Rabbit Steals Fire

Long, long ago people had mastered the ability to grow crops by plowing their fields and hunting to obtain food.  However, something was missing all during this time.  Fire, one of the most important things to exist on Earth, had not been discovered and the people did not know any better to search for it. 

One day, word came of this thing that was called fire.  Since I am a rabbit it really serves me no use so I was not all that interested in hearing about it.  Just east of the nearby mighty river was a different group of people that had their own village.  This village discovered fire.  The people west of the river heard how it could work wonders in so many ways.  How it could make food so much better, provide light, and scare off threatening animals.  Hearing this, the western group decided that they wanted to obtain this fire somehow. 

I have lived my whole life around this village on the west side of the river and not once have I been asked to do anything.  It is just fine with me because I do as I please and so do the people.  We cross paths every once and a while and sometimes even children give me food.  This lack of attention, however, was about to end.  The leader of the village came to me one day and said, “Rabbit, we have heard of this amazing thing which is called fire.  I have a favor to ask of you.”  I had no idea what to expect next.  It could be anything.  I was definitely surprised that someone as important as him would come and talk to me.  I knew it had to be something really important.  “None of us have ever ventured east of the mighty river,” the leader said.  “Could you somehow cross the river and bring back this thing they call fire?” 

Not knowing how I would get across the river, I was slow in agreeing to the mission.  However, with a little more thinking, I knew that I could figure out a way to get across so I agreed.  “Ok, I will cross the river and bring you back fire,” I said.  The leader replied to me and said, “Thank you Rabbit, I am very grateful and will reward you greatly when you get back.” 

Seeking answers on how to cross the river, I decided to talk to my good friend the Hawk.  We had been good friends ever since we could remember so I asked him if he could fly me over the river and help me in my quest.  The Hawk agreed and we decided to fly over the next day.  I arrived at the other side and the people there received me gladly.  In my honor, the people set up a dance to celebrate the new animal visit.  The people of the East started a fire by rubbing sticks together and the fire amazed both the Hawk and me.  It was so very bright and hot. 

I couldn’t imagine how I was going to bring this back with me.  The people began to dance around the fire and got closer and closer over time.  I also danced nearer to the fire and knew that I had to capture it somehow.  I didn’t know how the people would react to me taking the fire.  I was worried about this so I had the Hawk nearby and ready to go if they were angered by it.  I wore a hat that had stick on top of it.  It looked very odd, but nobody asked me about it thankfully.  I finally was close enough to the fire that I put my head near it and the sticks were lit.  Suddenly, everyone began to yell and scream at me that it was wrong to take the fire from the circle.  I then ran as fast as I could towards the Hawk with the angry people running behind me.  I had just a little bit further to go and I would be home free.  Spotting the Hawk, I jumped on his back and we quickly took off with the fire on the sticks. 

When we landed on the other side, the leader spotted me and ran very fast towards me.  He could not believe the sight of the fire.  He saw all of its possibilities and thanked me greatly.  The leader said, “I said that I would reward you greatly and I will do so.”  He proceeded to tell me that I would always be provided with an abundance of food and protection.  This was very exciting to me.  I could now enjoy my new benefits and the fire that I brought back over with me.  Pretty good deal I think.

Author's Notes: The original story provided the base for the story that I wrote.  I elaborated a lot more on the story and added in some material as well.  Because of this, the story ended up being much longer than the original story.  I made sure to include many more details when describing the rabbit and all of the things that he had to do.  The characters that I added were the Hawk and leader of the village.  This added more to the story I think and helps keep the reader interested.  I took the point of view of the rabbit so I wrote from the first person perspective to tell the story.  This helps the reader know what is going on inside the main character's head.  I chose to include this story because I think it is a great story to include because the reader will enjoy it.  I also think it provides some insight into how the Indians thought about some of their myths.  The thing that I guess I would want people to remember about this story is that if you do good deeds for people, it will pay off.