Post by tinman on Sept 14, 2022 19:56:20 GMT -5
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Disclaimer- This is NOT an original story of my creation. This is something I heard by the campfire as a boy, that my Father claims he heard by the campfire as a boy, and supposedly is an ancient American Indian myth. Or maybe not. Probably says “Made in Taiwan” on the bottom. Who knows.
Long before the first words were written down, The People lived in a village, by the river. All day, every day, the sun shone. Six days the people farmed, and fished, and hunted, and worked…. And every seventh day, they sat in a circle and praised the Sun Spirit for pouring life down upon them. The Sun Spirit saw this, and was pleased.
One Sun-day, a young man named Tyre said, “I don’t WANT to sit in quiet, thankful, contemplation of the Sun Spirit, today. I will go fishing, instead.”
All the villagers cried out warnings, and predicted dire consequences, but Tyre spent the day in the river, and came back with several fat fish. “Look,” he said, “You all wasted your day, and have nothing. I have fish.”
The people, nervously, looked heavenward and muttered “We’re not WITH this guy, Sun Spirit!” And sidled away from Tyre.
Week after week, though, Tyre came back with yummy fish, and the sky didn’t fall. The sun did not go out. And slowly, the people began to feel very silly. A few of them, at first, mostly the young, then, more and more of them, began to spend Sun-Days fishing in the river. Eventually, nobody showed up to appreciate the Sun Spirit. Nobody showed up for a long time.
One Sun-Day, the Sun Spirit, who’d been very busy catching up on his email, back episodes of “The Good Place” and watching videos on r/thecatdimension, took a moment to look at Earth….
And he said, “This is my day! Why is no one appreciating my nice light?!” There was nobody in his temple. He saw all the people in the river, catching fish. This made him very angry.
So, the Sun-spirit dragged a great, black, veil across the sky, and cut the Earth off from his light. For the first time in the history of time, it was night, and there was darkness.
The people ran back to the temple, and they wept and called to the Sun-Spirit, but he did not hear them anymore. The night was long, and it began to get cold.
After two weeks, the animals called an emergency meeting in the forest. Owl was unanimously chosen to chair the meeting.
“The humans have buggered everything up!” Owl announced, without preamble. “They’ve pissed off the Sun Spirit and we’re all going to freeze to death unless we fix it. No use belaboring it, let’s throw the floor open for ideas.”
There was much muttering and nodding. All the animals approved of Owl’s ‘Down to Business’ approach, but few had anything like a plan.
Finally, Hawk stepped forward, preening his feathers. “I will fly up to the Sun Spirit and tell him what’s what!” He said, boldly. He turned his head side to side so everyone could see his fierce beak.
Nobody had a better idea, so after a short discussion and a warning to be polite, Hawk took off.
He flapped and flapped and struggled and strained. He flew higher than he ever had before. Finally, exhausted, spent, wings cramping, he plummeted back to earth and barely managed to glide in for a landing. “It’s too far” he muttered. “Can’t get there.”
“Owl should go!” Rabbit shouted. “He’s the smartest! He should talk to Sun Spirit.”
The animals all muttered to each other, but soon they were all staring at Owl. Mumbling about the hazards of volunteerism, Owl flexed his wings a few times and launched. He flew as high as he could, until he was short of breath and his wings burned…. And then he plummeted toward the Earth. He managed a rough landing and shook his head, unable to speak.
Everyone turned to look, when Eagle stepped forward. “I will go.” He screeched. “I can fly higher and farther than hawk or owl. I will reach the Sun Spirit.”
All the animals cheered, because Eagle was much admired. He flexed his mighty wings a couple times, and leapt skyward like a feathered rocket. He climbed like I only an eagle can, streaking toward the darkened heavens. He went up and up, farther and higher than even he had ever flown. He went up so high, frost formed in his feathers, but he could not reach the screen. He plummeted to the earth, just managing to break his fall with a soaring landing.
The animals were all in despair. No one said anything for a long moment. Then, a tiny voice chirped up. “I will try.” Everyone turned to look down incredulously at the little woodpecker. They boggled, disbelieving, for a moment, and then, as one, they all laughed at him.
