Week 3 Storytelling: Sunflower

Sunflower 

(Elk from Web Source.)

An elk's cry echoed throughout the trees - he is calling her.


She was silent as she made her way through the trees. The moss-covered ground was soft under her bare feet. Her hair was bound in a long braid with small, white flowers woven into the soft strands. Birds greeted her with their songs as she passed under the trees.

She sighed.

She created this forest: created the elk, deer, bears, wolves and rabbits who roamed the trees; the birds who sang for her; the streams that cut through the earth; the foliage of every shade of green; the flavors of fruits and herbs. This forest was her garden and there was no one to share it with. An ache settled in her belly.

The animals appreciated her creation of their home and the animals accompanied her from time to time, but she was lonely.

She crossed the tree line into an open clearing and spotted the herd of elk. A majority of them ignored her as she walked through the herd, but she brushed her hand over their hides as she moved through them. The bull raised his head from grazing as he heard her come near.

She smiled as she approached him.

“Hello, old friend,” she murmured.

He nudged her offered hand and she leaned down to kiss him between his eyes. She knew why he called upon her. His newborn calf joined them today.

The woman and the bull made their way over to the center of the herd where the new mother and her calf were resting. The mother bleated at her in welcome and she knelt down to pet her neck. The small calf curiously looked at the eternal woman as she gently petted his mother. The woman then cast her attention to the curious calf who had shuffled closer to inspect her.

“You will grow strong like your father,” she cooed at the calf as she rubbed his head and behind his ears.

“Yes,” she kissed him between the eyes, “you will grow and lead this herd. I will watch over you to ensure it.”

The calf enjoyed the attention he received and laid his head in her lap to entice more petting. She smiled and looked up at the bull who shook his head and huffed at her. She cuddled the young calf as the buck returned to his grazing.

Not for the first time, she envied the elk mother. This was the second calf she birthed; the female sibling was among the others enjoying their meal in the sun.

There were other females pregnant, all in different stages. She would be making numerous trips to the herd in the next few months to welcome them. She envied it and wished for her own companion as a deep ache settled in her belly.

The bull grunted at her noticing her sadness, and she turned her head to look at him. She paused.

She stared at the sunflower he was chewing, and an idea formed in her mind. She created this forest and everything in it. She could create.

A laugh bubbled up out of her throat while the ache slowly faded; and the bull startled when she jumped up to kiss his nose. She promised to return before the next birth, and then disappeared into the dense forest.

She needed lots of sun for her plan to work. When she arrived at her little cottage, she could hardly contain her excitement and hope.

The sun was still high in the sky, and she turned around to look right at the sun before closing her eyes. Power thrummed through her body and she focused her energy to her hands - she clapped and pressed them together.

The white energy overflowed through her fingers, as the concentrated power swirled and formed in her hands.

When she was done, she held her breath as she opened her hands and cradled a single tiny, sunflower seed.

She let out a soft gasp and then smiled. She continued to stare at the seed as she walked to her garden. She hurriedly dug a hole, not bothered by the dirt under her fingernails. She gently laid it in the soft black dirt and carefully covered it.

Now she waited.

She waited impatiently and watched as the days passed.

On the seventh day, a seedling popped from the rich soil. Her hope grew as the flower did.

She watered every day and spent all her free time in her garden. The flower continued to grow: the anthers appeared, the stem continued to grow, leaves rolled out and it soon towered over her.

It happened when the elk herd came to visit her on a late afternoon in mid-summer. The little calf followed her wherever she went and she slipped him tart berries to snack on.

She spied the older bull watching the sunflower stalk, and she softly called to him. He turned his head toward her, his antlers brushing the stalk, and huffed at her.

Oh. She stumbled over to him. She reached up to gently take the large flower head in her hands. The flower was ready to burst.

Her heart was pounding; she was nervous and hopeful.

She could see slivers of yellow as the bud slowly opened. She could see movement inside the bud, she could feel a kick. She lost her breath when a tiny hand poked through the yellow petals. The small hand clung to her finger when she reached up to touch the soft skin. Tears gathered in her eyes when more petals popped open to reveal a healthy baby. She cooed at the little thing, and blue eyes opened to stare at her. She smiled and laughed as the child shyly smiled back at her.

The bull rested his head on her shoulder to look at the baby cradled in the sunflower.

“You will grow up to be strong and loved, my little one.”

Author's Note: For this week, I read the Adam and Eve unit. This unit is a traditional Jewish legend and is not found in our Americanized King James version of the Bible. Most people know the story of Adam and Eve; God created the world in seven days and then he creates Adam to be a caretaker of sorts. God knows Adam will be lonely, so he creates Lilith (that's right, Eve was not the first lady) who was not going to be subservient to Adam and she left him. Then Eve was created, and they were married by God himself. The snake manipulated Eve into eating the forbidden fruit and then she manipulated Adam into eating the fruit as well. 

For my story, I focused on the creation theme God used for Adam. Many stories revolve around the males, so I decided to change it by having a woman create the world. The story starts rather ambiguous and ends rather ambiguously. Ha. I did not give the woman a name or any of the characters a name; however, I have unofficially given the title ‘the Mother’ to our mystery woman. I did not give descriptions of the characters either, because logically there would not be anyone to record what she looked like at the time of the story. I wanted to create a sense of agelessness as well. The woman herself is mysterious, I did not give any details to who she is or what she is for this piece. 

God was never mentioned to have a romantic companion; this woman is literally ‘God’ in this piece. I translated that bit of information into my story as well. If God has not need of a romantic companion, then why should ‘the Mother’? I mainly left it up to the reader to develop her back story based on their perceptions of the story. Instead of Adam needing a companion, I changed it to the powerful being needing a companion. I also wanted to create a sense of innocence which is provided by the companion being a baby rather than a grown adult. The gender of the baby is also up for the readers’ opinion based on how they interpret the story. 

Bibliography: Adam and Eve from Genesis The Bible; The Legend of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg; The Forgotten Books of Eden.