David Clemens

The Sounds of the Night - Ouachita Mountain Tales David Clemens

Love and marriage go together-sometimes. Life in the twenty-first century is different than it was a hundred years ago. Yet, many things stay the same. Women are expected to marry men. Men are expected to be the head of the household. Subtle contracts of life and living have grown over the centuries to be the standard for everyone--without fail.

Lucy Darkhorse and her friend and lover Jewel Yates are facing not only their relationship with each other but their Native American heritage. Living in the world of white folks isn't easy, but as Lucy has said, "Life is never easy for anyone. If we don't struggle we don't grow." Jewel's mother kept her daughter's hair dyed red to help disguise her. She lived most of her life trying to be a white woman but now, in love with Lucy Darkhorse, she wants to claim her native heritage. It won't be easy and will take time, but Jewel is determined to be who she really is.

What does it mean to be Native American in Southeast Oklahoma in the twenty-first century? Sadly much the same as in the beginning of the twentieth century. How much more the burden is for two women in love and there are more than these two women who are working their way down their paths to love, belonging and becoming. Deep seated prejudices become thorns in the flesh for all the women.

Of course, however, life around them keeps moving and so do the trials and tribulations. Murder and mayhem ensue as another mother and her daughter try to find a way to be safe and secure. At the same time, yet another mother has died leaving her two young daughters are facing new ways of living. One daughter is adopted and her biological mother is ready to embrace both children. The embrace requires moving from McAlester, Oklahoma to a world away in Mallorca, Spain.

Love seems to be the answer for them all but love isn't enough. Real people doing real work and offering real help keeps love the center of it all. The nighttime sounds bring some relief from all the struggles of each person in the story. From loons, frogs, and chickens to the howls of coyotes, nature becomes integral to all their lives.