The woodpecker just waited, silent, until the laughter petered out, and holding tight to his courage, said, “If eagle will allow hawk to stand on his shoulders, and hawk will allow owl to stand on his, I will stand on owls shoulders and go as high as I can.”
The animals jeered and mocked, but nobody had a better plan, and Owl said they should try it, and so they did. They climbed atop each other like an avian totem pole and eagle boosted them into the air he drove them upward with long, powerful, strokes of his broad wings. He carried the three smaller birds as hi until his wings had white hot wires running all through them. When he finally fell, slack, he fell so fast that the heat of the friction turned the feathers on his head white.
The hawk flapped and and flapped, furiously, driving relentlessly upward into the thin, freezing, air of the heavens. When he dropped off owl flapped wings with ice crystals all in the feathers, struggling upward, upward, finally dropping, plummeting down.
The little woodpecker flapped harder and faster than he ever had in his life, and, finally, bumped into the screen and, quick as thought grabbed it. “Hello?! Sun Spirit?!” He called, but no answer came. He hung on and called, and called, but there was no answer.
Finally, not knowing what else to do, he started pecking. He pecked a great big hole, and, climbing through, stood in the light on top of the screen, calling out “Sun Spirit?! Hello!? We’re cold!” But there was no answer.
Tired, depressed, and unwilling to return without an answer, he wandered around on the screen, pecking little holes 🕳 because he didn’t know anything else to do. He did that for a long, long, time, refusing to give up.
Finally, one day, the Sun Spirit looked down and noticed all the damage.
“WHO’S BEEN MESSING WITH MY SCREEN?!?!” The Sun Spirit thundered.
The woodpecker was very afraid, but he knew all the other animals were depending on him. “Mr. Sun Spirit, Sir, the animals are all dying. What did we do wrong? It was the humans who messed up.”
The Sun spirit considered this for a long moment and said. “There is truth in what you say. I will draw back the screen for half of every day so the world doesn’t die, but I’ll put it back the other half, and make it dark and cold, so they never forget to be thankful again.”
And so it was. The woodpecker flew down to tell the other animals the decision. And the Sun Spirit never got around to repairing the screen, and the holes the woodpecker made are still in it.
Disclaimer- This is NOT an original story of my creation. This is something I heard by the campfire as a boy, that my Father claims he heard by the campfire as a boy, and supposedly is an ancient American Indian myth. Or maybe not. Probably says “Made in Taiwan” on the bottom. Who knows.
The Sun Spirit
Long before the first words were written down, The People lived in a village, by the river. All day, every day, the sun shone. Six days the people farmed, and fished, and hunted, and worked…. And every seventh day, they sat in a circle and praised the Sun Spirit for pouring life down upon them. The Sun Spirit saw this, and was pleased.
One Sun-day, a young man named Tyre said, “I don’t WANT to sit in quiet, thankful, contemplation of the Sun Spirit, today. I will go fishing, instead.”
All the villagers cried out warnings, and predicted dire consequences, but Tyre spent the day in the river, and came back with several fat fish. “Look,” he said, “You all wasted your day, and have nothing. I have fish.”
The people, nervously, looked heavenward and muttered “We’re not WITH this guy, Sun Spirit!” And sidled away from Tyre.
Week after week, though, Tyre came back with yummy fish, and the sky didn’t fall. The sun did not go out. And slowly, the people began to feel very silly. A few of them, at first, mostly the young, then, more and more of them, began to spend Sun-Days fishing in the river. Eventually, nobody showed up to appreciate the Sun Spirit. Nobody showed up for a long time.
One Sun-Day, the Sun Spirit, who’d been very busy catching up on his email, back episodes of “The Good Place” and watching videos on r/thecatdimension, took a moment to look at Earth….
And he said, “This is my day! Why is no one appreciating my nice light?!” There was nobody in his temple. He saw all the people in the river, catching fish. This made him very angry.
So, the Sun-spirit dragged a great, black, veil across the sky, and cut the Earth off from his light. For the first time in the history of time, it was night, and there was darkness.
The people ran back to the temple, and they wept and called to the Sun-Spirit, but he did not hear them anymore. The night was long, and it began to get cold.
After two weeks, the animals called an emergency meeting in the forest. Owl was unanimously chosen to chair the meeting.
