The First Winter

The First Winter

Once upon a time long long ago, before the lines between gods and mortals became clear, there was a little girl. This little girl was cast out by her family, by her community. She wandered the wild lands by herself and communed with the land and the rocks, with the trees and the wolves and the birds and the reindeer and the fish and the dragonflies and the beasts of all kinds. The little girl's knowledge of the world greatly increased and so did her wisdom. But without a community she felt only pain and suffering. Felt only the type of agony that left her screaming into the sky. She knew that she was alone in the vast world, under the unending sky. And she loved the vast world. And the unending sky. She was deeply grateful for their teachings and their company. But without other people she was alone. And so she looked up at the sky. Lying under the stars she looked up and she asked for hope through this unending storm.

The sky then made a special star just for her and sent it falling down into the lands. It landed on the the clouds and broke into a million tiny pieces. Those pieces fell upon the Earth as snow. This created the first snowfall, and brought with them the cold winds of winter. The star's fragments could not hurt the girl. And she learned from the lands how to live and survive in the winter. She learned how to wear thick coats from the caribou. And how to construct shoes for walking on the snow from the hares. She learned how to make fire from lightning. And she learned how to find shelter within the snow from the mice.

But the other people did not know how to deal with this new coldness and snow. They were suffering.

The girl looked at the people who had left her to suffer and such was the kindness of her heart that she did not want them to suffer. And so she offered to teach them all she had learned about how to survive in the cold. So they welcomed her back into the community and they learned from her how to live in the new winter that enveloped everything.

The girl knew that the winter would have to end eventually, or else there would be no food for the animals and people to eat. She was afraid though, that when the winter was over the people would throw her back out. The snow-star looked upon her and saw her fear. And for her it decided not to melt into the ground.

But the people and the animals were getting hungry. And with no spring on the horizon the world was afraid.

There was a little boy who was only a toddler. He was friends with the girl. He knew that the girl was afraid of being alone again. And so he promised himself that she would never be alone. He got up in front of the whole community and said that if they threw the little girl out he would be going with her.

Then another child stood up and said the same thing. Then another. Then another. Until all the children of the community agreed that if the little girl was thrown out they would be too.

The people, seeing the kindness and bravery of their children, felt deeply ashamed of themselves and their actions. They promised that they would never treat another child the way they had treated her.

And so the snow melted into the ground and gave it new energy. But as a reminder to the people to keep their promise, the snow and the winter returned every year.

———
If you like this piece check out my Mastodon my account is FSairuv@mas.to and I post about human rights, social justice, and the environment.