At the first touches of dawn, even before the sun's
rays had completely broken across the rim of the horizon, Shadow
Runner awoke from her light sleep, refreshed, but anxious for
the coming day's events. Rising quietly, as to not disturb the
others, she began her morning grooming, and quickly smoothed out
the sleep-worn patterns in her sleek coat of solid-black fur.
As Shadow Runner was donning her buckskin tunic,
her mother awoke with a contented yawn. Licking the last vestiges
of sleep from her gray-furred, lupine muzzle, she turned and warmly
regarded her daughter. "I see you're up early for your big
day child," she said softly, sitting up on her sleeping pallet,
a gentle smile forming on her lips.
"Yes mother," the girl replied, her hushed
voice still showing her anticipation. "I hope it won't take
too long for nightfall to come."
Her smile widening, her mother's reply came with
a soft chuckle. "You remind me of myself child, on the day
of my first night song... I am so happy for you, the first of
my cubs to reach adulthood."
At that, Shadow Runner reached out to hold her mother,
bringing them close in a loving embrace. The two stayed like that,
hugging each other silently for several moments. There was no
need for words to express the bonds between them, bonds which
would change with the girl's passage into adulthood, but remain
just as strong.
Easing up on their embrace, the older lupine looked
at her daughter momentarily with glistening eyes, before tenderly
scratching behind one of the girl's ears. Then dissolving the
moment, she said "the sun is rising and you've got a full
day ahead of you. You need to finish your morning duties and be
off as soon as you can;" a quick smile shared between them
before the girl was up and out of the family's dwelling.
Just after breakfast, as expected, Night Singer,
the tribe's seer met with Shadow Runner. "How are you this
morning child?" was his greeting, a slight gleam evident
on his knowledgeable and serious visage.
"Very excited, wise one" was her reply,
a shy smile playing across her muzzle.
"As would be expected," his warm voice
echoing a hint of laughter. "Tell me Shadow Runner, do you
know the full significance of this day?"
"Yes, tonight's moon marks my passage to adulthood,
the time of my first night song," her eyes aglow with excitement.
Regarding her carefully, as if picking up on deepest
feelings, the seer then asked "so are you ready for the journey
before you?"
Her gaze furtive for a moment, her voice slightly
hushed, she replied "I think I am..."
His face softening, the older lupine placed his paw
on her shoulder, and gently reassured her. "I know of your
doubts child, we all have them at this time of transition. I remember
long time ago when as I cub I was in your place, and just as nervous
about it... perhaps even a little more so."
Smiling slightly at her look of surprise, he continued.
"We all feel uneasy before this big night, but while it marks
the journey into adulthood and is very important to our people,
it is something that is deeply a part of us, and is woven into
the hearts and minds of every cub, and becomes known as they near
their time. You will do fine... besides, I've heard your singing
before, and you have a wonderful voice."
"But that isn't the same as the song tonight...
I was just singing to myself while working."
"Yes but you still sang with the happiness you
felt, letting it flow out of you, and tonight you will simply
expand that, singing with the deeper feelings of the power around
you... and I've managed to hear you practice a couple of short
notes of the deeper kind while you thought you were along out
in the woods these past few weeks..."
He was quick to offer a reassuring wink, his eyes
gleaming, to offset her guilty expression, as her eyes widened
at being discovered. "Don't worry my child, again it's something
that almost every cub does, sneaking off just before nightfall
and practicing their voices; trying to echo the faint notes they've
heard from the adults, carried some nights down from our communal
circle to the village."
"Besides, as you will soon learn, it isn't the
notes themselves, but the power you feel, drawing from everything
around you, losing yourself in the song called up from that power.
After tonight's song you will have joined with the song of the
night and all of nature, and when you return you will be ready
to take your place with the other adults in our circle."
After her talk with Night Singer, she was ready to
make her way through the wilderness, beginning her journey into
adulthood. She left, like all cubs before her, with little ceremony,
saying warm good-byes to her family, and happily greeting others
in the village who saw her leave, wishing her well. That day was
to be hers alone, as was the night, and when she returned to the
village the following afternoon, she would be welcomed back enthusiastically,
as an adult.
