NA Writing Lesson: Three: Story Telling

Feather Dove was so glad her tribe had went to bed. She had taken a pipe and tobacco out of her uncle's stash in his tent. She loved smoking a pipe. She was fifteen years old and still missed her Grandma Lightfoot who had died a couple of months ago. Smoking a pipe relaxed her and helped eased the pain of missing Grandma. She found a nice spot by the lake and sat down and smoked her pipe. Crickets were chirping and fish were jumping in the lake and she got splashed once. She giggled because it tickled. She heard squirrels in the tree chatting. Were they scolding her for stealing her uncle's pipe and smoking his wacky tobacco? Feather Dove laughed. The moon was big and bright. A nice white moon. The weather looked blue in the moonlight. It was so beautiful. She wished she had more time in the day time to enjoy the beauty of the land. The moon was so bright that she could see the green leaves on the tree. She closed her eyes and the next thing she knew a furry creature had jumped in her lap.

Feather Dove jumped. A gray, white and red wolf pup had jumped in her lap and was licking her face. The wolf pup was so cute. She hugged it and smiled. She put down her pipe and cuddled the wolf pup. She lifted the pup up. She was a girl and she had blue on her left front foot. Feather Dove laughed. Grandma Lightfoot had blue on her toes on her left foot when a horse had accidentally stepped on her foot.

"Little girl, isn't your mother worried about you? Are you lost?" The wolf pup washed her face.

"I would love to take you home but you have a mother. How did you get your foot so blue? Grandma Lightfoot had blue toes on her left foot when a horse stepped on her." Feather Dove looked at the wolf puppy. She whispered: "Grandma? Is that you?" The wolf puppy licked her face and whined. Feather Dove had heard stories of Native Americans dying and coming back as an eagle, bear or some form of animal but Feather Dove didn't take the spirits seriously. The spirits let the white men invade their land and kill their people. What kind of loving spirits did this to their own? She looked at the wolf puppy in the eyes. She had kind eyes just like Grandma Lightfoot. Could it be her?

Just then there were lights from lanterns on the water and six boats. WHAT ON EARTH? Feather Dove was scared. She had to warn her tribe! She grabbed the wolf puppy and the wolf puppy spoke to her. "Feather Dove, go hide in the cave. You can help your tribe tomorrow. I am Grandma Lightfoot. There is no time to explain. Go to the cave now!"

Feather Dove grabbed the wolf puppy and went and hid in the cave. She and "Grandma Lightfoot" saw their people being led away in boats and their arms were tied behing their backs. Feather Dove almost cried out but Grandma sat on her feet. She whispered: "Feather Dove, you have to trust in the spirits. They will help you help them tomorrow. Promise you will believe in the spirits. Don't cry. I am here to help you. Do you understand?" Feather Dove nodded.

The last of Feather Dove's people were loaded into boats and left. When she and Grandma were sure that they had all left, Feather Dove and Grandma went back to the reservation but everyone was gone. Feather Dove was so sad. She slept in her tee-pee but she didn't sleep much. Neither did Grandma "wolf puppy."

The next morning, Feather Dove and "Grandma" left the reservation. Since "Grandma" was in wolf form now, she was able to sniff and she found their people. Feather Dove and "Grandma" stayed back in the woods. A lot of soldiers had their people walking into the valley. The valley was all green but once they left the valley, there wouldn't be any more woods. There would be dirt trails and no bodies of water for miles. Feather Dove was worried. Her people were being taken to a new location and this couldn't end well. What were they going to do? The walk lasted two hours when everyone had left the valley and now they were going unto dirt land. The sun was out and it was getting hot. Feather Dove and "Grandma" stayed back. The Native American children and women were crying and the soldiers were hitting some of the Native American men with guns and one of the men had fallen. The women were being struck as well."Grandma" growled and the soldiers turned around and saw her and Feather Dove. The soldiers raised their guns but at that moment, several wolves showed up and they were howling and growling. A big sound of thunder was heard and several hundred buffalo were stampeding! The soldiers were scared. The buffalo knocked some of them down and they were running away. The Native Americans were running, too but they realized that the buffalo and wolves weren't going to hurt them. In a few minutes, the buffalo and wolves were gone. So were the soldiers. Feather Dove ran up to her uncle and friends and hugged them.

Feather Dove's uncle asked her what happened. "Grandma is a wolf cub now. I started to take the spirits seriously and they saved us. I believe in our spirits now and we should all believe. The spirits will always watch over us The buffalo and wolves are our friends and a big part of the spirit world."

Feather Dove and her tribe moved to a new location and the soldiers never bothered them again. "Grandma" grew into a beautiful wolf and became Feather Dove's pet as well as being her grandmother and protector. She married a young Native American man two years later and they remained faithful to the spirits like she and the rest of the tribe did. Life was good.

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