1

Morning Girl by Michael Dorris Modified by Steve King

2

Chapter One: MORNING GIRL My family calls me Morning Girl because I wake up early. I always have something on my mind. My mom says it’s because I dream too hard. She’s right. I’m always doing things in my dreams: swimming or searching for shells or finding a good place to fish. I like being alone in the early morning. My little brother likes the darkness. I don’t know how we got to be so different. We only seem to pass by each other as the sun rises or the sun sets. Mother says someday we will be friends. She tells stories about her brother, my Uncle Sharp Tooth. But she doesn’t know my brother the way I do. He eats too much. He doesn’t know how to be quiet. And who knows what he does when the rest of us are asleep. This morning, just before dawn, I woke up and I found him staring at me. When we were talking, my father woke up and so did my mother. ”Why won’t the ghosts let us sleep?” they grumbled. I could have told them it was my brother’s fault. But they would just make jokes and say, ”We’ll listen later, Morning Girl.” So I went outside where no one else was around. I loved the start of a new day. I could smell the large red flowers and

3

that gave me an idea. I could look for the most beautiful blossoms and put together necklaces for Father and Mother. They would find them and wonder where the amazing necklaces had come from. And they would be wearing them, and still be happy with me, when my brother finally woke up.

4

Chapter Two: STAR BOY You know how it is when you’re on the beach on a very sunny morning, and you shut your eyes real tight? It’s not really dark. At least not the dark like when you’re inside your house and you can’t see anything. What I don’t like is nothing. I don’t mean I like everything. I don’t like when my sister wakes me up. I don’t like to eat fish with too many bones. I don’t like the small bugs that bite. But mostly, I don’t like...nothing. I don’t like when there’s nothing to hear, nothing to taste, nothing to touch, and nothing to see. The first night I woke up. I noticed everyone was invisible. I became nothing, too. I sat and waited until the day remembered us and returned. My mother asked me why I was awake so early. Was I becoming like my sister? I don’t want to be anything like my sister. So I told my mother, ”I don’t need sleep anymore.” Mother shook her head and smoothed my hair, ”How will you dream if you don’t sleep?”

5

I thought about this problem. I would be like a bat and do my dreams during the day. I could fly around and bother my sister at night. My mother wanted to know why I liked the night. It’s the stars. And that’s when my father called me ”Star Boy”. With that name I decided to become an expert and answer questions about the night. ”Why do bats like the dark, Star Boy?” Because it’s big. Because there are special things to see if you watch closely.

6

Chapter Three: MORNING GIRL When things around me are right, I forget to notice. I don’t remember days that aren’t too hot or too wet. When I’m eating fruit, it’s just fruit, unless it dribbles down my chin or hurts my teeth. So I only notice things when they bother me. I notice my brother. He messes up the niceness for me. He’s too loud. He makes jokes. He makes too much noise. I imagine what it would be like if my brother weren’t around. When I close my eyes I can see it. Father and Mother and me, never arguing. I only pointed out how he acted so he would learn and not make the same mistakes twice. But I was the one who got the raised eyebrows. But the real trouble came later. I was going to get a sister. Mother told me. She thought I was lonely and would want a baby sister to play with. I wasn’t lonely. I didn’t need anyone to play with. When Mother told Star Boy, he asked why it had to be a sister. She told him it could be a brother but she didn’t think so. ”If it’s another sister, I’ll leave and find a new home,” he said.

7

We started to fight and Mother said maybe we should wish for a baby parrot instead. One day Mother was gone when I came home. She had gone to visit Grandmother. Father looked worried. When we wanted to think of names for the new baby, he said it was too soon. We would know the right name when the time comes. The next day Mother still was not back. Father said she would come home the next day, but not with a new sister, and not with a new brother. Star Boy looked afraid. His body was stiff, his hands balled into fists. He didn’t relax until Father said that Mother would be well. When Mother came back she held me for a long time, saying my name over and over. I told her that Star Boy was waiting. I watched Mother hold Star Boy in her arms. A light came on in Mother’s eyes. When she kissed his cheeks, I could see him lose his fear. I took a breath and lost my fear, too. I watched the two of them and for a long moment I didn’t wish it was me in her arms. I didn’t notice a thing.

