Matica and Tabooka

By: Daly

Once, many moons ago, things were very different.  It was a time when becoming an adult was celebrated.  A time when there was enough food in the village and no fighting, it was a time of peace.           A young girl named Matica was to be wed in less than a month. Unfortunately, although Matica felt that she was maturing, she knew that being married was all about becoming a woman.  She did not want to marry a man picked by her family.  She decided to talk to her mother and ask for advice.  “Please, give me at least four months to find a husband of my choice, even if I do find a suitable man for me in the time given, I will know in my heart that I do not love him.” Her mother didn’t even bother to look up from her painting.  “It is a decided matter Matica; you will be married in a month! Your father and I already have a great husband for you. His name is… “No!” Matica said quickly getting up from her seat.  “Getting married is all about becoming a woman, right mother?” “Yes I have told you that many times before Matica but…” “And getting responsibility and being free!” Matica interrupted before her mother could finish” Yes” Her mother said again.  “Then how come I feel trapped and like I cannot make my own choices?” Her mother, surprised at Matica’s attitude toward becoming a woman, said nothing. “That’s what I thought!” And without another glance at her mother, Matica quickly walked out. After having a long walk to clear her head and think things through, Matica found herself at her father’s teepee.  She was about to ask him the same question.  She was about to walk in the door of the teepee when a familiar person grabbed her arm.  It was her father’s favorite warrior.  The best warrior in the whole tribe in fact.  He was named Nartain. “Have you heard the good news Matica?” He said. “I have heard enough news already today Nartain.  I wish to speak with my father.” Matica said pushing Nartain aside.  “So you have heard that we are to be married in a month then?” “What?” Matica said confused.  “You are the man my mother and father chose to marry me?” “Yes, and quite an honor it is that the chief himself chose me to marry the most beautiful girl, or should I say woman, in the entire village.  There were many other warriors that wanted to marry you.” “Just because my father is the chief and he picked you does not mean that I will marry you Nartain!”  Nartain looked angry.  “I will win you over, despite what you think Matica.” “Let me speak with my father.” Matica said angrily.  “I can’t let you do that Matica” Nartain said. “I am here to guard the door.  He is busy right now.” “To busy to talk to his own daughter?” Matica said offended.  She pulled her arm away from Nartain’s tight grip.  “Now if you will excuse me…” She quickly walked into the teepee.  She found her father near a fire, reciting a prayer.  “Sir, I am so sorry, I tried to stop her but…” “No” The chief said in a calm comfortable voice.  “It is alright.  I have been expecting you my daughter.  “Father I also apologize, if I had known you were in a ritual...” “I said it was alright.  I meant it when I said I was expecting you.  You may leave now Nartain.” Nartain silently left the teepee.  “Father” “No, do not speak Matica, come sit by the fire and pray to our ancestors with me.” I do not wish to pray right now father, I…” “Please Matica,” He said again “I have talked to your mother already and I…” “And you’re on her side right!  I only turned to you because I though you might understand.  Please father, four months is all I ask for!” “No Matica” The chief said crossly “You will come and pray to our ancestors with me right now and ask for forgiveness. “FORGIVENESS! Matica shouted.  “Yes I am your father and the chief of this village, you have disobeyed my orders.  If you come and ask forgiveness with me right now, all will be forgiven.  And if you don’t………..You might as well leave, now!” There was silence for a moment, but the look of guilt on the chief’s face spoke for both of them.  “Fine” Matica said, “I will leave! It is obvious that this what you want, so I will leave. All I wanted was to pick a man of my choice to marry!  Thank you for making it so clear to me father, you never wanted me so you decided to run my life for me instead.  Goodbye!” “Matica please come back, that is not true, you are putting words in my mouth.  Come back, PLEASE!” But it was too late.  Matica had already walked out on her father the same way that she had for her mother. Matica went into her teepee and packed all of her belongings, some food and a small canoe to get away from her village in. When Matica was on the water not knowing where to go, she had a lot of time on her hands to think.  She had second thoughts about going back, apologizing and marrying Narain, but she didn’t.  Yes it may be easier, but why live your life if you are not truly happy.  