A Long Walk to Water
Chapter 6
Salva's mouth kept opening and closing in complete surprise.
"Salva!" The man called again as he ran towards Salva.
"Uncle!" Salva cried out and ran into the man's arms for a hug.
Uncle Jewiir was the younger brother of Salva's father. Salva hadn't seen Uncle Jewiir in almost two years but was so happy to see a familiar face.
Salva was hopeful for a minute that maybe Uncle Jewiir knew where the rest of his family was. But, soon Salva found out that his Uncle did not know anymore than he did about where his family was.
Uncle told Salva not to worry about anything because now he was there to help protect him. Salva could tell already that his Uncle was some kind of a leader in the group. The other men respected him because of his experience in the army and because he had a gun.
With his gun Uncle shot a topi that very night. A topi was a young antelope that looked a lot like a deer. Salva was so hungry he could hardly wait for the Topi to be cooked.
As soon as the Topi was ready Salva began stuffing his face with food. Uncle yelled to him to slow down, but Salva didn't listen because he was too hungry
That night, Salva felt very sick. He had eaten way too fast and his stomach was not used to having so much food in it. He, and many of the other members of the group, spent the night throwing up the food they had eaten.
The group continued walking through the land of the Atuot people . Everyday Salva saw many lions. They still made him feel nervous, but at least now he had Uncle to protect him during the day.
One day, the group began walking in the late afternoon because they were hoping to find water before nightfall . However, they did not find any water and instead, after walking for ten hours, they found a place to sleep. Salav was so exhausted that night that he slept very deeply.
Salva slept so deeply that he didn't wake up until he felt Uncle's hands shaking his shoulders. As Salva opened his eyes, he heard crying. Salva blinked away his sleepiness and looked at Uncle, whose face looked very serious.
Uncle said, "I'm sorry Salva, your friend..."
"Mariel??" Salva couldn't believe it. A cold fist seemed to grip Salva's heart.