Flute And Fire

by Jill Wilder

Flute and Fire

  By

  Jill Wilder Running Hawk

  Flute and Fire

  Written by Jill Wilder

  COPYRIGHT 2011 Jill Wilder

  Chapter 1

  Keith stumbled down the faint animal trail, concealed deep in the forest. He found himself searching for some open space. He had this pressing need to spread his arms out and circle around and still not touch anything. The growth of the old Forest was immense, and nothing could have prepared Keith for this unexpected adventure. The feeling of being surrounded by things so out of his natural environment was playing on his emotions.

  Keith studied all his life about Earth’s ecology, and yet he felt so unsure and afraid. Living on the Solar Star Base, orbiting around the Earth, with the woods created in the Reservatory, was nothing compared to the thick foliage that seemed to engulf him now. A century and a half went into the planning and creating of the balanced atmosphere for the re-inhabitation of the Earth, and now Keith is standing on it, breathing it, sweating it and tasting it just like an animal...after all he is human, an animal.

  Finally he fell to the ground as he came to a small opening which gave him temporary freedom from the thick foliage of the Forest. Laying on his back and exhausted, he gazed up at the sky framed by the tree tops. Though about five feet was all that stood between him and next gnarly vines, tree roots and thickets, it was still five feet of relief. Looking at the tree tops, triggered his memory of his fighter ship spinning toward the planet Earth…

  … There was a moment when the craft stopped its spin and instinct took over. Keith initiated the ejection procedure. He remembered the small capsule surrounding him and a thrust as the capsule was ejected just seconds before the fighter smashed into the side of a Mountain. The force of the fighter exploding pushed the capsule to the foot of the Mountain into the deep thick Forest. After that everything went black.

  When Keith first woke, he was looking at bushes, trees and vines that surrounded his capsule. He hit the puncture release button causing the capsule to break away and freed him to the open Mother Earth. Sitting up cautiously, he searched for his laser gun on his belt pack. There was no gun to be found. Keith panicked as he thought of having no way to ward off any enemy he may encounter.

  Then he remembered! A simple but effective weapon made out of material forged hundreds of years ago. Keo, a spiritual teacher and leader, gave Keith this knife just before Keith boarded his fighter. Slowly, he pulled it out from his boot and examined its worth. The handle was made of deer antler with a delicate carving of a wolf. This was followed by the shinny hard metallic material that Keith knew as steel - a lot like some of what the Solar Star Base pieces were made with. He was told by Keo that long ago men fought off enemies with such tools, and that there were even times when their bare hands were used to take another’s life. Though Keith could not understand why Keo gave him the knife at that particular moment, he was now very grateful for the gift.

  Using the knife, Keith cut and sliced his way free of the tangled vines until he came across a small animal trail. He began to follow the trail as it mischievously led him to more dense foliage. He began to feel trapped again as he started to wave the knife to and fro. His heart was pounding faster and harder with beads of sweat dancing down his face and back. The feeling of delirium was closing in until he found himself lying on the forest floor gazing up at the opening through the trees...

  As his memory brought him whirling back to the present, he could not stop thinking how blue the sky was. Looking through the circle of tree branches above, he took in a deep breath to slow down his excitement and to blow away the anxiety that was building. He noticed how the air felt so strong and pure inside his lungs. It was like a new breath was being pumped into his very soul. There he laid as he fell into a dream, a dream that was only for the Protected One.

  Keith strained his eyes to see through the gray mist before him. He could finally focus on a familiar shape standing there. “Keo, is that you?”, asked Keith. “Am I not really alone? Are you here with me?”

  In a voice that was woven with age and wisdom, Keo answered, “Yes, it is I. Please come walk with me in your dream. I have many places to show you and so little time to explain.” Keo outstretched his arm to urge Keith to come forward.