8

Chapter Four: STAR BOY I won’t go home. I’ve been hiding all day among the rocks. I didn’t come out when I heard Morning Girl call my name. She didn’t see me, because she was looking for a human boy who would want to eat lunch, not for a stone who did not need food or a house. She was not looking for a stone who did not have to worry about making a mistake. That afternoon I thought about everything a rock could think. I was glad I didn’t have to drink because then I’d be thirsty. I asked the rocks if they had made mistakes, too. But they did not answer. Maybe they were waiting to see what kind of rock I turned out to be. Maybe they heard Mother’s footsteps before I did. ”Where could Star Boy have gone?” she asked herself. She waited for a moment. Then she said, ”But Star Boy would not leave without saying good-bye. Even if he had made a mistake. Even if he had lost his father’s canoe. He would know that we would miss him if he disappeared.” I closed my eyes and kept being a rock. I became very hard, so hard that I didn’t feel her hand against my foot. I wondered if she would cry at night for me the way she once did for the new sister that never came. If she cried, I would come

9

back, but not until. A little later I heard my father coming. He stopped almost at the exact spot where my mother had sat. ”How lucky I am that Sharp Tooth found my canoe,” Father said to himself. ”And how glad I am that there is no damage. I know that my son, Star Boy will be very happy too, but how can I tell him?” I changed from a rock to an ear, an ear that could hear every word. My father said that even if a canoe was gone, it could be replaced in a few days, but nothing can replace a son. He said that Morning Girl was worried about me, too. I tried to imagine Morning Girl worrying about me. I couldn’t. I kept listening to Father. ”When Morning Girl told me she had been careless with my canoe, I was very annoyed.” ”But it wasn’t her!” I shouted. My father looked around. ”Star Boy? Star Boy?” I unfolded myself and became my father’s son again. I could hear the happiness in his voice. I could see it in my mother’s face. I could even see it in my sister’s eyes.

10

Chapter Five: MORNING GIRL I like to look at my face in the water, but it is never still enough. Just when I’m about to see my eyes or my mouth, a fish will swim by or a leaf will drop in. Or my brother will toss a pebble and make my reflection disappear. I want to know what people see when they look at me. My brother said, ”They see you!” That didn’t help me. I still didn’t know what ”you” meant. My mother helped. She told me to touch my face and touch her face. I found that my chin was smaller and pointier. Her lips were fuller and her mouth was wider. That made me unhappy with myself until she made me smile. Then my mouth was wide, too. My mother’s eyebrows were curved. They made her look surprised. Mine were straight like my grandfather’s. He always looked tired. I liked surprised better. Our ears were the same. At least that part I would now recognize. So now I know Morning Girl. She has a chin like a starfish and eyebrows like white clouds on the horizon. Her nose works. Her cheeks are like mountains when she smiles. The only thing right about her is her ears.

11

The next day I asked my brother, ”What does my chin look like?” He said a starfish to tease me. I went outside and saw Father sitting on a log. ”Who is this with my wife’s ears stuck on her head?” he asked. Why did he tease me, too? But then he showed me a way to know my own face. ”Look into my eyes,” he said. ”What do you see?” I leaned forward and suddenly I saw two girls looking back. Their faces were clear, their brows straight as canoes, and their chins as narrow and clean as lemons. And, as I watched, their mouths grew wide. They were pretty. ”They” were me.

12

Chapter Six: STAR BOY The first thing the wind moved was my blood. It ran faster in my arms and legs, pushing against the skin, warning me. The rain came but did not fall like a normal rain. Everything was pushed by the wind. ” I saw my father in a flash of lightning. He looked worried. My mother came and stood beside him. Morning Girl looked excited. Mother called for me and she couldn’t hear me answer. The wind took my words. I headed toward them and I could see Morning Girl point at me. Father started to crawl toward me, holding on to a rock or a stump. Suddenly I was back on the ground sliding away from my house with the rain falling all around me. My father screamed for me, but still I wasn’t afraid. I saw a very large tree that was usually filled with red parrots. This was a tree that would still be in the same spot tomorrow. I was sure of it. I made my way to the tree. I put my body into the hollow and became part of the tree. I kept my ” balance by leaning the opposite direction that the wind wanted me to go.

