| It's
1914 and I haven't seen my uncle, Nonc Adolphe, for four years. I
was only ten years old when he left, and what he left behind were many
hard feelings among family members. You see, Grandpa had died and
left him the big house and the high land, Nonc Adolphe being the oldest
son. But Nonc had gotten "fiddle fever" and went off to New Orleans
leaving the big house empty, and the land untended. We had the lowland
of hardpan clay along the Louisiana bayou, which washed away during the
spring floods. Nonc's sister Maman, Papa and the rest of our family
struggled to make a living. But now, Nonc is back, and things will
be different.
We're at a party now, and Nonc
is playing an old French song on his fiddle . I've heard it a million
times, but this time it's different. When I hear the high notes,
I feel a quiver in my throat and the low notes are rumbling in my belly
and when Nonc sings the words, I feel my heart flipping like a catfish
on a line. I, Felix LeBlanc, have caught "fiddle fever". Maman,
my mom will never approve. I'll have to make a fiddle in secret.
Does "fiddle fever" go away or can it mean tragedy? Read FIDDLE FEVER,
by Sharon Arms Doucet. (New
Hampshire Great Stone Face Committee) |
