all sitting on me like a big fat goose on an egg Here on the porch Atim doesn’t seem to have any worries but she seems to know that I do She has pressed her muddy self beside me and won’t leave me alone I guess Atim is becoming a real best friend Stan arrives with a big package under his arm Package What package Stan says I’m just here for a piece of cake Dad cooked my favorite meal It’s his famous Irish stew Everyone starts singing Happy Birthday To me of course On the last line when folks sing the words to you Stan breaks into a great wolf howl and we all join in When it goes quiet we hear Atim outside the door howling along and everyone laughs Mom sets 6
down a vanilla-and-caramel cake with ten candles ablaze I close my eyes and wish that Atim will decide to keep us Then I huff and puff and blow out all the candles with one mighty breath Mahkitonew jokes my brother He has just called me a bigmouth in Cree I guess that means there won’t be any left for you I say to him with a smirk Ha-ha he says but he does look worried that I might just mean it I get cards and presents Even from my brother He gives me a heavy package wrapped in crumpled newspaper with a sedge-grass ribbon It’s a piece of raw soapstone the biggest chunk I’ve ever had 7
happy
I found it by the riverbank after hours and hours of looking I tested it for softness with my knife just like you showed me Thank you It’s totally awesome It will be my next carving In that package from Stan there is a new gun for me Except it doesn’t shoot ammunition It shoots pictures Stan got a special camera for me and mounted it on a gunstock A gunstock is the wooden handle of a shotgun or a rifle The shutter button on this camera is wired to where your trigger finger goes When you pull the trigger a picture is taken I can unhook the camera from the gunstock if I want and wear it around my neck Great hunters don’t just shoot guns Stan says You have such a good aim I want you to keep coming out to shoot 9
