Ayasha's Adventure - Chapter one - The Reservation
_ "Alright alright settle down everybody,"_ I said with a grin. This was my third time visiting my family on the reservation in Wisconsin and upon my arrival I was immediately surrounded by the children of the village. "Ayasha!" They would scream "have you returned to tell us more stories?" Every year I would come and tell stories to the children. Stories my great grandmother told me when I was a child. I smiled and nodded "But first I must get changed." I had come in jeans and a tank top but on the reservation it was customary to wear buckskin clothing and moccasins. I went to my little teepee, the villagers built it for me on my first visit and it's been here ever since. I quickly changed and put my clothes into a small pack in the room before going back outside. As I walked through the village I was greeted by almost everyone I passed, they all knew who I was since it's such a close knit community. I smiled at all the children running about and playing with the stray dogs and chasing the wild chickens and turkeys. I could feel the energy of the people around me, it was so refreshing. I walked slowly, taking in the spring breeze and the smell of the pine trees only stopping to pet the horses and the dogs that scampered by every so often. I loved this place more than any place in the world and I regretted having to leave every fall but my I had one more year of college to finish. I wandered off a bit into the forest to pick a few flowers to make dyes for the nightly celebration and smiled as I came across a few small blueberry bushes, picking them and placing in my small leather pouch.
I looked at the sun and smiled, I came here a bit late for a reason, just in time to tell stories around the fire. I started walking to the village square with all the children hot on my heals. I smiled as I saw the elders starting the wood pile for the nightly bonfire. I watched the sun sink and tint the world red as if saying a personal goodbye to us. I smiled as a little girl grabbed my sleeve and pulled me to the campfire and we all began to paint our faces. In our tribe we had a tradition that we would paint up as certain animals during a full moon, since tonight was such a night I was painted as a raccoon. I smiled and sat down for the dancing and singing, waiting my turn to tell my story. The dancers bounded around the flames, chanting and singing at the top of their lungs, songs of our ancestors, animal skins and heads adorning their bodies. A man dressed as a fox bounded in front of me and howled loudly with a smile upon his painted face. I smile back and chittered in reply and he laughed gruffly before bounding away. I watched them in a trance, loving every moment of it. The fire eaters and the medicine men joining in chorus to praise the gods and goddesses of this world. Each god was represented by an animal. The wolf of the earth Kanaji, the monkey of fire Morai, the serpent of water Sabria and the owl of the air Linaya. They were the guardians of this world and we worshiped them tonight as our tribe does every full moon.
I could see the moon hanging high overhead, it's pale white light forcing shadows upon the land. I could see the shadows of the dancers and gasped at what I saw, instead of humans they were animals bounding along the ground, wolves bears eagles and more. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the fox man again, the fox fur draping along his back and upon looking down to his shadow I see a fox instead of a man. I couldn't believe my eyes, a quick lucid memory flashing through my head. I caught myself tearing up at the memory, my heart constricting as I held on to the memory. The girl next to me tugged on my sleeve and handed me a pear "Here Ayasha.. eat this." she said with a smile, her face was painted like a rabbit and I looked to her shadow, seeing the shape of a rabbit, sitting timidly beside me... I blinked and pretended not to see, thinking that I had gone crazy. I turned my head and watched my family and friends dancing, their animal-shaped shadows dancing with them perfectly. "Ayasha, tell us a story!" the children shouted over the roar of the celebration. I smiled and took my place on a small stump and began to tell a story... no, not a story but a memory about my adventure to a mysterious world where dreams and reality collide. A place called Arboreal.