Matica was strong.  She would not go back. Many hours later Matica arrived at a large island.  She got out of her canoe and wandered around for a while. She heard the faintest weeping in the distance.  As Matica grew closer to the sad voice, she became tired.  Finally she found the person who was making all of the noise.  It was a man, about her age.  He had long black hair and beautiful eyes.  Matica walked toward the man slowly, not sure if he was friendly or not.  “Hello” Matica said slowly.  "I am Matica, what is your name?” “Hello” said the man. “I am Tabooka.” “Why are you crying Tabooka?” Matica asked. “I get so lonely out here.” “Why don’t you get off this island?” Matica asked. “There is a near by village just beyond this river, it is a cozy little village, I am sure my father will let you stay there.” Matica offered.  “Believe me I would, but…” Tabooka stopped. “I have this curse”, he finally said. “What curse?” Matica asked.  “I have had it since I was a child.  I can change into anything.  Any animal, any object, anything.” “Wow” Matica said “That is a gift; you must be very proud Tabooka.” “No, it is not a gift.  The people of my village thought that I was a threat to all the people and a bad model for the children.  So they sent me here.  There was silence for a while.  “Oh, I am so sorry Tabooka.” Matica said.  "Why did you not go back to your village as a different form then? The people would never know.” Matica asked.  “I could,” Tabooka started “But what would be the point.  I couldn’t talk to anyone; I would be just as alone as I am now.  I would know in my heart that I am not truly happy.” Matica felt bad for Tabooka so she stayed with him.  Longer then she suspected. Matica felt so comfortable with Tabooka.  They walked together and talked together, ate together and awoke to each others smiling faces for several sunrises.  On the fourth day that Matica was there, Tabooka told her about another friend he had made before Matica had come.  “I never caught his name, but he was very nice.” Tabooka said.  “Oh, when, and how long did he stay for?” Matica asked.  “Well actually Matica, he only stayed for a couple seconds.  You see he quickly came, said hello and that he wished he could stay but he had to go and that he would be back.  Then he called me his friend over and over as he left.  He seemed panicked and out of breathes.  As soon as he heard footsteps, which ended up being yours, he ran away.  I was so sad that the only person whom I had made contact with in a long time, ran away just as fast as they said hello. That is why I was crying, but he was so nice to me and said that he would be back, that is why I consider him my friend.” “Well I hope that he does come back some day Tabooka, but all this talking and walking has made me tired, let us eat now.” Matica went into her bag in search of food.  “Tabooka, I seem to be out of food, I only supplied enough for eight days, and I thought that I would be alone, and now we are out of food.  What do you have for food around here?” Matica said calmly.  “Well, we have berries and the odd moose, but mostly edible plants, fresh water and some squires.” “WHAT!” Matica shrieked.  “That’s that?  Squires and plants!  How do you survive out here? “Easy”, replied Tabooka.  “Change your attitude from a spoiled chief’s daughter to a non-picky eater who is thankful for what she has.” “Oh, sorry,” Matica said, “but I still refuse to eat this so called food!   Tonight I will sneak back into my village and get us enough food for another week.  We will figure out what we will do from there.” That night, as Matica was getting into her canoe to go get more food, she saw Tabooka running out of the darkness toward her. When he made it to her, he handed her a beautiful bracelet made out of bark and stone and braided with leaves. As she held it up to the light of the moon she noticed the remarkable chiseled features and the stones, which were stained blue, and red with berries.  “Here” Tabooka said panting.  “This is a thank you present for all the time you spent with me.” “Tabooka, I will be back tomorrow, you do know that right?” Matica said.  “Yes, but I have not had a friend in so long, and the longer that I am away from you is the more I realize how much I will miss you when you really do go.  Please, take it, it would mean a lot to me.” “Thank you Tabooka, that is sweet, but I must go now.  I will be back much later tonight if not early next morning.  I promise.” As Matica came toward her village in the small canoe, old memories popped into her head about yelling at her parents, but just as she had done with all her other bad thoughts, she pushed them aside and continued paddling the last stretch of water.  Matica pulled her canoe on to land.  It was late at night and none of the warriors of the village were awake.  She crept around slowly in search of food.  