Sun & Moon

A work of fiction drawing heavily from native American folklore. Based around an area similar to Crater Lake.

Sun and Moon

Machk stands within the stillness of the lake, the water to his knees. The glaring Sun beats down upon his tanned body, poised with his spear held in the air, the obsidian tip angled towards the surface of the lake.

A bead of sweat forms on his forehead and makes the slow journey to the crest of his right eyebrow and gathers. As the bead fattens and grows heavy Machk remains perfectly still until the spear moves in one fluid motion splashing into the water and out again, a salmon flaps in its death throes on the end of the weapon and sunlight shimmers across its silver armour.

'Achak my son, catch'

Machk deftly removes the fish and tosses it over to Achak who waits at the edge of the gently lapping water who catches it and places it into a woven basket with some other fish.

'One more son and we can begin, start on the fire.'

Machk resumes his position while Achak moves away to gather wood for the fire.

In the distance a coyote howls, the call makes the ears of Machk prick up; the coyote knows what is coming he thinks.

Achak gets the fire started and hears a series of splashes, then sees his father striding out of the water towards him.

'Won't be long now son.' he says calmly as he starts to roast one of the fish on the fire.

They each eat to their hearts content and smoke the others for their return to the tribe.

'Why are we here father?'

'Now is the time of your coming of age, you will soon be a man. I have a story to tell, the same story that my father told me and his father told him and so on back to the beginnings of our people.'

Sitting onto the rough, shale like ground he begins to tell his tale.

'Back when the world was young and newly made, Man and Beast ran as equals across the vast plains and the high mountains, Bird held his domain in the open sky and Fish held his place in the watery depths.

The valley you see before you was a verdant paradise where Man did not have to hunt to survive; for the trees and bushes bore many fruits, nuts and berries all year round.

Sun and Moon worked in harmony and our lives were simpler than they are now, we worked together with the land, Bird, Beast and Fish and all were content.

We paid Sun and Moon homage for their provisions and on occasions when the two would meet in the sky, turning day into night, we would all get together and celebrate their union with feasting and it was a deemed to be a fertile time so many couplings took place.

We all lived in harmony; Bird flew, Fish swam, Beast hunted, Man learned and developed but we all assisted each other.

It was approaching the time when Sun and Moon would once again meet after a very long time and Man had found new ways to honour them. We had learned to dance and taught these dances to all, we had learned to use different berries and leaves for paints and drew on the mountain. Images of all their creations living in blessed union.

All was well until Coyote became jealous of Man and knew that Sun and Moon would be awestruck by the artwork Man had created to venerate them. So he hatched a plan to stop Man from becoming favourite.

He turned his back on Sun and hid in the shade the mountain caves during the daytime.

Then when the world slept he would slink from shadow to shadow until he reached the mountainous peaks and would pay homage to Moon only.

At first Sun did not notice that Coyote was missing, busy as he was ensuring that the world was nourished.

Coyote had grown lazy and accustomed to sleeping until the twilit hours and did not realise that the time where day became as dark as night was upon him.

When Sun met with Moon they looked out upon the host before them and immediately saw that Coyote was missing, Sun was furious that Coyote was not there to offer thanks and questioned the other creatures but no one, other than Vulture, knew of Coyotes whereabouts.

Cruel old Vulture flew higher and higher to sow the seeds of chaos and spoke with Sun of all he had seen, of how many moons had passed since Coyote had last let sunlight warm his body, he hoped to benefit from Coyotes downfall.

This only infuriated Sun further and his anger grew, he demanded of Moon why she did not tell him and would not listen to her when she said that she did not know for the daytime was not her domain.

The two of them argued for much longer than their normal communion would take, Man, Beast, Bird and Fish all grew fearful because this was something new to them and they did not know what to do.

They tried to appease Sun by suggesting that Coyote was of no importance and should be cast out for his betrayal but he would not listen, his retort was that they were all created equally and this is how they should remain.

After what had been hours Coyote awoke and made his way to the mountain unaware of the Suns fury with him and his followers.

They began to pay their respects to Moon and were surprised to hear Sun bellow back down to them “How dare you treat me like this, lowly dogs.”

