Before the year of the First Winter, Sun knew only of one people: her own. They were farmers, living off of the work of their calloused hands and sore backs, but knowing of nothing but great health and joyous spirits.

Then one day, she woke up to see her people’s fields and orchards covered in white, like how they covered the faces of their deceased with a white cloth. The winds were colder than anything they had felt before, freezing the tears upon their cheekbones.

Still, her people kept their hopes, they rationed what they had and gathered together in one large house to share a great, roaring fire. They believed—they had to believe—that the winter must end, and that spring will arrive to save them from starvation.

But by the time their pantries ran empty, spring hadn’t arrived, instead, it was Moon and her people that knocked on the door of their home. Moon’s people were of the winter, clothed in animal hides and packing sleds full of meat. They never had a home like Sun’s people, but they were always searching and finding new homes. Today, when they happened upon the snow-covered farm, Moon grew concerned and sought them out. She offered them food, and Sun offered their hearths and homes in return.

Moon’s people hadn’t planned to stay, but they found the land bountiful and the fires warm. When the winter finally ended, Sun’s people shared their harvest, which came reliably and steadily, unlike their hunts.

Slowly over time Moon and Sun grew close together to the point they sought each other’s company whenever they could. While out on long hunts, Moon craved to return to Sun’s warmth, and Sun counted the seconds working the field without Moon by her side.

It was on one of these days of hunts that seemed to last forever that a stranger visited Sun. His face was covered under the shade of a wide-brimmed hat and he walked over to her with a slow and steady purpose. He offered her a story, speaking with a deep, knowing voice that sounded as if it came from within a cave.

“A story?” Sun asked, having never heard of such word.

“A story, my dear Sun, is an event that may have happened, may happen, or may never happen in all of time.”

“A lie, then.”

“A story is many things, but it is never a lie. I offer this story to you, and you may do with it as you wish. You may share it, or keep it for yourself, but only know that once a story is told, it can never be taken back.”

Having no reason to mistrust the man, Sun nodded and listened to his story. He told her about a barbaric people that murdered to live. They were as clever as they were strong, at times patiently setting up cruel traps made of teeth, while other times, mercilessly beating the heads of their victims with clubs made of bone. They knew of nothing but violence and deceit. Travelling from place to place searching for victims, offering them gifts to enter their homes before murdering them in the night. The only survivors were the people wise enough not to trust so willingly.

He said the next part slowly, making sure that Sun could hear every word. “They say, wherever they go, winter follows.” And with that, he bowed to her and walked away, vanishing into the forest.

Sun didn’t know what to make of the story, but she was shaken by the violence and evil, that she ran to her people and told them what she had heard. She didn’t understand the meaning of the story, or that one could even exist, but the part about the survivors seemed a poignant warning.

There was a long silence following the story, and when she felt their fears in the vibrations of the air, she realized her mistake. Then the knocks came at their door, and the whole house jumped. Moon and her people entered, smiling and carrying the bounty of their bloody hunt, only to be met with strange glares. Sun looked around at the eyes of her people who now looked at the hunter’s tools as torturous weapons and their strength as a risk. Sun’s people rose from their seats, shouting and threatening the hunters out of their land by the point of their pitchforks.

They were banished without a reason given, before Sun and Moon could say farewell. Sun, with tears on her cheeks, tried to change the old man’s story, telling a different rendition where it was a lie, but her people’s minds couldn’t be changed. The story was told, and it was forever a part of them.

Thoughts…

I’m so far really enjoying reading and listening to King’s work. I had never thought of the “dangers” of storytelling like the way he tells it. I’ve always been keenly aware of responsible writing as my own writing can sometimes lead to dark places. It’s the type of thought that says, of course, you can write from the perspective of evil/racist/sexist/etc people and they can get away with what they do because it is only realistic, but you have to be careful not to be misunderstood and display them in a positive light or even worse, be encouraging such actions for your readers. King’s type of responsibility is completely different than this, and I love how he uses the difference of the stories coming from Christian cultures and Native cultures to differentiate their cultural values.

I loved reading this story out loud to my friends, I really feel the voice come through so much stronger reading it to people than it does when I read it in my head. I chose to change the story in the way I did because I think the Witch Convention was not a good analogy to teach people why telling a story could be harmful, or even why a story told couldn’t be taken back. I believe that people can become racist without ever having a negative interaction with the said race, due to fear-mongering stories which can lead to an echo-chambers of hate. This is the type of thought that I was trying to channel into this story – something that an innocent person might hear about a group of people and it becomes forever associated, no matter how hard they try to correct it. Let me know what you think about this story!

Citations

Stibel, Jeff. “Fake News: How Our Brains Lead Us into Echo Chambers That Promote Racism and Sexism.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 15 May 2018, www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2018/05/15/fake-news-social-media-confirmation-bias-echo-chambers/533857002/.