Village Squire, 1979-11, Page 20But now, on the edge of the great struggle to adulthood, when
I needed him most, my father the hero turned out to be a hero of
the past. The other fathers and older brothers were heros of the
present.
1 don't know who first began talking about wanting an air rifle
for Christmas. Probably it was on one of those long walks to
school when we vied with each other points in our imaginary
game of king of the mountain. At any rate, about the first of
November, 1 began to lobby for an air rifle. By Christmas eve, I
was certain my efforts had not been successful. Mother was
strongly opposed. Father, to my surprise, was on my side. But
mother was, much stronger in her opposition than father in his
support, so I resigned myself to getting something other than the
air rifle that was to be my passage to the exciting world of
hunting. With the last present under the tree opened the next
day, I was certain I was not getting the gun, and visions of my
being the only one of the gang that didn't have an air rifle. Then,
as my disappointment grew, my father quietly suggested I look
behind the piano. There, in its instantly recognizable box, was
the air rifle.
I glowed, positively glowed, as I took out the rifle and ran my
fingers up and down the barrel and cocked the stiff, spring
loaded lever. I glorified in it. It wasn't the most deluxe model
available, the kind of one you saw on the back of the Superman
comic books, but it was mine.
I loaded it and went down in the cellar to shoot at an old tin
can. The next day, as soon as my parents would allow, I was off
to visit Joe and the other neighbours. To my surprise, and
elation, Joe did not get the gun he was trying to persuade his
parents about. It was a victory; a small victory.
Some of the other boys did get the guns they sought however
and by the first day of school when we took the long walk up the
icy concession road, they were talking excitedly about the
sparrows and pigeons they'd killed during the holidays. Their
hunting prowess was impressive. How could I talk about hitting
hristmas
ards
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