[Critique Group 1] March submission

[Deanna Noriega]

1,124 words

Breaking Trail

By DeAnna Quietwater Noriega

 

At the edge of a clearing within the deep forest, Grandmother Spider watched
as a young wolf came upon a large panther.  The great cat was up wind of him
and the two were both scenting the breeze seeking the same rabbit.  The wolf
feared for his life.  The panther was probably faster and armed with vicious
claws as well as sharp teeth.  As the wolf backed away in fear from the
great cat, one who was like a wolf and yet not sprang out from behind a
tree.  This creature gave several loud yips and growled in the manner of
wolves.  The hackles and fur along his back stood up making him appear much
larger and fiercer than he actually was.  The panther turned and slipped
away.  Two wolflike creatures were more than he wanted to encounter.  The
young wolf noted that this creature had many strange scents on his coat.
Some of them were even frightening like fire smoke. The wolf was glad of the
help dealing with the panther, but he was also puzzled.

                   

                "What are you?" he asked.

                "I am called dog," answered the stranger.  "My people and
yours were once of the same clan but yours chose to wander the wild hills
and mine made compact with the creature they call mankind."

                "Why did your people do that?" asked young wolf.  "Why would
you choose to join a pack of men?"  

                "Men are very clever, they can't hear, smell or hunt quite
so well as do our peoples.  Still their front paws can do many things ours
cannot.  They manage to stay warm in the coldest winter.  They store food
like the squirrels.  They know how to kill their prey from a distance so
they need not bear the marks of its teeth hooves or claws on their weak
bodies.  They can fashion things from what they have at hand like the very
stones of the earth.  They use the things they make like claws and teeth
that are stronger than those the Great Spirit has granted us.  This ability
to make what they need is a greater gift than the maker of all has given to
any other creature.  If you join their tribe, they share food," answered
Dog.

                "A wolf pack hunts together and shares the kill according to
their worth in the hunt. They share the warmth of their bodies." said the
wolf.  "Men are even more different from you than you are from a wolf.  How
strange it must be to live among creatures not of your own kind.  Although
wolves share the land with other animals, they are not part of our clan.
Some are food and some would kill and eat us if we did not avoid them. A
warm den and plenty of food are good things.  Surely they are not worth the
danger of living among such fearsome creatures as mankind," said the wolf. 

                  The greatest gift they have is love.  Their clever paws
know the right places to scratch or pat.  To live with them is to become
part of their pack. They do more than share their dens and food.  They are
gentle to the old, the young and the wounded or ill.  There is a joy in
living and working together in a strong community.  Although their ears and
noses don't work as well as ours do, they are wise and reward those who
serve them with care and protection," replied dog.   

 

                "We of the wolf clan hunt and sing together," commented the
wolf.  "But no one controls our freedom to come and go as we choose.  I am
no one's servant.  Someday when I have attained enough wisdom, I will be the
leader of my pack," he said.  "I do not think mankind will allow you ever to
rise so high." 

                "There is only one leader at a time and not all will be able
to lead.  There is much contentment in working together to serve the
community in which we live," replied the dog.  "Besides, leadership is a
great responsibility.  If you are unwise in your decisions, then many more
may suffer the consequences of your leadership than simply yourself.  If you
choose to lead, you must serve the greater good of the pack."

                "Perhaps, but I may come and go as I choose and need only
please myself," said the young wolf.  "I can follow a leader if he seems to
be the strongest and wisest or challenge his right to lead.  I can choose to
hunt alone for a time and test my skills breaking my own trail."

                "It is a good thing to consider whether the one you follow
is worthy of your loyalty.  It is good to make wise choices about the trail
you choose to take.  But it is also good to work and live with others.  A
community is stronger than a single being.  I can understand your love of
freedom, but for me, I am glad to share my gifts with a strong pack.  We
must each choose the path that suits us best," said the dog.  Each of us
must break his own trail.  If I do so to serve my pack of men and you do so
to serve yourself or a pack of wolves, each of us still chooses the
direction we go given the nature of our hearts."

                "Then it is wise for us to look into our hearts and see what
that nature is.  Only then will we truly break trail in the way that is best
for each of us," responded the young wolf.

 

Grandmother Spider thought these two had come to a good conclusion. Only by
being oneself and following where our hearts can each find the trail to
follow through life. She had watched the tribe of men and was pleased with
how the smaller females cared for children, and made a good place for them
to live. The larger males used their strength to provide for all of the
people. The people of two spirits were included for their wisdom and their
talents to see both person's value. Together, they made for a strong
grouping and created a community that allowed each to find the work that
best suited them individually. She thought that was why they were so strong.
Each woman, man, child and those with two spirits shared the work to be done
to make a strong whole. This was both wise and good.

                "Listen to your hearts and break your own trail my
children," so counsels grandmother spider.  "For the one who goes against
his nature will never truly find inner peace and contentment and discover
the road that he is meant to walk."

                  

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://bluegrasspals.com/pipermail/group1/attachments/20210324/6cfb5209/attachment.html>