13

This made the wind angry. It slapped my cheeks and banged my head. Now I was no longer calm. I yelled for my mother. I yelled for my father. At first there was no answer. Then I heard, ”It’s all right, Star Boy. Stay with us and you’ll be safe.” It was my grandfather’s voice from above. I remembered his voice and the way he would tell me stories. ”You must sit still and wait for the storm. And you can’t tell anyone that I was here,” said Grandfather. We talked and talked . He even said I could tell Morning Girl, but he knew she wouldn’t believe me. Later, when the rain was back to normal, I could see my mother running toward me. I thanked my grandfather and told him good-bye.

14

Chapter Seven: MORNING GIRL No one had died. The storm had damaged nothing that could not be built again. It had made a new path across the island. Things looked different, but new. Father, Mother and I found Star Boy tucked in the arms of the tree where the new sister stayed with Grandfather. When we told Grandmother what had happened, she smiled. She knew that Grandfather had protected Star Boy the way he had once saved Father. Some people had to build new houses, but it was easy. The palms were already spread on the ground. Coconuts had fallen, also, and fish had even been carried out of the sea. There was a lot of work to do, but Father decided we should take the first and second day to be happy together. We would dance and make music and say good-bye to the wind. We would share the food it had presented to us as an apology. Star Boy and I went to find fruit while mother gathered sticks to make a fire. All the people gathered together like when there is a marriage or when someone has died. The people were very happy. The wind had taken away the bugs that usually came to our parties. Star Boy raced to tell his story. He took food from every family. I could not act this way. I was no longer a child, even

15

though I wished to join him now. I did not want the looks that come from aunts and uncles. I did not want to have Mother staring at me. Then I saw that Star Boy was not a child anymore. He was getting terrible looks pointed at him. But he didn’t notice. Then our cousin stopped Star Boy by calling him his baby name, ”Hungry”. I am not ”Hungry” anymore. I’m Star Boy now.” But my Uncle Sharp Tooth interrupted. ”The wind must still be blowing. It is mixing words and meanings. Hungry still acts like a little boy.” My brother stopped and looked at me. It was as if only the two of us were there. Star Boy and I reached out to each other with our eyes. ”Food!” I sang as loud as my voice could reach. ”I’m so hungry I can’t wait any longer to eat!” I ran through the crowd, just like my brother, sampling and reaching and filling my mouth until I couldn’t talk, until I reached Star Boy. It was so quiet I could hear my mouth chewing. ”Let us eat!” called out my father. ”This family is hungry. We forgot food while we searched for Star Boy. Now our stomachs rule our brains.”

16

Then my mother started. Then my grandmother and then our neighbor I Swam Too Far, who had helped us search for Star Boy. Now the people began to look at my uncle instead of my brother and me. For a moment his face grew full of anger that comes from being wrong, but then he set it free. ”Star Boy,” he called. ”Come and tell me your story so that I can introduce my nephew by his proper name.” Names are strange and special gifts. There are names you give to yourself and names you show to the world, names that stay for a short while and names that remain with you forever, names that come from things you do and names that you receive as presents from other people. No one would forget that my brother had once been Hungry. But today, they would listen for who he had become. And Star Boy, too, would remember that he was now older and he could no longer behave as a child. If your name is true, it is who you are. Star Boy had not moved. I swallowed the last of the food in my mouth and told him to go. He did, but first he spoke so that only I could hear. He gave me the name he would always use when we were alone together. It was, ”The One Who Stands Beside”.

17

Chapter Eight: STAR BOY First, I got mad at my best friend, Red Feathers. He came to my house and we went off to explore that place on the island where the wind had swept parts of many houses. I wanted to look for our roof and maybe for my collection of conch shells. They were the only things I minded losing. Red Feathers was good at finding things. That’s why he was my friend. He was also glad to be out of his house and away from his parents. They were shouting at each other more than usual. Red Feathers stopped and put his hand on his chin. ”I am worried, Star Boy. What if you get hungry again, like you were yesterday?” I didn’t answer him. I just kept walking and closed my ears. He said it was just a joke. He was just repeating what his brother had said to his wife. The next one who made me mad was my father. We were sitting on the ground by a fire, waiting for the fish to steam. The smell was wonderful, and my mouth must have opened just a little.

