Starfish by James Crowley Read Free Book Online Page B

of Napi, Napi the old Man.”
    â€œNapi?” Beatrice asked, pushing the hair out of her eyes.
    Their grandfather hesitated. “It’s late. You two should sleep and let me think about what has happened.”
    Beatrice watched their grandfather with a solemn expression on her face. He shifted uncomfortably.
    â€œOkay, okay, but just for a bit, now. You two need to join your friend there and get some sleep.”
    The children lay back in front of the fire.
    â€œFrom the start. way back, eh? Let’s see,” their grandfather began, “when I was a boy, the old ones used to say that there was a time when everything, this whole world, was covered with water. This was before the time of this land.”
    Lionel stared into the dancing firelight, trying to imagine what it would be like to ride a horse under that much water.
    â€œWaves rose and fell, crashed and churned, but nothing…only water.” Their grandfather sat forward with a creak of his rocker. “Well, almost nothing.
    â€œWay out, in the midst of this vast sea, there was a raft and there was an old Man on the raft—well, a Spirit, really, a powerful Spirit. The Spirit’s name was Napi, and he spent his days picking up various animals that had been left to fend for themselves across the great floods.
    â€œOne day Napi saw that he had collected many animals and that the raft was crowded. He thought that he must find a place where they could all live, so he told the Beaver to swim down to the bottom and bring him some mud. Napi thought that he could use the mud to make some land. So, the Beaver dove into the swirling waters.
    â€œThe Beaver was down a long time but then burst to the surface, gasping for breath. ‘No matter how deep…no matter how hard I swam…I could not reach the bottom,’ he panted.
    â€œThe old Man then sent the Loon, then the otter, but the water was still too deep. Napi asked all of the animals, ‘Do any of you think that you can reach the bottom?’ All the animals were silent, all except for a small Muskrat.”
    Lionel looked over at Corn Poe with heavy-lidded eyes.
    â€œâ€˜I will dive to the bottom and bring back the mud to you,’ the Muskrat announced.
    â€œâ€˜You?’ asked the Beaver. The Muskrat answered by diving off the raft and into the deep water.
    â€œThe Muskrat was also gone for a long time. The old Man figured he must’a drowned, but just when the old Man had given up all hope, the Muskrat appeared, floating, just about dead, on the horizon. The old Man pulled the tiny Muskrat onto the raft and saw that there was mud between his claws. The Muskrat had made it to the bottom.
    â€œNapi dried the mud from the Muskrat’s paw and spread it across the surface of the water, and there, land was formed. So, old Man and the animals said goodbye to the raft and traveled across the land, the old Man creating things as he saw fit. He told the rivers where to run and the trees, bushes, and flowers where they should grow. He carried with him a pocketful of boulders and stones so that he could build the mountains. He told the grass to grow on the plains, and the berries and roots to grow by the rivers.”
    Lionel felt his eyes closing. His grandfather’s voice sounded more distant.
    â€œWhen the old Man was done, he gathered the animals and told them, ‘Go live on this land. Drink from these rivers and eat this grass, these berries and roots.’
    â€œThe animals thanked the old Man and did as he asked them to do. Some of the animals went to the rolling prairie and some to the mountains…”
    Lionel fell asleep dreaming that he stood on the edge of the plains, a great woods at his back. The prairie now churned in a sea of swirling grass before him. He looked from the woods to a small raft as it crested a distant wave out on the rolling hills. Corn Poe, Beatrice, and his grandfather were on the raft, drifting farther and