Week 10 Story: The Strange Boy

The Strange Boy

In the small mountain community lived a boy everyone thought was crazy. He would take off from time to explore the surrounding areas. When he came back he would bring home a simple object and there would be an unbelievable story involved in it. His brothers were the ones who had the town convinced he was crazy. He was the youngest of the family and nobody could understand why he was the way he was.

The oldest brother decided all of them should go on a camping trip one day. Wanting to pack light they did not take much for food, and when they finally arrived to the camp area they had ate all the food. All the brothers came to the conclusion that they should go hunting and live the way of their ancestors before them. The oldest brother told the youngest to stay at camp while the rest went out to hunt, he was scarred the little brother would run off and accidentally get shot. 5 days and nights passed without his older brothers returning and he was hungry and he had not seen any indication that his brothers were anywhere nearby. With the overwhelming hunger and desire to explore the youngest brother went off in the direction he watched his brothers go, leaving the safety of the camp for an adventure.

Nightfall came upon the youngest brother and was forced to set up camp in a hollowed hole in the wall near a canyon. It was cold and the snow was everywhere. Thankfully he still had his brother-in-law's lighter so making a fire would be easier. Without water, he melted snow to make sure he was hydrated. As he got comfortable for the night he heard what seemed like a group of people all around him. He looked up into the sky and noticed that it was not people but a flock of crows flying around the canyon making the noise. The boy put his fire out and hid in a patch of bushes just as two crows landed and started yelling towards the crows on the other side of the canyon. The boy could not believe what was going on.

The crows were distraught and anxious as they sat on the ground, apparently crying for some odd reason. One of the bigger and apparently older crows from the other side of the canyon yelled over to them asking what was the matter? The two crows yelled back that two crows of them were shot and killed earlier in the day. They continued to explain that they had met a group of humans as they were hunting and tried to ask them if they could have some of the deer that was just killed. The crows figured it was ok as they had witnessed these men had killed a total of twelve deer during their hunt. The humans must not have understood them because as they landed for a few bites the humans shot the leader that was perched on the antlers and the youngest he was on the shoulder. The elder crow yelled back to them that it had been explained time and time again that if they were to eat a deer that had been shot they should be expected to be killed. Humans did not understand the language of the crow. The elder crow said that the killing was now in the past and it was time to move forward to dance and celebrate the lives of the fallen throughout the night. The crows did just that, danced and sang all around the canyon with fires burning bright for their fallen. 

Morning finally arrived and the youngest brother ran back to camp as fast as his legs would take him. He was relieved that when he made it back to camp his brothers were there around a campfire. They all looked in shock that little brother had made it back but they expected a wild story was about to come. The little brother explained what he had witnessed that night to his older brothers. They started laughing at him and told him to stop getting on the internet, that it was making him crazier by the day. Everyone was like this except his brother-in-law this time. He asked the little brother for more detail and when the brother told them the amount of deer that they had killed he knew this story had to be true. How else would the little brother know how many deer they had killed after just returning to camp. All the other brothers began to listen and it made sense. When asked how the little brother could see and hear these things he did not know and explained that they just happen.

The brothers broke camp and set back home. They were almost home when they came across a flock of sheep. They told the little brother that they would make a nice addition to the farm at home and he should try to catch one. The little brother was excited that his siblings seemed to treat him normally and wanted to impress them. He got ahead of the sheep and hid until the right time. He sprang from the bush he was in and grabbed the biggest sheep in the flock. As soon as he grabbed the sheep he was transformed into one as well. When he looked around the rest of the flock had surrounded him asking him why he wanted to catch them as he was a sheep as well. The lead sheep said they were on their way to a dance and that they would teach him their dances and songs. The young boy joined them freely and they found seven more sheep. This flock travelled all around the world, learning the songs and dances of many different people. Once the journey came to an end the elder of the flock decided it was no use for the child to continue with them as they had learned all they needed to. He transformed the child back to human form and placed him back in his home.

The brother-in-law sat by the youngest brother’s hospital bed the entire time. Despite that the town thought the youngest to be crazy, he loved him and enjoyed his stories. The youngest brother finally awoke and told his dream to his brother-in-law. After finishing the dream, the brother-in-law told him as they were coming home that he had tripped, hit his head on a stone, and that he had been in a coma for a week. The eldest brother walked into the room scratching his head. The brother-in-law asked what was going on and the elder brother said that he noticed eleven sheep walking out of the front entrance of the hospital. The youngest brother just laid back and smiled.

Author's Note. The original story had a lot of dialogue between the crows. I tried to keep this simpler and more appealing to a broader audience. Having this in a modern setting also helped me with the ending. In the original story the youngest brother comes back and shows all the dances and songs he learned while he was gone. The brothers also witnessed him leave with the sheep. In this version I wanted to change it and have the brothers believe he was just dreaming and that explained his stories from before. But the twist at the end with the sheep leaving the hospital just made them wonder more.

Bibliography. This story is based on "The Boy Who Became A God" in Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912).

Image proved by: Pixabay.