Shanuk and The Firestone

By: Ryan O.

Long ago at the beginning of the aboriginal times, there was a small village, with four huts, in the middle of the forest. Beside the village ran a small, clear stream. In that village a young boy named Shanuk, the Chief’s son, went for a drink down by the stream. As he cupped his hands something shiny in the rocks caught his eye. When he shuffled away all the rocks, there was a bright reddish glow. He thought to himself, I’m going to keep this rock forever! After many, many hunts, Shanuk became a great hunter. He was now 17 years old and the greatest hunter in the village. This made the tribe jealous. Even the chief, Shanuk's father, knew he had to do something! After the pass of a full night rock, the village came to an agreement. They would send Shanuk to the forbidden forest, where you must have special skills to survive. Going into the forbidden forest with out those special skills was suicide. Shanuk didn’t want to leave but he had to except the decision of the village. Before he set off on his journey, he took his stone and put it in his pocket. He knew he just had to play one big practical joke on the village to get even before he left. First, he looked to the topside of the stream and there was a massive bolder. This gave him a wicked idea. He would dig a massive hole by the village and cover it with branches and grass. Then he’d go to the top of the stream and push the massive bolder down the banks of the stream. Every body would panic and run right into the covered hole. It was a hideously brilliant idea. So he began digging. Finely at the crack of dawn, the plan was complete. Everything was dug and covered. He waited at the top of the stream, at last the time was right! All three huts woke up and were just going outside for a drink and a good stretch, when they heard…CRACK!  The stick and the bolder went tumbling down the stream banks, smashing every thing in its path. Little trees, bushes, and even a few rodents were lost. The village was terrified! Everybody ran. Shanuk was laughing his head off when he saw the look on their faces. Well that’s what those traders deserved. Meanwhile, the village people still in shock, were so mad, the only thing they could do was try shooting arrows into the forest. Later that night just before Shanuk went to sleep, he saw a very big crow sitting on a branch close to his tent. It was just staring at him. Shanuk tried throwing a rock at it, but it jumped out of the way. Next he tried whacking it with a stick, but it was to fast. Now Shanuk was mad! He pulled out his bow, tied a very sharp rock onto a stick, and launched it at the crow. Of course the crow dodged it,” Ah forget it”, Shanuk said. Shanuk just went to sleep with his warm glowing rock. The next morning Shanuk opened his eyes and the crow, that he tried to kill last night, was still staring at him. Again everywhere Shanuk looked, everything Shanuk saw was red! Shanuk looked back at the crow and yelled, “You are doing this aren’t you? You are making everything red! Aren’t you!”  The crow flew away slowly, bobbing his head, and chanting, “You took the stone. That is not good. Put it back, that I would! You took the stone. That is not good. Put it back, that I would! You took the stone. That is not good. Put it back, that I would. You took the stone. That is not good. Put it back, that I would!” four times before Shanuk could no longer stand to hear him. Shanuk looked back into the sky, the crow was gone, but the sky was just so red. It looked like a severe storm was coming within a night rock’s passing. When Shanuk went to sleep that night he had a terrible nightmare. He dreamed that there was fire, lightning, thunder, hurricanes, and more fire tornadoes. H saw the whole world in flames and then Bang! The next morning seemed similar to Shanuk’s dream. There was a storm with lightning and thunder, a huge bolt of lightning hit a tree nearby, and it caused a fire. The fire was spreading quickly. It was coming towards him in the wind. Shanuk looked back at the stone with fear. The stone was shining in the stream. It was so bright that Shanuk could not focus on it. The stone was making the stream boil and like a bird it rose into the sky, slowly hovering. Bang! Four balls of fire shot out of the stone on the ground. The four balls of fire came together forming a monster made up of fire. The burning monster spoke these words in a deep firey voice, “You took my stone! I warned you twice. You should have been smart and put it back. Pray that the sky will drop rain, because now that I’m mad, you’ll face summering pain!The monster charged and charged at him. He chased Shanuk through the woods.“I’ll have to put the stone back into the stream in the village”, Shanuk thought. Shanuk was running as fast as he could, dodging trees branches, rocks and bushes. Meanwhile, the monster was crashing through everything in it’s path. It was hard for Shanuk to carry a red hot burning stone, while running for your life. Luckily, he could see the hill that he had pushed the bolder off of. So, as fast as he could, Shanuk, jumped off the edge of the hill with the monster close behind him. While in mid air, Shanuk threw the stone into the stream. The stone went rolling down the hill and finally hit the ground. Shanuk hit the ground so hard he broke his ankle. The monster hit the ground behind him it raised its flaming hand to take a swing at Shanuk. Shanuk plunged to the ground. Where was the monster? Shanuk looked into the stream, and there, was the stone. When it rolled down into the stream, to the right spot, the monster disappeared. Shanuk could not ignore the raging villagers. After a few days he admitted to his crime and he never shot an arrow again.

THE END