Storytelling for Week 9: FIRE

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There it was, lying in front of them. This was the mysterious phenomenon the animals have all been waiting for. It flickered constantly, was a bright orange color that they had never seen before, and moved so elegantly in the wind as it blew. The water spider had just brought back fire in her bowl, and now all of the animals were sitting in a circle around the fire and just staring blankly into the flames. They all heard of the great flames that arrived and knew they must have it, but no one really understood why they were all obsessing over it. They had accomplished their goal of obtaining the fire but what was next? No one knew what to do with this so called “fire.” So they continued to stare at it for hours and hours. They were amazed by the glory of the flame and the bright future that it represented. They did not realize it at the time but at that exact moment they were having the very first campfire.

Finally, the water spider stepped forward and proposed they investigate the fire. This came as no shock to the other animals because the water spider was the only animal able to successfully return with fire, and was therefore seen as the bravest animal. It seemed only fitting that she was the one who tested out the fire and figure out its capabilities.

All of the other animals watched the spider with suspense as she approached the bowl, and everyone stayed silent as she did. She reached out one of her legs and slowly moved it toward the fire. Moments later she shot backwards with a scream. It did not take her long to figure out the that fire was extremely hot and would burn things. The animals knew then that fire was not something to be messed with. Fire was dangerous but it was also curious to them because it the colors and the way it flickered was so beautiful to them. It was the first time that they had experienced something that was both dangerous and beautiful.

After being burned the spider talked about this hot feeling the fire provided. With great caution the spider approached the fire again. She knew to not get close enough to touch it but just close enough to feel the heat. She described the feeling as being the sun at night. She said it was comforting and warm. This immediately provoked the other animals to want to feel the heat. They all lined up for the chance to get close to the fire. Each time a new animal stepped up to the fire they seemed very nervous but then every time they walked away from the fire they had this calm look of happiness on their face.

It did not take them very long to realize they could grow the fire in size to serve more creatures at once. There was a lot they still had to learn about the fire, but they were excited to do so. Everyone was amazed by the effects of the fire and were instantly grateful they had it in their life and for forever.

Author's Note: I wrote my story, FIRE, is based on and created for the story, The First Fire. The original story is about fire being place on Earth for the first time. In the story there are a wide variety of animals who take turns to go to the fire and try to retrieve it from a far away place. After a lot of attempts, a water spider is finally successful, and she brings back fire for all of the animals. The original story ends by just saying that she brought fire and they forever have fire. We never learn much detail about their life with fire. In my story I wanted to show how the animals reacted to the fire and what they first thought of it. I realized that it would be absurd to just assume that the animals would know what to do with the fire. The readers needed to know how the dealt with it. So I did not decide to change anything in my story, but instead I wrote an explanation and detail to make the original story a little bit more credible. I think readers will be able to understand the original better after reading my story.

Bibliography: This story is part of the Cherokee Myths unit. Story source: Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900). It is based on the story, The First Fire.