And so she walked alone through the lush forest,
her heart and mind on fire with thoughts of the night before her.
As she walked, her thoughts calmed somewhat, and she contemplated
the significance of the journey she was making. As the morning
progressed, the quiet of her surroundings drew her thoughts even
deeper, preparing her for the transition the night would bring.
In the early afternoon, she stopped for lunch, skillfully
hunting a large rabbit, as she'd been doing for a few years. Then
after washing up in a cool mountain stream, she napped in the
warm sun, peacefully readying herself for the long and wondrous
night ahead.
Coming awake slowly and peacefully a couple of hours
before sundown, she smiled to herself, both content and excited,
and started her journey once again. Just as the last rays of the
sunset were fading in the darkening sky, she came upon the hill,
her desired destination, and reaching its grassy crest, she was
ready to embark on the final leg of her journey, this being a
mystical one.
Kneeling down, feeling the soft, cool grass intermingle
with the fur of her legs, she watched the sky, quietly waiting.
As the minutes flowed by, the shades of the sky gradually deepened,
blooming into brilliant shades of dark violet, then as the stars
slowly appeared, falling into a beautiful, inky blackness. Watching
the heavens come alive before her, her eyes gleamed in the darkness,
mirroring the subtle spectacle before her.
Then with her breath deepening, and her tail wagging
ever so slightly, she watched as a brightening of the horizon
foretold of the moons' imminent arrival. For the next hour she
waited and watched, as the twin moons made their appearances from
their corners of the sky and gently rose above her; the excitement
within her building, yet also tempered by the quiet peace of her
solitude.
Then finally, with the larger of the moons shining
down on her with all the brilliance of its fullness, she knew
it was time, and that she was ready. Closing her eyes and deepening
her breathing, she paused, then opening her mouth, let a single
note, a small and tentative howl, escape her throat.
At first, the notes came a little forced, breaking
the silence around her, the chords not sounding quite in place.
Then, opening her eyes to look at the beauty around her, taking
in the crystal points of light of the stars, and the soft glow
of the moons bathing the wilderness in their luminance, the nature
and feeling of her surroundings seeped in upon her.
Taking another breath, she let out a longer note,
one single chord spilling forth from her open muzzle. This time
the sound of her voice, a melodic howling, didn't disturb the
beauty surrounding her, but instead echoed with it. Something
clicked deep within her then, and she continued with another note,
this one slightly lower, but just as beautiful.
Spurred on by the vision of the sacred night before
her and the newfound effect of her voice, she continued to sing,
the notes of her voice flowing together, complementing the mystery
and power of the night around her. Her gaze moving around the
heavens, the notes of her primal song reflected the essence of
the wondrous views before her.
Then her eyes focusing on the primary moon, her gaze
slowly narrowing on its white fullness, the intensity of her song
began to grow. For as her senses were pulled to the moon, the
silvery orb gently overwhelming her, her notes deepened in strength,
taking on the moon's power.
As the essence of the moon poured over her, she transformed
it with her voice, then echoing it across the wilderness. As her
song continued, she became aware once again of the soft grass
against her legs, the scope of her senses widening. Still echoing
the beauty of the moon, she then felt the cool night air brushing
against her, and closing her eyes, she could still see scene before
her, its crystal clarity driving the notes of her song.
With the beauty and power of her voice increasing,
her senses were widened even more, encompassing every detail of
the world around her, the feelings growing until all of nature
was flowing through her, to be radiated by the low peals of her
wondrous song.
Finally, the last threshold of her journey was reached,
as her newfound consciousness was expanded to take her across
the wilderness to the sacred circle of the adults from her village;
her mind's eye whirling about them, her voice joining with theirs
as they too howled out the beautiful tones of nature. As their
voices mixed, they became a single note, joining her with the
other members of the circle.
Their songs all continued, becoming as one, linking
all their minds together, each others spirit radiating through
the voice of their neighbors, tying them all together in the spectacular
echoes of the world around them. And so it continued like this,
her voice for the first time melding with the others, singing
long into the night, until she passed into a sound sleep, only
to wake peacefully from her dewy bed the next morning, her journey
into adulthood complete.
Copyright 1996, Will A. Sanborn - was1@shore.net