18

”It’s good to like food,” my father said in the voice he used when he was being a father. ”But it won’t disappear if you hide the loudness of its call.” And he was smiling! ”I’m going to the beach. Maybe I’ll swim to the island where only birds live.” My father looked like he would apologize and ask me to stay and eat, but then he stopped. ”You’re not a child,” he said. ”You may do as you wish.” And so I had no choice. I left. Then, still later, I got the maddest of all. Morning Girl asked if I was pretending to be a rock again. I changed my mind and told her no. ”Everyone’s worried that you’re hungry. I told them you wouldn’t starve if you missed one night, but Father wants you to come back. So come on. I’m tired. I want to go to sleep.” I told her I was waiting for the stars. She said I was being a baby. I put my hands over my ears. It didn’t work. Morning Girl’s voice found its way between my fingers no matter how tightly I pressed them together. ”Grow up!” she shouted. The night hid my anger. It hid my shame. I waited for her to go away and, finally, she did.

19

I heard her footsteps return to the fire. I was alone but still with my thoughts. I knew that everyone would think of me as a little child, even when I became an old, old man. After a while, I remembered the last time I had been alone at night and the storm had chased me. I felt the time had slipped away and I felt like nothing. I woke up to see my mother sitting next to me. She asked me what I had learned. ”At night you must be your own friend,” I said. My mother understood.

20

Chapter Nine: MORNING GIRL There was still no roof on our house. It was like we were fish circling in a secret pool and the sky was our roof. It had been a long night of waiting for Star Boy. We had our dinner without him and missed his talking. I went out to find him and told him that we were worried but he was stubborn and wouldn’t listen. I was going to tell him stories about the giant starfish who comes on shore and finds little kids at night, but I had to walk back on the trail alone so I decided not to. I saw the disappointment in their faces when I came back without him. Mother put out the fire and told us to go to bed. Later I heard her as she went outside. At last, just when the sky was turning gray with morning I sank into a heavy sleep. The next moment I heard footsteps. Mother carried Star Boy like a baby in her arms. She lay Star Boy on his sleeping mat and she and Father went to bed. I went outside. I felt like I must go to the water. I knew Star Boy was angry with me, and now Mother and Father would be upset with my unsisterly words. I wished there were someone I could complain to. I wished for my new sister who had no name. I decided to give her one. I called her She Listens.

21

I looked around the place I was at so I could remember. I felt something with my toes. There was a white conch shell without a single chip. It was a shell that Star Boy would like to keep. I put the shell in a safe spot and jumped into the water. I splashed and swam. Then I heard a noise. It was a canoe. It was people coming to visit. I could see they hadn’t painted their faces, so they must be friendly or lost. I swam closer to get a better look. I had to laugh. The strangers had wrapped every part of their bodies with colorful leaves and cotton. Some had decorated their faces with fur and wore shiny rocks on their heads. ”I won’t make a mistake,” I told She Listens. I swam toward the canoe and said hello. I waved and showed that my hand was empty. The man stared at me like he had never seen a girl before. All the people stopped paddling and looked at me. I tried to talk to them but they did not understand. They talked to me but I did not understand them. I knew we would be able to get along with each other. We could act out our thoughts. It would be fun. I told them to leave their canoe and I would come back with the right people. I left them arguing among themselves.

22

They weren’t even paying attention to me. I remembered to get Star Boy’s shell and ran back home. I hoped I hadn’t done anything to make the visitors leave. Star Boy would never believe my story. He would say it was just a dream. I knew they were real.

23

Epilogue I felt that these new people would be better freed and converted to our Holy Faith by love instead of force. I gave them red caps and glass beads and many other things of small value. Later, they came swimming up to our ship and brought us parrots and balls of thread and spears and other things. They traded for things we gave them. They were very willing and seemed very poor. All of them go around naked as when they were born. All I saw were young people. No one seems more than thirty years of age. They do not carry weapons and they do not know what to do with them. I showed them swords and they cut themselves. They should make good servants. They say everything that is said to them and I think they will become Christians very easily for they have no religion. When we leave I will take six of them to Your Highnesses in order that they may learn to speak.

- Christopher Columbus