Gary's truck rumbled to a stop as he and his
grandchildren, Avinn and Shanai,
reached the
Canyon de
Chelly
parking lot. The headlights shone on the entrance to the trail,
giving the
trio a look at the beginning of their journey down the canyon.
The steady
drumbeat of the peyote prayer songs playing on the truck stereo
provided a
beautiful
accompaniment to the sound of the engine. Gary took the scene of
the
trail in, along with the music, and remembered the numerous times he
had taken the
hike down the trail. He stole a glance at the children in the
truck with
him. Curiosity and a hint of nervousness could be seen on Avinn
and Shanai's
innocent
expressions as they too stared at the dirt leading to the bottom of the
canyon.
Finally, Gary said, "Are you ready, grandkids?"
Both brother and sister shared a glance before answering their
grandfather. "Yes," they said in unison.
All three exited the red Silverado
and retrieved
their camping gear from the bed of the truck. Gary opened a
bottle of
Gatorade for them to share before they started down the trail.
The
children then hooked their backpacks around their shoulders as Gary
locked up
the truck and placed his bag on his back. Ready to begin, they
walked
toward the trail, three rays of light showing from their
flashlights.
The dirt trail was damp from the light drizzle of rain that came down
on their
drive to the canyon. Their shoes gripped
the earth well. The trail showed a size ten shoe leading
much smaller footprints along
the way. Most of the time Gary and Avinn walked side
by side, while Shanai walked in
the back by herself. She felt left out and a cloud of jealousy
began to form over her head.
Shanai sped up her pace and passed Avinn only to slow down again and take his place beside Grandpa Gary. "Grandpa, will you hold my hand?"
"Stop acting like such a baby!" Avinn
said to Shanai.
"Hey, both of you cut that out. Let's take a break and sit on that rock up ahead," Gary said. The three sat on the slanted rock with Grandpa Gary in the middle. He could still feel the tension between the youngsters and decided to tell the following story:
One day, the little stars became jealous of the brighter stars because they were getting all the attention. The sky god even trusted the brighter stars with a bag containing clouds, winds, and rain. The little stars decided they wanted to show the sky god that they could handle such an important responsibility, so they stole the bag. Of course, the little stars did not have the strength or size of the brighter stars to handle the powerful elements within the bag. The bag flew open and fell upon the earth, causing storms that destroyed houses and cities around the world. Tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hurricanes killed thousands of people, taking children from their parents, and leaving other children without parents. All the lives that were lost and the mess that remained when the storms stopped were all because of jealousy. Plain, ugly jealousy can hurt so many people.
Gary stopped for a moment to allow the children some time to ponder the story. Shanai's head hung low, feeling shame as she had felt the same emotion the little stars had felt. Avinn, feeling bad for his sister, opened his bottle of Gatorade and passed it to Shanai. The gesture signaled to Gary that his grandchildren understood the moral he was trying to teach them and he smiled, proud.
Author's Note:
The original story comes from the Pawnee tribe. In their culture, the Pawnee believe that there were two types of stars, brighter and lesser stars. The god Tirawa created the world and gave a bag containing clouds, wind, and rain to the brighter stars. The lesser stars became jealous and emptied the bag on the earth, introducing death to the world. As you can see, I kept my story very close to the original story. I thought the moral of the Pawnee belief was a great lesson to teach the children in this story because all children experience jealousy at one point. Jealousy is a very common emotion. With children the feeling can be precipitated by one sibling receiving more attention than another, or if one child is given a present and the sibling receives nothing. At the young age that Avinn and Shanai are, jealousy may seem like a petty, fleeting emotion, but as they grow older the feeling can be deeper and cause serious harm when acted upon. I felt that Gary telling the children about the ultimate danger of jealousy would get the children to think about the reasons they feel the way they do and whether or not the reason is a good one.
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Myths About the Sky, Constellations, Stars (2000)
Windows to the Universe
Pawnee: Tirawa
Image Information:
"Illumination Under the Stars"
Web Source: Flickr.com