Chapter One:
A Big Day
It was a beautiful, spring morning. The air smelled
of new leaves and budding flowers as Kai took a deep breath through his
nose to try and calm the excitement in his belly. Today was a BIG day – the BIGGEST – for
today Kai would mark his twelfth birthday and become a man in the eyes
of his village. From today forward he would be welcomed on the village
fishing boats. He would help cast out and haul in the fishing nets and
be expected to clean the catch before bringing it home to the village for
cooking and drying.
Thoughts of these new responsibilities caused Kai to square his jaw and
draw back his shoulders with pride as he followed a well-worn path at the
edge of the Great River. He sat down on a large rock and skipped a few
pebbles across the surface of the water while he waited for his grandmother.
Today really was a BIG day – he could feel it in his gut.
‘Happy birthday little one,’ came a voice in Kai’s ear.
Kai jumped, startled. ‘Noni, you scared me!’ Kai giggled, ‘You’re
always able to sneak up on me.’
Noni smiled. ‘That’s because I walk with nature, instead of
crashing through the trees for all to hear.’
Kai threw his arms around his grandmother’s neck and gave her a hug.
She hugged him back. She was surprisingly strong for such an old woman.
Noni was the oldest person in the village and everyone looked to her for
wisdom, advice and stories of their past. Noni seemed to remember everything.
‘I have something for you,’ Noni said as she handed Kai a small
package wrapped in a blue cloth. ‘Open it!’ she urged.
Kai gently pulled back the folds of cloth to reveal a stone carved
dragonfly on a leather cord. He’d never seen anything like
it. His green eyes sparkled with wonder. As he held it up in the
sunlight he noticed that the green stone was flecked with iridescent
blue and red, making the dragonfly seem almost alive.
‘It’s the best birthday present ever Noni,’ Kai whispered.
He held the stone dragonfly while Noni tied the leather cord behind his neck.
The weight of it felt comforting – and for a strange moment, Kai thought
he felt a little tingle of electricity as the dragonfly rested against the
skin of his chest.
‘We should give thanks before we go,’ Noni said as she kneeled down
at the water’s edge. Kai knelt down at her side and they both looked
deep into the clean, clear river.
‘I’ll do it Noni,’ Kai said, clearing his throat. ‘We
thank you Great River, for everything – the water we drink, the fish
we eat, the lives we live on your banks. Water is to the world what blood
is to our bodies. Without it we would die. You give us life, joy and peace.’
‘Well spoken little one’, Noni smiled. ‘We should get back
to the village. The men will be returning soon with the morning’s catch – and
then we have a birthday celebration to prepare for!’
Kai and his grandmother returned to the village where the women and children
were gathered at the dock, ready to welcome the men back from a morning of
fishing. Kai looked out to the middle of the river and tried to pick out
his father’s
boat. Something was wrong. The men, usually lively and singing, were silent and
somber looking. Kai’s father’s boat was the first to reach the
dock. He watched as his father, tanned and strong, leapt onto the dock and
strode to where Kai was waiting with his grandmother. The women and children
went silent and all eyes were on Kai and his family.
‘What is it? What has happened?’ Noni asked Kai’s father.
‘Something is terribly wrong Noni. The fishing nets – we cast them
out as usual, but when we hauled them in they came back EMPTY! Not a single fish!
And there’s something else – LOOK!’
Everyone on the dock turned upstream to where Kai’s father pointed. What
looked like a great, dark shadow was moving through the river towards the dock.
As the darkness grew closer, Kai realized it wasn’t a shadow at all – the
waters of the Great River, normally so clean and clear, were turning BLACK!
Stay tuned for Chapter 2 in the Spring 2006 issue of Waterkeeper.
