Week 10 Story: What Summer Thought of Being Taken from the Sky

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Once upon a time when the Earth was new, there was only one season, Winter. The people of Earth, whether of the plains, the mountains, or the oceanside, lived in fear of the North Wind. As the Earth was still so young, there was still plenty of magic in it. The North Wind possessed some of this magic and was so powerful that he could shapeshift into the form of a human. The waters of the Earth were always icy, if not completely frozen over. The ground was caked with snow and thus mostly infertile. Earth’s people made thick clothes and large fires to battle the North Wind’s blows, and they questioned why they were subjected to such harsh conditions.

Perhaps you know the tale of the great O-jeeg who brought down the Summer from the heavens so that Earth’s peoples could enjoy its warmth. Brought down also were Spring and Autumn. These four seasons have since shared the responsibility of watching over the Earth. The North Wind was most displeased to be limited in his rule. His enemy was, of course, the South Wind, or Summer, the one who was responsible for the lush summers. Whereas the North Wind’s world was frozen, white, and would chill the Earth’s people to the bone, the South Wind was color, warm breezes, fertility, and life.

The South Wind was, in fact, quite sad to have been brought down to the Earth. Although he loved providing the Earth with warmth and comfort, he missed the celestial heavens greatly. Spring and Autumn did not seem to mind their time on Earth, but the South Wind often grew melancholic when his quarter year was up. He, like the other seasons, still had magic from the beginning of creation in him and would often transform into a human when his job was done. The South Wind would often climb a large mountain in this form and smoke his pipe while looking down at Earth’s valleys and rivers. When night came, he would look up at the stars and remember his time dancing among them. Wondering if he would ever be allowed to play in the heavens again, he drifted off to sleep until he was called upon to work again.

After centuries of living through this same cycle, the South Wind climbed his mountain once more preparing to smoke, watch the stars, and then sleep. The Creator knew of the dreams of Summer and hoped to assuage his worries. Once Summer had gone to sleep, the Creator gave him a dream. In the dream, the South Wind saw the end of the world. It was much more peaceful than he would have imagined. The Earth was swallowed by the sun, and the seasons were once again allowed to soar through the heavens. When he awoke, Summer knew that his time on Earth was only temporary, and this comforted him through the following millennia.

Author’s Note: The inspiration for this story comes from the American Indian Fairy Tales unit. I have used Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind in which both the North and South Winds are personified, as well as How the Summer Came in which all of the seasons but Winter are brought down from the sky. In Shin-ge-bis, the South Wind is said to go to the top of a hill every year and smoke after his job is done before he sleeps and the North Wind takes over. These actions seemed very melancholic to me, so I wanted to explore this and depict what the Summer thought of being brought down from the sky. I added the dream to the ending, as no such Creator was mentioned in the tales. I hoped to give the Summer some comfort in a semi-unfortunate situation.

If you would like to read the American Indian fairy tales, click here: link.