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LJI 12 Native RedBird
Oct. 15th, 2018 05:45 pmThe small girl in her buckskins was barely noticeable. She had fallen asleep under a huckleberry bush. Her buckets were full, as well as her stomach, and there were two hares in her deerskin pouch. The berries, and venison jerky she ate along with it, her excuse for needing the nap. A knife tucked into her waistband lent a measure of comfort and safety, along with the bow, and its quiver full of arrows sitting nestled between her shoulders.
As she slept, the veil between present and future came asunder. Her unconscious awareness rose from her sleeping body and continued until it reached the buffalo plains of the elders. Someone (it could of been her) chanted, while other voices sung the prayers for divination, and power flowed and ebbed through and around her.
Delicately wrapping Red Bird's spirit with a cushion of air, the Ancestors blew her through tunnels created in time. At reaching her destination, the Elders instructed her to wake, and gaze into the future.
"Red Bird look. Open your inner eye, and understand the danger that is coming to our world ." Red Bird's eyes sprung open.
She stood on the top of dunes, where beaches met a green sea far off on the other side of The People's vast lands. A westerly wind was blowing, and some distance out in the water, sat a great wooden craft. Death stood at its helm. And Death was not alone.
He and his companions came disguised as men, but they were unlike any men she'd ever known. Their canoe-like long boats landed along the shoreline, and Red Bird's gift of sight stripped their masks away. She gasped as she saw these vessels had come helmed by Pestilence and Famine, Sorrow and War.
She felt immediate fear for her people. She had to warn them. With her connection to the vision fading, Red Bird hurriedly asked the Elders. "Dearest Ancestors, how long do The People have before this future comes to pass?"
The Elders replied. "Before two handfuls of generations pass, you need to gather Our People; As many as will follow the buffalo to their northern breeding grounds. Go far beyond these Blackhills and valleys of Six Pillar Mountain. You will find rest by the "Waters of the Spirit" and there will be others to help you."
"Now awaken Red Bird, and tell your grandmother, Medicine Hat what you have seen."
*****
Her hands trembled as she accepted the ceremonial totem from her grandmother's hand. Medicine Hat nodded and squeezed Red Bird's arm slightly in reassurance. Red Bird drew her shoulders straight, sucked in a breath, and with a strength of voice belying her eleven years, she began to speak.
As she slept, the veil between present and future came asunder. Her unconscious awareness rose from her sleeping body and continued until it reached the buffalo plains of the elders. Someone (it could of been her) chanted, while other voices sung the prayers for divination, and power flowed and ebbed through and around her.
Delicately wrapping Red Bird's spirit with a cushion of air, the Ancestors blew her through tunnels created in time. At reaching her destination, the Elders instructed her to wake, and gaze into the future.
"Red Bird look. Open your inner eye, and understand the danger that is coming to our world ." Red Bird's eyes sprung open.
She stood on the top of dunes, where beaches met a green sea far off on the other side of The People's vast lands. A westerly wind was blowing, and some distance out in the water, sat a great wooden craft. Death stood at its helm. And Death was not alone.
He and his companions came disguised as men, but they were unlike any men she'd ever known. Their canoe-like long boats landed along the shoreline, and Red Bird's gift of sight stripped their masks away. She gasped as she saw these vessels had come helmed by Pestilence and Famine, Sorrow and War.
She felt immediate fear for her people. She had to warn them. With her connection to the vision fading, Red Bird hurriedly asked the Elders. "Dearest Ancestors, how long do The People have before this future comes to pass?"
The Elders replied. "Before two handfuls of generations pass, you need to gather Our People; As many as will follow the buffalo to their northern breeding grounds. Go far beyond these Blackhills and valleys of Six Pillar Mountain. You will find rest by the "Waters of the Spirit" and there will be others to help you."
"Now awaken Red Bird, and tell your grandmother, Medicine Hat what you have seen."
*****
Her hands trembled as she accepted the ceremonial totem from her grandmother's hand. Medicine Hat nodded and squeezed Red Bird's arm slightly in reassurance. Red Bird drew her shoulders straight, sucked in a breath, and with a strength of voice belying her eleven years, she began to speak.
