The Bow and Arrows

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11446835.post-1110842980290950102005-03-14T15:23:00.000-08:002005-05-04T13:22:36.440-07:00The Bow and Arrows <o:p></o:p> I had just gotten over a cold, but then in those days it seemed that I was always getting over a cold. That is why my mother would not let me go with her on a small shopping trip to downtown Rahway. My favorite two stores were The Hobby Shop and Woolworth’s five and ten cent store. “Ahhh Mom can’t I come.” “ No. You’re just getting over a cold and it’s cold out there. You will catch a chill.” In those days moms believed that “catching a chill” was the principal cause of all illness. “Besides I am going with Isabel and I don’t want you giving her a cold.” Isabel Smith was our neighbor and a long time friend. Her two children, Tippy and Sissy, were my best friends. My mom did not see well so she never learned to drive a car; she relied on my dad or neighbors for rides. “I will bring you home something.” My spirits brightened at the thought of a new toy. “What do you want?” My mom said just as the car horn sounded signaling that Isabel had arrived. Oh no! I had to think of what I wanted really fast. She would be out the door in a moment. “I want a bow and arrows,” I quickly shouted out. I had just seen a Hop-a-Long Cassady show on TV. Where he single handedly defeated much of the Cheyenne nation. So a bow and arrows was the first thing to pop into my nine-year-old mind. I was expecting the usual response about shooting my eye out, but I guess she was in too big a hurry. “Ok, be good and don’t jump on the furniture,” she said as she left. A bow and arrows! Oh wow! Soon I would have a bow and arrows. From the sound of it this was not going to come out of my allowance either even though I had the biggest allowance in the neighborhood. I got a dollar every week on Friday. Tippy, who was a year older than me, only got fifty cents. Tippy’s sister, who was two years younger than me, only got twenty-five cents. So you see my allowance was bigger than both of theirs combined. A fact they often called to my attention by the phrase, “Your soooo lucky.” It was true, there was no denying it. Growing up as an only child had its perks. Now technically I was not an only child. I had two half brothers and a half sister. But Bobby was 7 years older and Alice was 9 years older and they lived with their mom and step dad. Leon was 14 years older than me and married. In those days Woolworth’s sold a great toy bow and arrows. It came on a cardboard sheet with rubber band like things that held the bow and its two rubber tipped arrows to the card. Printed in bright colors on the card were the pictures of Indians bedecked in colorful war paint. There were also pictures of buffalo and bears and antelope. I was so excited I could hardly wait. In fact I could not wait. I went down in the basement to search for a substitute, something to get me started before my wonderful bow arrived. I found a stick of wood - a dowel used to hold up curtains or something. Now I would need a piece of string. I searched around my dad’s workbench. Ah ha! A nice piece of twine, just what I needed. I tied the string to both ends of the dowel and I had my bow. True the dowel would not bend like a bow and my arrows were all make believe, but that did not matter much at all. Now I was Fire Eagle, Chief of the Hawk People. The Hawk People were the noblest of all the tribes, keepers of the sacred land. Our enemies were the pale face of course. They were here to steal our land and destroy the sacred buffalo and our noble way of life. And then there were the dreaded Owl People, savage Indians that raided the camps of noble Indians like the Hawk People and served as scouts for the hated white man. Hour after hour I played lost in my imagination. Then I heard Isabel’s car pull up in front of our house. Mom was home! She would have my wonderful new bow and arrows. “Do you have my bow?” I asked my mom before she was even through the door. “No they didn’t have one.” she answered, “I got you this gun.” She handed me a toy wooden pistol on a cardboard sheet with pictures of a policeman and robber printed on it. Also included with the wooden pistol were some rubber bands. To make it work you stretched the rubber band from the front of the pistol to a little metal thing near the back. When you pulled the trigger the little metal thing moved down and the rubber band was released sending it flying. Ohhh I was so disappointed, no bow and arrows. Then I tried out the gun. Wow the rubber band went a long way! In a moment I was Mr. Chip, the fearless G-man fighting the evil Dr. Doom and his ring of international rumrunners. Forgotten was Fire Eagle and his band of noble Indians. Dr. Doom had to be stopped and me and my crime-fighting gun of justice was the only thing that could do it. By George V. Schubel <center><a href=" http://www.clickheretofind.com/index.php3?l=accyberchip"> <img src="http://www.imagebarrel.com/img/05/123/21/YesNoOnly.jpg"></a></center>Patriciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09654841522754105377noreply@blogger.com