The bone and the stone... A short storyWhen I was very- very young (I frankly can’t recall the exact age) there was a time that I was afraid to sleep because every night I was having awful nightmares.
That time, my lovely grandma would always tell me the same old tale I was in love with, so I can surrender myself to sleep without special difficulty. If I can remember correctly, the story was going somehow like this: “Very- very long time ago, in a very- very distant forest from where we live and beside a crystalline lake, was living a family … There were four of them and the children, who were two, were one of each kind… A boy and a two- year younger girl…”
In this point I would each time go and ask “like me and Jen grandma...?”
and she would always agree “Yes honey, exactly. Like you and Jen…” “But…”
she would continue “they were all Indians…”. “That as you guess, means that they were looking a little bit differently than you and your sister do… They were wearing pieces of shuttered leather for clothes and even though, they were never feeling cold; they were also having consolidated a couple of eagle feathers in their hair and furthermore, they had the top of their cheeks painted with a thick blue and a red line, each. About their habitual everyday routines, as you can imagine, hunting was for the father, cooking for the mother and tons and tons of playing for the boy and the girl…”
In this point I would hide my grin beneath my covers as I was thinking that I would spend all next day long playing as well… “At night…”
she was kept going “they were all gathering around the tall fire and they would laugh and sing, thanking their Gods for the quiet and safe day they had…”
“That was going on each and every single night, but one of those, the children noticed two strange sparkles –in the color of the fire but flashier and slighter- disappearing and showing up again every since and while, at the other side of the lake. At first the kids deemed that those sparkles were probably a pair of fireflies moving, so they didn’t say anything to their parents but the next morning, when they by chance referred the incident to the wise old woman of the forest, she asked them in a really dreadful serious tone, whether what they were telling was true or if they were just fooling around…”
“The kids got shocked by her unexpected sincerity –she in any case used to be a very calmed down person- and subsequently, after a second or two, they both assured her that they were playing no games…”. “After that, the wise woman revealed them that there was an old legend in the area –at least for as long as she was remembering herself- which was claiming that on the other side of the lake there was a wolf –the lakewolf as was named incalculable years ago- and according to it, the lone animal was spending its days watching quietly every move the people from the other side of the lake were making…”. “Not many people could declare and moreover, to be believed that they had actually seen that wolflake and the woman also told them that what was what they had seen, must had been its watchful eyes (its rest features couldn’t be possibly discerned in such dense darkness). Even if there had been many years without a hint or a witness to confirm the lakewolf’s actual presence, no other logical explanation could be given, at least by that wise woman…” “Not much later, the astounded kids pushed the wise woman to say some more about that lakewolf and she referred few of the many tales that had been imparted by word of mouth through the years from their ancestors, who resided before them in that same forest …”
“The ones which impressed the siblings the most, were absolutely contradictory and the first one was alleging that the animal in question was having mysterious healing virtues and had in truth cured some of the rare people who had faced him from a really short distance and were ill and the other one was portraying a wild beast which was pouncing upon whoever had the boldness to move near to it, if he was unlucky to cross it on his way…”
“The next morning, the children visited again the open- air temple where the wise old woman used to spend her days and with one voice they said that something bizarre had happened again…” “They explained that they both had dreamt of the lakewolf, but the boy said that in his dream it had frightening huge teeth ready to tear to pieces his whole body after catching him with its sharp claws and the girl said that she had dreamt of it having soft and beautiful fur and playing together as both sensing that they could fully trust each other…”
“At the end, the woman looked both kids deep in their eyes as if she was indubitably able to guess their thinking correctly…” “I can see what’s on your minds… she said with solid but warm voice”. “If you feel you’re ready to cross the lake and find yourselves on the other side in order to discover the truth between the many tales about the existence or not of the lakewolf, you need to exchange first what, up till this moment, you’re meaning to carry along for the probable meeting…” “You little boy, give the stone you’re intending to get with you to your little sister, but you girl remember to hide it well, so it won’t be able to be seen by anyone –mostly by the wolf- from the first sight… And what is more girl, give your brother the flavorsome -for all wolves- bone because he’s the one who needs it as an amulet… You boy at last… Do not forget to be keeping it in the most obvious for the wolf, place –in case he shows up of course...”
“The children were very puzzled because they were too young to understand what the wise woman had just told them but neither she, could blame them for that…” “As they turned to leave after thanking her for the –despite its obscurity- crucial advice, she stopped them as she said that there was still one more thing to add…”. “She said that they could both instead, let the stone and the bone away, so long as they wouldn’t forget that their wide- opened eyes and the better of their best intentions were very powerful and already more than enough for confronting the animal’s unknown intentions…”
At that point my grandma would turn her look on me and I would have by far been asleep. She would never miss to give me a gentle kiss along saying softly “Goodnight, my dearest son…”End of story
