Revenge has a very ugly face

A Story by Mason Lipman

A little folk tale which I invented.

My grandfather, Lonely Bear, once told me a story about the power revenge holds over people, and it goes like this: In a land far towards where the sun rises, there is a Great forest settled on the Spine of the land, which is a long range of mountains going from North to South. In this forest there were two tribes, one Indian and one of white men. The white men were strong and carried rifles, hunting the deer which the Indians desperately needed for food, only the whites did this for sport.
One night, the white men were out drinking whiskey and hunting, and a small group of Indians followed them, planning to ambush them and kill them for revenge. The Indians were still tracking them when they found a girl, walking silent and alone down a path in the woods. The leader of the group of them, White Foot, said that this girl would provide the perfect strategy for ambushing the men, so they followed her closely in the shadows. After a long time following her, they grew tired and lost sight of the girl among the mists. They all cried out for help, but their screams were silenced and they were struck down by a dark spirit in the night.
The white men who were drinking and yelling, carrying on like they do, became bored and looked to the strongest of their hunters, Jonathan Baker, for entertainment. Suddenly, he saw the figure of a young girl in the trees. He yelled to his men: “That is the girl who was stolen from us! By the Indians! If we follow her, we will find them, and then we will kill them!” So they set off in earnest, to hunt down the Indians, seeking revenge, and after a very long time came to a large clearing in the woods. When they looked for the girl, she could not be found, and they too were struck down by the dark spirit without a sound.
My grandfather told me and my siblings this story with a great sadness in his heart, for he knew that anyone seeking revenge blindly would meet the very same fate, and their souls would never rest.

© 2014 Mason Lipman

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demureminds

I like this story, it really does seem to embody the same principles of a folktale because it is written with such stunning simplicity and the moral is so very well said. I really liked the description nature of this as well, especially in reference to the "long range of mountains" as "the Spine of the land". Very creative tale!