The Wolf Ceremony

“Arlen! You better get up now!”

My mom shouted at me while pushing the button to let in today’s amount of oxygen. I rubbed my eyes repeatedly, trying hard to wake up. I took a glimpse at the clock beside me. It was almost nine. Since today was Friday, I had a lesson with Mrs. Carmen. I started to hurry, not wanting to show my pajamas with smiling clouds on them to my one and only teacher. I ran into the bathroom, washed my face, changed into my yellow shirt and blue jeans, combed my hair a bit, and then ran out again. I took a seat on my comfy sofa and turned on the TV.

“Hello, Mrs. Carmen!” I said brightly. Mrs. Carmen waved slightly at me. I frowned. Mrs. Carmen usually greeted me with her granny-smile and her granny-voice, but today she looked unnatural, forcing a smile when she saw my frown. I opened my mouth to ask if something was wrong, but she started to speak first.

“Arlen, today we’re going to learn something special.”

I immediately perked up, thinking about the quadratic equations I was supposed to learn today. Then I frowned again, looking at how serious she looked, and somehow older looking than before.

“Today I’ll take you on a slight adventure to the past.”

At those words my frown vanished. When I was about to victory dance and let out a whoop, she gave me a look that meant ‘Stay still and listen,’ so I shut my mouth with a snap and didn’t move a muscle.

“It’s not real time travel. I’m just going to let you into a historical event that happened in the past.”

“How could I go into a historical event that happened in the past without time traveling?” I asked, puzzled.

“You’ll learn this more specifically when you get older, but I’ll tell you the basics. It’s like going into a short video that was taken a long time ago. You’ll get to feel the things that happen inside, but when the video ends, you will come back to where you are now.”

I thought about this a moment, and was fascinated.

“Will you come with me? Why am I learning this? What video am I going in?”

As usual, my teacher answered all the questions I said in a rush.

“You will go alone, and the lesson I hope to teach you will be clearly shown in this video. It’s called…The Wolf Ceremony.”

I was totally excited by now, and couldn’t wait to go in this ‘Wolf Ceremony’, whatever it was. Then Mrs. Carmen showed me a pill that looked a bit strange.

“I will send this to your room right now, and when I see you eat it, I will turn on the video.”

“Then the adventure begins?” I asked with sparkling eyes.

She nodded, somehow sadly, and I could almost see something more in her solemn face. There was a light sound that meant the arrival of the pill. I picked up the small oval-shaped pill from my receiving box, and peered at it carefully. Then, exchanging a glance with Mrs. Carmen, I gulped it down.

At first, I didn’t feel anything. But then the video started to swirl in front of my eyes, so I closed my eyes as dizziness swept into my skull. Then, I felt something soft under my knees, so I opened my eyes. I stared in awe at all the grass and woodland that seemed to go on and on…until I saw someone in the middle, who was, to my surprise, staring at me. I got up, still feeling as if in a dream. I had always thought grass was only in pictures, nonexistent. However, the grass I felt under my feet was so soft, yet somehow alive. I could also hear something. It was like someone singing, although it was very high, and didn’t seem to have any sort of lyrics in the song. I wanted to stay here and experience this new wonderland, but something told me I should go to that person standing in the middle of the field, so I ran to him. When I was close enough to recognize the appearance of this person, he started to speak.

“I wanted to give something of my past to my grandson. So I took him into the woods, to a quiet spot. Seated at my feet he listened as I told him of the powers that were given to each creature. He moved not a muscle as I explained how the woods had always provided us with food, homes, comfort, and religion.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, until a thought struck me that he was doing a speech.

“He was awed when I related to him how the wolf became our guardian, and when I told him that I would sing the sacred wolf song over him, he was overjoyed. In my song, I appealed to the wolf to come and preside over us while I would perform the wolf ceremony so that the bond between my grandson and the wolf would be lifelong.”

I had no idea what a ‘wolf’ was, until a strange translucent creature appeared in the air, and at once I knew that was the ‘wolf’ this man was talking about. Although, it seemed that the man in front of me couldn’t see it, since he went on with his speech.

“I sang. In my voice was the hope that clings to every heartbeat. I sang. In my words were the powers I inherited from my forefathers. I sang. In my cupped hands lay a spruce seed- the link to creation. I sang. In my eyes sparkled love. I sang. And the song floated on the sun's rays from tree to tree.”

While he said these words, I could feel the power in his voice, and the sun’s rays truly seemed to bounce gracefully on the trees, sending its warmth to the whole place I was in.

“When I had ended, it was if the whole world listened with us to hear the wolf's reply. We waited a long time but none came. Again I sang, humbly but as invitingly as I could, until my throat ached and my voice gave out. All of a sudden I realized why no wolves had heard my sacred song.”

At these words, the world I was in seemed to stop altogether. Then with a tremendous sound came a huge machine, destroying the trees, the grass, anything that was in its path. This time, the machine wasn’t translucent, and the man giving the speech stared at it too, with tightly gripped fists, so that I could see his knuckles turn white. I was scared at the sound of destruction, killing the sound of the grass that had been dancing slowly by the wind, ruthlessly stopping the source of the beautiful song I had heard a moment ago. I closed my eyes tightly, wanting to go back to the world I had woken up this morning, but the sound continued further on, until everything was quiet again. When I opened my eyes, the man was still there, but the wonderful place I had been, was gone. Almost all of the surroundings were rocks, with a few trees growing pitifully among them. Then the man went on, once again.

“There were none left! My heart filled with tears. I could no longer give my grandson faith in the past, our past.”

My heart crumbled as I thought of the green, fresh nature I had felt, moments before, and probably which was the past this man talked about.

“At last I could whisper to him: "It is finished!"

When the man said these words, he had tears in his eyes, and I felt something flowing down my face, leaving a wet trail.

“Can I go home now?” He asked, checking his watch to see if he would still be in time to catch his favorite program on TV. I watched him disappear and wept in silence. All is finished!”

With streaming eyes, the man whipped around, and started to go. Then this world started to shake and crumble, and I fell to my knees, also with tears dropping continuously, feeling the agony I knew this man would feel far more bitterly than I. I felt the world swirl once again, and since I was weeping and my eyes were shut, I waited for this journey to end. And I was back.

I opened my eyes, still whimpering, and Mrs. Carmen was looking at me through the TV with sad eyes, also filled with tears. As I started to talk to her about the green nature I never thought existed, and how I longed to feel that again, I heard a smash of a door breaking. I stared at the TV. Through Mrs. Carmen’s door, people with black suits swarmed in. One of them skillfully hit her head with a club, and she fell to the ground, uttering a cry. I screamed as some men came to lift her up. Then a man, who seemed like the commander, looked at me in the eye, and then pushed a button on his portable device. I was still screaming when I thought I had breathed in something odd, and closed my mouth. A wave of dizziness struck me, and I thought of the green nature for the last time, as I collapsed on the floor, and everything went black.

* The speech used in this short story is ‘The Wolf Ceremony’ by Chief Dan George.

* This story takes place in a far future when the earth’s environment is destroyed and when there is less oxygen to breathe. Still, the technology is very developed, and teachers are able to teach the students through their TV at home.

#fiction #soheekim