The best way to experience this story
is to tell it
or hear it be told.
LEAVING HOME
Part 1: Hummingbird and Dine
There was Hummingbird
out in the mountains,
on a branch
up high in a meadow.
There was an american
named Dine.
Dine heard Hummingbird
flying up the valley
and followed.
Dine collects five fresh raspberries
to share
with Hummingbird.
He smushes them in his palm,
and holds his hand up.
Hummingbird lands
on Dine's thumb
and drinks
the raspberry juice.
Dine eats
the leftover seeds
and skins.
Sweet.
The sun begins
to alight
the valley below.
Hummingbird and Dine bask
in Sun's warmth.
Hummingbird will stay with Dine
for a while.
Dine is covered
in soot
and soil.
All through the night
he stoked massive fires
to keep the valley warm.
Dine does this every night
during the cold season
to grow vegetables year-round.
The cold season is ending,
and the garden
is generously giving.
Hummingbird and her friends
arrived two nights ago.
They are overjoyed
to fill up on sweet nectar
from the early blooming berry bushes
and fruit trees,
and they are buzzing
and playing in the cliffs.
Dine breathes deep
and is grateful
for the warm garden valley.
A warm breeze rises.
A chill runs down his spine.
During the cold season
Dine stacked logs
across the steep
valley slopes.
This morning
he will fly across the valley slopes
and trigger massive log avalanches
that tumble
to the base of enormous stone furnaces.
Dine reflects
on the work he has done…
He made swoops and berms
of loose log,
ready to snap
when pressed.
He made log ramps
to fly off,
and log bridges
to keep his momentum.
He built five
massive log piles
above the biggest furnaces,
and hundreds of other piles,
all ready
to be released
down the mountain.
Dine is excited and nervous.
He tells himself
“I am strong.”
He assures himself
“I am prepared.”
Dine visualizes himself
traversing the steep slopes,
with his wings out,
feet vibrating with the rumble,
immersed
in a sound so deep
it is silent.
Dine picks up his wings
and puts them on.
He is ready.
Hummingbird buzzes with energy.
Part 2: The Tree Fall
Dine spreads his wings
and they catch the
warm upslope breeze beautifully.
He inhales deeply
and lets his body float in place.
His turkey feather wings
are woven with hummingbird feathers,
and packed with fluffy down.
They are sturdy,
keep him warm,
easily push aside fluffy snow,
and
at a run
he glides across the landscape,
almost like flying.
Hummingbird drops
a feather
down to Dine.
Dine catches it,
gives thanks,
and weaves it into his wing.
Though grateful,
Dine is also anxious.
Dine’s young cousin, Maji,
of 10 winters,
with whom he lives and cares for,
volunteered to deliver fresh produce
for the annual feast atop Black Mountain,
and Dine agreed to help
deliver the vegetables to Scout Line.
Tonight,
Dine and Maji will travel beyond
the protected borders of the village
where there are many unknowns.
Dine must leave the garden
to his friends' tending
for the night.
He fears his friend will fail
to keep the gardens warm.
Dine’s heart beats faster
at these thoughts.
He would rather stay home
and nurture the garden.
He breathes deep and tries to let this go for now.
Dine pulls his wood flute from his pack.
He inhales slow and deep,
and exhales into the flute,
projecting a warning
to anyone in the valley below.
The birds flutter,
and the chipmunks squirm.
He waits a moment…
there is no response.
All clear.
Hummingbird spins with anticipation.
It is time.
Dine leans forward.
His feet follow fast.
Within moments,
he is sprinting down the mountain,
wings out.
He traverses across
triggering massive log avalanches.
Booming and awesome.
The reverberations build.
The valley roars.
The vibrations carry
beyond the mouth of the valley,
and across the meadow.
Dine’s cousin, Maji,
dances in the meadow
to the rhythm of the tree fall.
Maji sings with the birds,
and twirls
in her tiny,
colorful wings.
Hummingbird’s friends
are in the meadow
feeding off her energy
and teaching her how to fly.
The bees buzz
in the flowers.
They are connected,
and their love is deep.
Part 3:
Dine and Hummingbird land
at the bottom of the valley,
elated.
The logs stop falling
but the reverberations continue.
The rhythm melds
into the earth,
and waves
through the village...