I don’t know what I expected to feel. I suppose I wondered whether Vin would wake, find me gone, and rush outside, but no light ever came on in the house. The moon came out from behind the clouds. I looked up to the blue night sky and saw its glow. Whatever may have happened then, I could feel something stirring around me, perhaps the wind or something else entirely. I won’t lie and say I didn’t find it exciting, the trembling of wind, the unknown presence of something watching me naked in the night. I sank down to my knees and felt the warm earth and grass. I ran my fingers along hedge branches and bushes. Something was there, I could feel it. I stood up again as if being summoned, stepping toward the house.

I heard the sound of wings. I looked up and saw a large bird perched on the roof of the house, its wings spread, looking down at me. It had me now, whatever it was. It had my attention. Who can say how long I was out there? I heard the wind, the sky, the trees. Welcoming the storm, I let the rain come down on me.

Tsala

BELOVED SON: when I look at the scope of our history, I can see the longing to hold on to people, to keep them close so they don’t leave. We were afraid they would depart and never return. I witnessed the removal of our people from our lands. We each have our own stories, which bring us together.

I loved your mother, Clara, more than any other person I had met. When I was a young man I found her by a stream near the mountains. I brought her gifts: a blanket and sweet corn. I told her about her natural beauty. Her eyes were like none I had ever seen, and eventually we were married, but it was not easy. Our story is similar to the old story of the young man who meets Laoka—a story that holds a special meaning for me. My great-grandfather told the story to my grandfather, who passed it down to my father, who passed it down to me. And now I will tell it to you, as it possesses a great lesson.

THE STORY OF LAOKA

A young man who was very lonely met a beautiful woman by the mountains and told her he was an honest and adept hunter.

“I like hunters,” she said. “Show me how well you can shoot a bow.”

He looked to the sky and squinted at the sun. He took his bow and an arrow from his bag and looked at a tree across the stream.

“I know when a man is acting a fool,” she said.

He stared straight ahead and shot his bow, which hit the tree across the stream. “That is what I was aiming for,” he told her.

The young woman was not impressed. She told him he was looking into the sky, not at the tree.

“I can skin a bear with my hands,” he said. “I have killed bears and snakes with my knife.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said. She became very suspicious of his stories and told him goodbye. He was sad but determined to win her love.

Walking away, he called out wearily for help. He sat on a rock and said he would give anything to win her. He held his head in his hands.

Would you give anything? He heard a voice speak from the darkness.

A large brown rodent with a dark snout and long tail crawled out of the brush. The rodent stood on its hind legs. This was Laoka, whose belly swelled at the sight of human and animal flesh.

Laoka staggered toward the young man, leaning down to tilt his hairy snout and making gurgling sounds.

The young man had heard stories of Laoka from the elders, stories of how he appeared in different form, as a snake or beast, and how he slaughtered birds and animals and then ate them. How his belly swelled and burst and then swelled again. How wasps flew from his mouth and attacked whatever person or animal he wanted to eat.

“Go or I will kill you,” the young man said. “I know who you are.”

Laoka was studying him to see what he was going to do. The young man lunged at him, and Laoka moved out of the way.

Laoka hissed, I can help you.

Then three sacred stones materialized before the young man: a dark-red stone, the petrified coral, love’s wisdom. A yellow stone, the topaz, to think of future generations. And a rose stone that healed a heart overwhelmed by sadness. The young man reached for the stones, but Laoka latched on to his hand with his mouth. The young man felt the teeth in the fleshy part of his hand, and he yelled out in pain.

Laoka let go and said, You can have these stones if you follow me to the fire.

The young man wanted to see the fire. Those who entered it disappeared, leaving no remains. It was a sacrifice to enter the fire, to reestablish a good relationship with the land and our nation, the earth, and the sky. It was the most sacred place, and it never appeared in the same location.

So the young man followed Laoka through the woods. The sun went behind a cloud, and the woods dimmed. He could hear his footsteps crackling through leaves and twigs. Soon they came out of the woods and upon a cave, where Laoka stopped and turned.

Before seeing the fire, Laoka hissed, you must first see selu, the corn.

The young man agreed and followed Laoka into the cave, where they sat on the ground and Laoka offered him ears of corn.

This selu contains a powerful energy. You should take them and feed them to the woman you are in love with. She will fall in love with you.

“How do I know you’re not tricking me?” the young man asked.

I find your young strength admirable. Now go.

The next day the young man arrived at the stream and saw the beautiful woman. She asked, “Where is your bow and arrow, adept hunter?”

“I brought you this corn,” he told her.