“The humans have buggered everything up!” Owl announced, without preamble. “They’ve pissed off the Sun Spirit and we’re all going to freeze to death unless we fix it. No use belaboring it, let’s throw the floor open for ideas.”
There was much muttering and nodding. All the animals approved of Owl’s ‘Down to Business’ approach, but few had anything like a plan.
Finally, Hawk stepped forward, preening his feathers. “I will fly up to the Sun Spirit and tell him what’s what!” He said, boldly. He turned his head side to side so everyone could see his fierce beak.
Nobody had a better idea, so after a short discussion and a warning to be polite, Hawk took off.
He flapped and flapped and struggled and strained. He flew higher than he ever had before. Finally, exhausted, spent, wings cramping, he plummeted back to earth and barely managed to glide in for a landing. “It’s too far” he muttered. “Can’t get there.”
“Owl should go!” Rabbit shouted. “He’s the smartest! He should talk to Sun Spirit.”
The animals all muttered to each other, but soon they were all staring at Owl. Mumbling about the hazards of volunteerism, Owl flexed his wings a few times and launched. He flew as high as he could, until he was short of breath and his wings burned…. And then he plummeted toward the Earth. He managed a rough landing and shook his head, unable to speak.
Everyone turned to look, when Eagle stepped forward. “I will go.” He screeched. “I can fly higher and farther than hawk or owl. I will reach the Sun Spirit.”
All the animals cheered, because Eagle was much admired. He flexed his mighty wings a couple times, and leapt skyward like a feathered rocket. He climbed like I only an eagle can, streaking toward the darkened heavens. He went up and up, farther and higher than even he had ever flown. He went up so high, frost formed in his feathers, but he could not reach the screen. He plummeted to the earth, just managing to break his fall with a soaring landing.
The animals were all in despair. No one said anything for a long moment. Then, a tiny voice chirped up. “I will try.” Everyone turned to look down incredulously at the little woodpecker. They boggled, disbelieving, for a moment, and then, as one, they all laughed at him.
The woodpecker just waited, silent, until the laughter petered out, and holding tight to his courage, said, “If eagle will allow hawk to stand on his shoulders, and hawk will allow owl to stand on his, I will stand on owls shoulders and go as high as I can.”
The animals jeered and mocked, but nobody had a better plan, and Owl said they should try it, and so they did. They climbed atop each other like an avian totem pole and eagle boosted them into the air he drove them upward with long, powerful, strokes of his broad wings. He carried the three smaller birds as hi until his wings had white hot wires running all through them. When he finally fell, slack, he fell so fast that the heat of the friction turned the feathers on his head white.
The hawk flapped and and flapped, furiously, driving relentlessly upward into the thin, freezing, air of the heavens. When he dropped off owl flapped wings with ice crystals all in the feathers, struggling upward, upward, finally dropping, plummeting down.
The little woodpecker flapped harder and faster than he ever had in his life, and, finally, bumped into the screen and, quick as thought grabbed it. “Hello?! Sun Spirit?!” He called, but no answer came. He hung on and called, and called, but there was no answer.
Finally, not knowing what else to do, he started pecking. He pecked a great big hole, and, climbing through, stood in the light on top of the screen, calling out “Sun Spirit?! Hello!? We’re cold!” But there was no answer.
Tired, depressed, and unwilling to return without an answer, he wandered around on the screen, pecking little holes 🕳 because he didn’t know anything else to do. He did that for a long, long, time, refusing to give up.
Finally, one day, the Sun Spirit looked down and noticed all the damage.
“WHO’S BEEN MESSING WITH MY SCREEN?!?!” The Sun Spirit thundered.
The woodpecker was very afraid, but he knew all the other animals were depending on him. “Mr. Sun Spirit, Sir, the animals are all dying. What did we do wrong? It was the humans who messed up.”
The Sun spirit considered this for a long moment and said. “There is truth in what you say. I will draw back the screen for half of every day so the world doesn’t die, but I’ll put it back the other half, and make it dark and cold, so they never forget to be thankful again.”
And so it was. The woodpecker flew down to tell the other animals the decision. And the Sun Spirit never got around to repairing the screen, and the holes the woodpecker made are still in it.
me tooooo
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