After searching for a while she found a large pile of deer meat.  She took as much as she could, remembering that the size of her canoe was small, and she could not take too much.  All was going well.  Matica was getting back into her canoe and paddling away when she noticed that the beautiful bracelet that Tabooka had made for her was missing.  Matica stopped paddling to look for her bracelet, no luck.  She hadn’t gotten very far in her canoe so she decided to head back to the village for a second to see if it had fallen off on land and not in the river.  Luckily enough it had fallen off on land and again she quietly got out of her canoe and grabbed her bracelet. Because Matica was so busy concentrating on getting the food, she never noticed how tired she was.  She convinced herself that it would be best for her if she slept there for the night and not take the chance of falling asleep in her canoe.  She found a cozy little spot near a bush, well hidden so that no one could find her. Matica woke up the next morning well rested and relieved that no one had found her.  No one else was awake yet so Matica did not take any chances.  With her bracelet on and all the food she needed, she headed back to the island to greet Tabooka. Another long canoe ride later, Matica arrived at the island.  As she pulled her canoe onto land, again she saw Tabooka running toward her, but this time he had a big smile on his face, which made Matica smile as well.  “Matica where were you all morning, you said you would be here when I woke up and now it is nearly noon?” Tabooka said excitedly.  “Well never mind that for now.  I had a dream last night Matica.  I dreamed that an eagle visited me. I know it may sound crazy but he talked to me.  He said that he was the wisest, smartest and strongest of all birds.  He said that he could see all and tell all.  He also told me that the relationship that you and I share is once in a lifetime.  I will not give that up for the world Matica.  I asked the eagle what to do, and he said there was only one way to do that, I have decided to ask you to marry me Matica. Do you except Matica, or was the eagle wrong?” There was silence for a moment, but then Matica spoke.  “There is nothing else in the world that would make me happier. Yes Tabooka, I except!  I will marry you!” Matica said with happiness in her eyes.  “Thank you Matica, I am the happiest man in the world, but I have more good news.  Do you remember my friend I told you about, his name is Caltaboo. I told him all about how much I love you and so he offered to marry us!  Isn’t that great?” Although Matica wasn’t thrilled about the thought of somebody who she hardly knew marrying them, her husband- to- be was, and whatever made him happy made her just as happy.  She put on a big smile as she pushed the words “That’s great news Tabooka”, out of her mouth. Later on as they planned the wedding, Matica would panic and wish that she was having a normal wedding with a beautiful beaver skin dress and meat to exchange and family there to treat her like a queen for a day, but Tabooka would reassure her that it would not matter where they got married or what they were wearing, but as long as they had each other.  They planned the wedding for the fourth hour of the fourth day of the fourth month for good luck. The big day came. “It is today!  Today is the day!  Today is the day that I marry my one true love!” Matica screamed.  Well actually she shouted like this all day.  Tabooka’s good friend Caltaboo was to arrive an hour before the ceremony so that Matica could be properly acquainted with him.  Unfortunately he didn’t show up at the right time.  Not 40 min.  Not 30 min.  Not even 20 minutes before the ceremony.  Now Matica was not just worried about meeting the man who would be marrying them, but would he show up at all! Finally, Caltaboo showed up, only 5 minutes before the ceremony.  He was wearing a large bear skin cloak with a giant hood so that you could not see his face, but it did not bother Matica because she though it was all part of the ceremony.  “I’m terribly sorry for being late, but I had trouble finding the proper paints.” “Paints?” Matica said, sounding a little suspicious.  “What exactly do you have planned for this ceremony Caltaboo?  Paints aren’t normal for a ceremony like this are they?”  “Oh Matica, you have nothing to worry about.  It is a traditional as anything.  All I am going to do is a small symbol on your faces.” “What?” Matica quickly interrupted.  “I said a small symbol on your faces.” “No, my name, I never told you my name. How do you know it?” There was silence for a while. “Oh, well, um…. that is simple…you see Matica” “TABOOKA!”   “Tabooka is the one who told it to me, he must of mentioned you a thousand times.”  “Well, if you two are aiming for the fourth hour we better get started.” Caltaboo said trying to change the subject.

