Chapter 1:
The First Dawn
"What time is
it," little Scruffy asked. His mama, peeked in the
doorway and frowned. "Much too late for little skunks
to be stirring in their beds." Scruffy's mama entered
the room and tucked the covers. "Sleep littleun," she
said in a kind voice. "You need your
rest."
But little
Scruffy couldn't shut his eyes. His mind was buzzing
with ancient tales he learned the day before. It was a
story describing the time before skunks and other woodland
creatures. "Tell me more of the First Dawn," little
Scruffy asked.
"It's too late for that now. Ask me
tomorrow. Now I don't want to hear any more from you."
She closed the door and left Scruffy in the dark to watch the
luminescent dial on the clock turn to 3:55. It didn't really
matter if his mother was willing to tell the story again.
Scruffy memorized every word. He repeated the ancient myth in
his mind...
In the
beginning, the world only consisted of water and air.
There was no land. The dim starlight was not strong
enough to penetrate into the deep sea. Creatures of the
ocean and creatures of the air never met in this twilight
world until a few animals of the sea learned how to breathe
air while some birds learned how to swim. It was then a
turtle, bobbing along the waterline, met a goose paddling on
the ocean. It was a shock for both of them to learn
that the other world inhabited creatures, for they had never
seen any living thing from the other realm before. The
goose and turtle began to talk.
The goose
explained that the birds in the sky have no place to rest
their wings while the turtle said that the lack of light in
the ocean made all the swimming creatures blind. Fish
bumped into turtles and turtles bumped into sea lions and sea
lions bumped their heads on the rocky ocean floor. It
was a most unpleasant existence.
"What is a rock" the goose
asked? The turtle swam down to the bottom of the sea
for a sample. And when the turtle surfaced with a stone
in his mouth the goose was
flabbergasted.
News of
this chance encounter spread quickly. The birds learned
about the hard stuff called rock while the fish learned about
light. It was then the birds and sea creatures decided
to have a meeting at the
waterline.
It was an
exciting event. The fish, for the first time, jumped out
of the water to talk to the birds while the birds dove into
the sea to talk to the fish. That is why we have diving
birds and flying fish today.
It was
decided that the birds and sea creatures would work
together. From the depths of the ocean the sea
creatures would bring land to the surface. From the sky
the birds would bring light to the
oceans.
In the
skies, the birds chose six of the strongest geese to fly high
into the heavens. They pulled a star down to the
atmosphere and created a sun. The world instantly
warmed. But it got too hot in one place and the sea
began to boil. It was then the birds got together and
flapped their wings as hard as they could. By doing
this, they created wind. The sun began to travel around
the world in circles, heating the world by day and letting it
cool by night. Birds still do this today. Look at
a bird perched on a rock or a branch and you will notice it
flapping its wings. The bird doesn't want to
fly. It is only making sure the sun is still
sailing across the sky.
The ocean
creatures knotted seaweed to make a fine rope. Then
they tethered it to the ocean floor, gathered their strength,
and pulled upward. For the first time dry land merged
with the sky. The birds, excited to see this, helped
pull on the seaweed ropes until the ocean floor was well
above the water. It was a glorious rocky outcrop
decorated with clinging starfish, muscles and clams.
Birds for the first time had a place to land and rest their
weary wings. And when the sun rose in the sky for the
first time, the rocky minerals on the new island sparkled in
the sunlight. The animals rejoiced. This was the
First Dawn.
Many other
islands were formed over the years. Loving the new dry
land, ocean kelp washed ashore and blossomed into bushes and
trees while the sea anemones slithered onto the islands,
planted their feet, and turned into beautiful flowers.
Some birds decided never to fly again, plucking their wings
short and walking on their feet.
Over time, land
gave birth to woodland creatures. The mighty bear, the
slinky cougar, the wide-eyed squirrel, and the most revered
of all animals, the magnificent skunk, were all born from the
first island. The animals of the sea and the animals of
the air were ever so happy that their efforts spawned these
new creatures. As islands turned into forested
continents, the First Island was left bare as a memorial to
the time when everyone worked together to make a positive
difference."
Scruffy tossed
and turned. Oh, how he wanted to visit Aurora
island. But, where could it be? It was said that
the wondrous place was forgotten and lost. There must
be clues, Scruffy thought to himself. As he finally
fell asleep, Scruffy vowed to hunt for Aurora
Island.
The morning sun
arrived quickly for nocturnal Scruffy but he was too excited
to sleep in. He had an Island to find! It took no
time at all for little Scruffy to preen and eat a protein
enriched breakfast of grubs and eggs before he packed up for
the adventure. He collected supplies for the
trip. And as he passed the tire swing in the back yard
he wondered how long it would be before he would
return.
As the sun began
to rise, it cast a luminous hue over the land. Scruffy
looked skyward, for he knew a fire red sky in the morning was
an omen. But what stops a headstrong skunk?
Definitely not a red sky.
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