Coyote looked at Sun slyly and replied “Oh cry me a river, you have no power over us. We are moon children now.” Knowing that he was unable to cry at all, he had only the power to evaporate water. It was Moon who collected the ephemeral mists before they dissipated, then sent them back as rain.

Sun roared with laughter 'You think you can mock me from your high peaks little dog, we will see who is laughing soon. You should not have angered me.'

Sun had fell into Coyotes trap and his anger caused the mountain to tremble, the surrounding land shook; Man and Beast fell down and trees collapsed.

Coyote began to leap down the mountain as the top of it exploded and the air was filled with poisonous ash and fumes.

Bird began to fly as his perch was toppled and the gases filled the air and Fish swam to the depths to avoid the waves washing him ashore.

Bright orange rocks spewed from the top of the mountain and fiery rivers slowly flowed down the sides boiling and bubbling as they went, consuming all in their path.

Man and Beast ran as swiftly as they could to escape the bubbling flow.

Moon watched all of this and grew fearful that Suns wrath would destroy all they had created together.

She tried to assuage Suns fury but he would not listen, so intent was he on punishing Coyote for his insolence.

Moon became frustrated and began to weep in sympathy for Man, Beast, Fish and Bird that they were to be punished for the troubles of Coyote. Secretly she also felt strongly for Coyote for he had become a moon child and one of her own.

Her tears met with the fiery mountain and a new battle was waged, the earth cracked, the trees turned black and fell into the chasms or burst into flames and the mountain fell in upon itself as fire and water hissed and boiled.

A great fog obscured the scene for miles around. Man, Beast, Bird, Fish and Coyote (who had managed to escape) all cowered in their hiding places as the land heaved in turmoil.

This great tumult lasted for many days, until at last the skies began to clear. Man called out to Bird and Beast, then sought out Fish and held a high council were they summoned Coyote.

But Coyote laughed at them, you all think that you are equal when you are not.

Man is weaker than us all, he cannot swim like Fish, he cannot fly like Bird and he cannot run or hunt like Beast and yet Sun and Moon will love him more.

Man asked Coyote what he meant but the damage had already been done. Bird returned to his skies, Fish to his rivers and streams and Beast back to his lands. They did not trust Man any longer and eyed each other with suspicion.

Man decided to return to the mountain, the way was hazardous for the land had changed.

It had sharp rocks jutting out of the earth like jagged teeth, no plant life grew and no Beast or Bird could be seen.

Man discovered that the mountain was no more and all that was left was a clear blue lake, the pure water a gift from Moon.

Even today the battle continues, Sun beats down unceasingly throughout the day and Moon refills the lake by night.'

Coyote travels the lands alone, shunned by all, but he achieved what he set out to do. All are equal and remain that way.

With the story told Machk stands and makes ready to leave.

'We must not tarry here, Sun and Moon will meet later today and we must get back to the others before the day prematurely darkens. We need to prepare so we can celebrate their union. You must not forget what you have learned today for it needs to be passed to your son one day, remember to be one with the land and to be friends with the fish, beasts and birds but never trust a coyote. Most importantly do not anger the Gods for it is they who provide for us. Every chieftain must know this for the protection of his tribe.'

'I understand father.'

Reviews

[Trish D.]

Very imaginative. Your story read well, so much so that I became engrossed and forgot to view it from a critical angle. Thankyou... a well written piece.

[Vanessa Rico]

What made me intrigued by this story was the fact that you relied heavily on Native American folklore. As I am in the process of finding a story either from their folklore or from some other source for one of my chapters for my novel. So I was highly impressed that you made this read like an ancient tale being told around the campfire! You transported me and I loved the visuals and the story!

[Coyote Poetry]

A amazing story. Remind of the Native American stories I was taught and I have read. Nature walk hand in hand in this story. I like how you used the animals of the wood to make the story strong. In Native American myth. The coyote is the trouble maker. Usual too smart for his own good. Complete story was powerful and entertaining. I will come back later and read more. Thank you for the outstanding story and poetry.
Coyote

[Tasha]

this was really good. it seemed like it should be told during a camp fire. you did an amazing job.