  Keo was typically dressed in loose cotton pants with a draw sting and a smock like top, all an off white color. This time in Keith’s dream he was dressed in his best regalia. He wore no shirt, but instead wore a bone breastplate. The pants were made of white elk buckskin with beadwork following the seam of the pants going down the side. The beadwork itself produced a pattern that gave the image of rippling purple water.

  Upon Keo’s head rested a Roach, a hair piece worn to make an appearance of a flattened out mohawk. It was made with the finest of hair of wolf and deer. The tail of the roach cascaded down the back of his neck and rested just past his shoulders. In the center of the roach was the repeat of beadwork design found on the pants. And there sprouting from the very center of the hair piece were two beautiful eagle feathers. He wore wide bands of copper on both wrist and carried with him a dance stick adorned with eagle and retail hawk feathers. Swinging from his hip was a tobacco pouch made of the same buckskin pulled through a hollow turtle shell.

  On board of the Solar Star Base, Keo was the most ancient of all the people. The population of Solar Star Base have grown slowly to 2500 people since they first escaped the Nuclear Holocaust some 200 years ago. Keo has been there every since, seeming to never age - as if he has a purpose to the whole Cause. No one knows why his is ageless, but they do know that Keo is the spiritual guide of their space traveling tribe and is well respected.

  Standing proud, Keo motioned again to Keith. “Come Keith, there are some Great Grandfathers of our ancestors who await us for counseling. They know you by your spirit name, Man of the Wind.”

  Keith obeyed. He had learned to trust Keo in the past. He had learned to love Keo as much if not more than his own Father. As Keo’s arm was placed around Keith’s shoulder, the gray mist lifted.

  Together they stood outside of an old Lodge, that some of the Old People once dwelled in. Keith remained speechless as he rubbed his hands up and down the animal hide that made up the wall of the dwelling. He could see the smudged top of the Lodge where many fires had sent their smoke.

  Keo clasped Keith’s arm and simply said, “Come”, then quickly led Keith inside the Lodge like a lost little puppy.

  Once inside, none of the training as a starship fighter could have prepared him for what he now saw. There were four Elders sitting upon a dirt floor, dressed in their splendid ceremonial dress. These four men looked older than time itself, yet their eyes were bright and full of life. They wore custom dress originating from each of their own separate tribes. Again there was more animal hide and beads, shell and quill work that adorned the mighty Men. One of them wore a huge band of feathers, another a Roach and yet another had a simple cap with beads and quill design telling a story of a famous battle from a long time ago, and the forth wore a band across his forehead with beautiful beadwork.

  To Keith, what he was witnessing, was what he knew as folklore from his history library. Keo and him joined them in a circle around the fire pit. There was silence for a long time as each Chief took their turn puffing on an ancient prayer pipe full of sacred tobacco. Keith was very familiar with the tobacco. In the Forest Room, the Reservatory on the Solar Star Base they grew these same tobacco for special occasions and ceremony and to pray with.

  The pipe was handed to Keo next. Taking the red bowl in his left hand, he slowly took it to his mouth, watching Keith from the corners of his eyes the whole time. Keo than pa
ssed the pipe to Keith, “Draw on this four times. It will bring you closer to the Great Spirit and put your mind in the right way, and then the council will begin.”

  Keith’s hands trembled as he took the pipe. With his eyes closed, he drew in the herb’s once and then again. Though he smoked with a prayer pipe before, he drew too hard and his breath sputtered as he handed the old relic to the Elder sitting on his left. When he opened his eyes back up, he saw all four of the Grandfathers giving him a toothless grin. He then began to relax and accept his surroundings.

  The Grandfather next to Keith spoke first. The words smoothly passed his cracked lips, “Once a long time ago, we all counseled a very young boy. We told the same things we need to tell you. His powers and leadership served the People well, however, there was a stronger force against us then. A strong force still exist out there in the black space you share. You know them as your enemy. The people who want the Mother Earth solely for themselves and do not understand being stewards of the might Earth. It will be written for someone else to conquer that battle, but you my son, will serve the position of the Protected One.”