63
I shook my head, trying not to think of this and went to
our sleeping space for my hour of reflection. Because I
wasn’t able to read the Bible yet, I had other books I would
read instead.
Miss Beatrice had given me the third learning book. I
was proud that I had finished the first two and was ready
for this one.
When I opened it, I saw there were drawings inside and
longer words than my other books. There was a drawing
of a school and another drawing of a large wagon. And
there was a drawing of something I had seen before in He
Sapa. The cousins had built it so we could walk over the top
of a creek rather than having to wade through its cold
swirling water.
This thing in the drawing crossed over a rushing river
that looked very dangerous. A white man and child stood
on one side and were waving to a woman and child to cross
from the other. The letters below were
b-r-i-d-g-e
.
Walks Tall came into the room.
“Walks Tall,” I asked, showing her the drawing. “What is
this word? How do you say it?”
“It’s a bridge,” she said. “This says a bridge can help you
get from one place to another safely.”
BRIDGE