The place that Matica and Tabooka had arranged to have the ceremony was at a pretty rock near the water. Matica and Tabooka both knelt before Caltaboo and they started of the ceremony by reciting a poem by each other.  Then they said a prayer to the sky gods and the wise eagle who gave inspiration to Tabooka to marry Matica. After a while they were nearing the end of the ceremony.  Caltaboo was about to paint the designs on Matica and Tabooka’s face, so that the ceremony would be final and the couple would officially be married, when he slammed the paints onto the ground. Caltaboo quickly took out a long sharp spear out of his cloak and took off his hood.  Much to Matica’s surprise it was not Caltaboo but actually Nartain.  “Yes, it is me, Nartain.  I said that I would win you over Matica, it was just a matter of time.  It took a lot of wits.” “Why you didn’t marry me from the beginning is beyond me.  I am strong, smart and fast.  You may be beautiful but why do you have to be so picky with who you marry.  You see Matica, all I had to do was follow you to the island. I ran ahead after I over heard you say you were leaving. After a long canoe ride of staying in the bushes to stay hidden, I saw the island that you were headed to.  I originally was going to surprise you on the island and apologize, but when I stumbled upon your little friend Tabooka, then my plan started to take place.  I thought that if I found him this quickly, you were bound to find him somehow as well.  Quickly I started to sweeten him up.  I told him that I would be back and kept calling him my friend, all the time only using him to get through to you Matica.  Then that one night I heard you were going back to the village to get more food, what a perfect time to spend some more time with Tabooka.  At this time the rest of my plan had formed.  At first I was going to talk him into marrying you, but he had already decided to!  Then I just had to offer to marry you two, and here I am.  Now I am going to make Tabooka marry us, or else my spear will hurt him deeply!” “NO!!!!!” Matica shouted.  “I will not let you do this Nartain, please, my father will marry us, but do not hurt Tabooka!” But just then Tabooka spoke.  “I am sorry Matica, but I have to.  I will not marry you to him Matica, but I will not stand around while you to run off.  I will fight!” Matica broke into tears.  “Please Tabooka, don’t do it, I will come back for you, but this is crazy! Please don’t fight!” “I am sorry Matica, but it is too late for that, Tabooka has agreed to fight, so now there is only one thing to do.  I gave you a chance Tabooka, now you will suffer the consequences.” Nartain quickly picked up his spear and started to swipe at Tabooka with it.  Tabooka dodged most of his thrusts, but the last swipe that Nartain took, hit Tabooka’s arm, spilling blood everywhere and leaving Tabooka’s arm with a very deep injury.  Nartain looked down at Tabooka with a look of disgust on his face, he did not say anything, but he did quickly grab Matica’s arm and start running in the opposite direction of Tabooka without looking back  “I will marry us Matica!  Your little friend back there may be brave, but he is not very smart!” Just as these words came out of Nartain’s mouth, Matica’s eyes drifted away from his and met the very large creatures that were standing just above him.  When Nartain noticed that Matica was no longer paying attention, he looked behind him, and there he saw the biggest bear any warrior had ever seen!  All the bear had to do was roar his loudest roar and swipe his claws just inches from Nartain’s face for him to start running for his life, no longer caring about Matica.  Matica was just about to run away as well, when she looked into the bear’s beautiful eyes, and then she knew that it just had to be Tabooka.  She hugged the giant bear as Matica changed back into his regular form.  “Oh dear” Matica said.  “Tabooka, your arm, we must get you to my village, the shaman there is the best of many.” “Very well, but we must hurry, I have lost a lot of blood already.” It was a very long canoe ride back to the village with the extra weight of Tabooka. When they did arrive, Matica’s parents were there to apologize to her for running her life for her.  After that, Matica had told her parents the whole story of what Matica had gone through.  Then her parents decided that if Matica were still up to being married, they would have a proper ceremony, which the whole village would be invited to. The whole village was happy, now that they had a new hunter, Matica was happy now that she had Tabooka, Tabooka’s wound heeled nicely, and everything turned out great!  And as for Nartain, he started a new life, in a new village, making sure never to make the same mistake again.

The End!