In a time when our fathers’ fathers walked, there was a warrior named Stem.
He was a brave man and had killed many buffalo to provide food and many
hides for the cold winters. His life was a good one.
Nevertheless, Stem was never really happy. This worried his father so that
he often would have his son sit with him and talk. “My son, you are a
skilled hunter: you never return without food. You have many fine horses
and a young woman who has only smiling eyes for you. Why are you not happy?
Your face never shows the good life you possess.”
As always, Stem would tell his father all that made him unhappy and all
that he wanted. His father, being a kind and patient man, would try to tell
Stem that he had a very good life and Creator had been good to him. But
their long talks would always end the same, with Stem still unhappy.
As the moons passed and the seasons changed, Stem was still gifted in the
hunt and had more and not less, but it was still not enough. So at night he
would wander the forests and talk to the animal people of the night moon.
Brother Wolf, his closest friend, said, “It is good to see you this night.
I do look forward to our talks together.”
Stem replied, “How is it, brother, that you can see me before I am even in
your view? I am as quiet as the mouse and I blend into the trees. You are a
skilled hunter and I wish I could be like you.”
Brother Wolf laughed out loud. “Stem, why would you want to be me? Your
hunting skills are good. Your pack never goes without. Why would you want
to be me?” asked Brother Wolf.
Stem replied, “Because your skills are better than mine! That’s why.”
Wolf just stared at Stem, as though looking into his inner self and beyond.
After a bit, he paced around the young warrior and said, “You should be
careful what you wish for, young brother. For when the moon is in Creator’s
hand, all is possible. You should watch what you say! I like you and would
not want you as my enemy.”
“So what is wrong with wanting to be you, Brother Wolf?” Stem asked. Before
he could finish his sentence, he found himself falling into a deep sleep.
As he dreamed he saw his father, mother and his sisters. He saw himself
hunting, and even the girl with the smiling eyes. Was he dreaming or was
this real? He tried to wake up but he couldn’t. He saw his life unfold over
and over again. “Brother Wolf, please help me. Can you hear me? I cannot
wake up. I understand now. I see my life has been a good one. I should not
have spent so much time complaining. Please help me. I want to go home to
my family.”
Suddenly Stem’s eyes opened … but he was not home. He was sitting with
his friend Brother Wolf. He was cold and wet, and could hardly breathe. He
found himself pounding at a thick wall of ice under which he was trapped,
in a lake of ice that was on top of him. He kept trying with all his
strength to break through, but he could not.
As he looked up through the ice, he saw eyes peering at him. He knew these
eyes. They were Brother Wolf’s. “Help me please,” Stem pleaded. Bother Wolf
just kept looking at him.
As time passed with each blow to the ice, Stem noticed his hands were not
his own. They were slowly turning into paws — wolf’s paws. Little by
little he felt his body as he knew it slip away. Then, with one last blow
to the ice, Stem broke through.
There he stood, on all fours; and as he saw his reflection in the ice
below, he saw he was now a wolf. “What happened, Brother Wolf? Is this a
dream?”
“No,” Brother Wolf answered. “You were not happy in the life Creator gave
you. You had many gifted skills and still you were not happy. You had a
family that loved you and a good future, but all this was not good enough.
I told you to be careful what you wish for on a night when Creator has the
moon in his hand. You did not listen. So now you have gotten your wish. You
are a wolf.”
“That is good, Stem replied. “We are true brothers now and we can hunt
together. This is a better life. I am not sorry for what I wished for.”
Before Stem could finish his sentence, Brother Wolf was calling to the moon
his song, but a sad song. He stopped and looked at Stem. “I told you to be
careful what you wished for and that I liked you as my friend. We cannot be
friends now.
“As you know, I am the head of my pack and you are the newcomer. I must
fight you to keep my place. So now, Stem, you have become my enemy.” With
these words he lunged at Stem, and the fight became teeth ripping at fur. A
battle that seemed to last forever was over in a few minutes.
As Stem lay dying, Brother Wolf lay beside his once friend. “Sleep well,
and finally be happy.”
I have seen this in everyday life.
We are never happy with who we are or what we have. There is always room
for improvement and change, but with the knowledge that our lives are good
and envy truly gets us nowhere. Remember to appreciate your life even when
times are tough, for sometimes it can all disappear in the blink of an eye.
Lim Lim.
Ken “Rainbow Cougar” Edwards, from the Colville Indian Reservation in
Washington, is an accomplished painter and storyteller. Edwards is a
graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and is a
long-time cartoonist for Indian Country Today.
