised across an ocean of water. I lived in a world of forest, where cold and snow was such a big part of my earliest memories. It was such a shock being born with four legs and being able to understand two-legged creatures.
I grew up fast, understanding that I was quite different than other four-legged animals. I could mimic almost anything making sounds including two-legged creatures. Both my mother and father were silent in most of my early memories. I remember going to the village and learning what it was like to be a Hu-man. I even went beside open windows in warmer times to hear what, why, and how Hu-mans talked...
One day while carrying a small wagon of supplies with my father already working on the steep side of the mountain, we stopped. Looking at my father hauling logs down towards the road there was a loud roar and above my father, logs came crashing down on top of him. I started to panic and took off toward him. I didn’t get far before two Hu-mans pulled my reins and I came to a stop, but not before dragging them and the wagon close to my father. I was seven months old in Hu-man’s years when I began to understand the emotion called sadness...
Until my father died, I had no idea what he or anything else really meant to me. When I was two months old, I was sensing something very different about myself. Only when a boy of 17 Hu-man years and a girl of 14 came into the stable, talking did I realize I could understand them. They put a harness on me and attached a small wagon behind me, and I took them to a place called school. It was on those trips that my understanding of Hu-mans started. By overhearing what the boy and girl learned each day, I began to understand where my place in this world would be.
~~~
By Edmund Hickey
Edmund Hickey shares with readers that he never intended to write books... He was merely telling stories to his children as they grew up... What a wonderful thing happened for his readers' benefit. His children enjoyed them so much that they convinced him to share them! How cool is that?!!
Now everybody knows that I love cats, but, especially since I've moved into a log cabin, I've grown closer to our wild animals...raccoon, 'possum, deer are regular visitors onto my thirteen acre land... But Hickey put his imagination to work when he told his children about animals. Big Blue is the first story he shares. Two others follow but there is always an underlying theme that these special animals have the skills to understand human talk and they have a desire to help keep them from harm. And...each of these animals have an internal feeling that something is pulling them toward a specific place...
It didn't take Big Blue long to see how some men would treat other humans and animals. In the ship bringing him to America, his mother and many men and animals who died were just pushed off into the ocean...Blue felt like just doing the same to those men, but he knew that if he did, he would become just like those people!
When they landed, they were immediately taken to a market where everybody on the ship would be sold. Here the exciting part starts as Blue moves close to and listens to a family talking about buying a horse...and the children see in his eyes that he understands them!
As night was approaching, I moved toward some Hu-mans talking and already I knew that I was being sold to a Hu-man that was leading a wagon train west. I stepped back with great disappointment in not being with that family. Near dark, I could see the boy and girl across the way looking at me.
Both came closer and the girl spoke out saying: “You can understand us?”
Slowly, I moved my head up and down which meant “yes” to Hu-mans. Here was my chance to talk to Hu-mans, something I had not done before. I knew part of my loneliness was never having a chance to talk. The boy’s name was Tyger and the girl was named Bird. The boy looked at his sister and I could tell he did not believe it was possible that a horse could understand as much as I seemed to. I said my first words and in doing so, I felt a lightness in my body. I trusted them with my life and continued talking...
~~~
And then Big Blue's great adventure began! Would he settle down with the family he had first met and become a member of their family just like a horse named Ed once did? Oh no! The story is set in the old west, so plan on spending time reading about when the white people were coming west and taking land to homestead... and capturing or killing animals that they found abundant...You'll even meet the queen of the wild horses for whom Big Blue feels a special relationship! I'd love to tell you more about this special horse, but now I want to introduce you to the next special animal... | ||
|
He noticed, though, that one man was still alive and he pulled him back into a safer place. Almost immediately the man, who was a doctor, realized that Wolf seem to understand him. The man knew he needed help or he would die and asked Wolf if he could find him water. Wolf went back to the battle scene and pulled two canteens from the horses and returned! Wolf learned much from the doctor, including how he could care for himself using his hands to mend his body...
The third story was both fun and exciting as we meet Light and Shadow. Light looked like a regular rabbit we've all seen but he was paranormal! He had visions of things which were going to happen! While Shadow was huge and could even climb a tree to escape his hunters! It was Shadow who figured out a plan to keep them out of danger! They hopped on a wagon heading West! The wagon had been in a train but a wheel had broken and had to be repaired, so the family were alone for a night and would leave early in the morning to catch up with the train. That was when Light and Shadow would get into the wagon and hide...Of course, there was a young girl who had realized Light was special and then was introduced to Shadow! Her parents at first thought they were ordinary pets...
“Shadow, you’re right, something in my rabbit-human soul has been added. I needed that emotion humans call happiness. I could see why humans like it so much. Makes you feel good inside. Something I had not felt good about in a long time. Okay, Shadow, you’re going to be the smart one and of course I will be the cleverest of all the rabbits in the world. So, what’s the plan?”
I told Light how we were going to hitch a ride with the wagon that had broken down. This was the first step of being able to travel like humans, which did not give us time to do much of anything because we had to move fast before the sun rose or the wagon would leave without us.
~~~
I don't know about you but I have come to expect more errors in ebooks than in print books and there are many small ones in Big Blue so be warned. However, the stories are extraordinary and totally compelling...I am quite ready to move on to the next book, hoping that the special animals will one day meet and go on to work together for a series! How about it StoryTeller Hickey?
These stories were first told to young children, so I'm guessing that those at six and above would enjoy them, with parents reading, but young children readers will certainly find the book quite enjoyable... And, yes, I was just as enamored as a child--don't mind admitting it! Anybody who enjoys historical novels will find this a refreshing, unique perspective of that time in American history...
GABixlerReviews
Edmund Hickey does not see himself as an author but rather as a story teller in the ancient tradition of story tellers of the past who handed down their tales by word of mouth, orally.
No comments:
Post a Comment