The Other Brother

 

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived in the woods. He was a mean man, with nothing more than a spear for food. He was tall, standing at 6’ 6”. He had long, brown, tangled hair and a messy beard, with twigs and leaves entangled in it. He forgot how to smile over the years, and had four missing teeth. His voice was deep and cracked often. He had a thick bear skin jacket, and old leather pants he made years ago. He had a heavy burlap sack, filled with sticks, stones, arrowheads, and more. He smelled of smoke from the many fires he made to cook his meat. His nails were cracked, and he had many scars from fights with wild animals. He only ate meat, and it seemed as if the taste was trapped in his mouth forever.

            One day, the man decided to venture five miles down south, where he had heard the animals speak of a village. He was hoping to get some nice fruit or properly cooked meat, and some helpful resources. He would gladly kill everyone in his way.

            But on his journey, he ran into a squirrel.

“Sir, sir, you must not go to the village to hurt people!” the young squirrel squeaked. The squirrel was fluffy and black. It had little green eyes, and it’s tail was nearly as big as his body.

The man, furious, raised his spear, and said, “Go away squirrel! I don’t listen to dumb little animals like you!”

The squirrel just barely made it back home alive.

A little while later, the man ran into a fox. He had sleek, red fur, with patches on his chest and the tip of his tail.

“You know, if you want food, then you can just sneak in like me,” the fox suggested.

“That’s stupid,” the man replied.

“Um…” the fox thought for a second. “I mean, you could just...ask?” But the man just walked away.

A little while later, the man heard the hoot of an owl. He had heard rumors of one large, snowy owl in the forest that was extremely wise. And, coincidentally, that was the owl. He was so large it look like a cloud flying across the sky. He was mostly white with specks of grey scattered him. His eyes were a mix of yellow and orange, depicting flames. So when the owl came to the man, he listened.

“Young sir, if you want something from the village, just be kind,” the owl said in a deep voice.

            “Well, can you grant wishes, because I can’t imagine that coming naturally,” the man said, a superior look on his face.

            “In fact, I can!” the owl sounded surprised and pleased at the same time.

            A look of concern on his face, the man said, “Then do it.”

            The owl twisted his white and grey feathered neck around to see if anyone was watching them. “I will, if…” the owl trailed off and thought for a second.

            Maybe this owl is trying to trick me, the man thought.

            “If you can find the only tree bearing it’s leaves by sunset, I shall grant you your wish,” and the owl flew raised its wings, and flew into snow covered trees.

            If I do this, will the owl really make me a kind person, the man thought, or is he trying to trick me?

            A few minutes later, he decided to venture into the woods to find the tree. He then realized he only had seven hours until sunset, and began to panic. What if the owl will punish me if I don’t find the tree? The man began to frantically search the large woods, but all of the trees looked the same. Bare, dead branches, with bark peeling off their trunks.

            While he was walking through the woods, the man ran into a dark figure.

            “Hello , young sir,” the ghostly figure grumbled.

            “What do you want,” the man replied.

            “Nothing,” he said. “Except, I do not want you to move forward.”

            “Why should I trust you,” the man tried to step forward, but the figure lunged at him. “Who are you, anyway?”

            “Why I am...” the figure hesitated, but then continued on. “I am Death. And to have any chance at getting at getting past me, I will give you one of three things. A stone, a sword, or wind.”

            The man thought about this for a minute, but decided he didn’t have much time. “Give me...the wind.”

            “Okay,”  Death said, and let out a sigh. Death then put his hands in a position that looked like he was holding some spherical object. Then a blue, purple, and white mist appeared in his hands. He then put out his hands, letting the man take the odd...he didn’t know what.

            “Well, do it,” Death told him.

            “Do what?” the man asked. But then he realized. Wind was the only thing that could...kill him? Well, he was already dead, but he also wasn’t real. A rock would go right through him, a sword in the side would feel like he was being tickled, but the wind…

            The wind would blow him apart. He would be nothing more than a dark fog in the cold of winter.

            The man threw his hands out to Death, and caused huge gust of wind. The once large black figure turned to nothing but a pile of ash where he last stood.

            The sun was minutes away from setting. The man was still shaking about his experience with Death. Then the man spotted something in the distance. It was a large tree, with leaves so green and bark so smooth, it looked like it came from a child’s painting. There were gaps in the leaves, where it looked like sun was shining through, but the sky was only a pale grey, with bits of pink and orange here and there, where the clouds had not yet covered the colors of the sunset. He had found the tree just in time.

            Then he noticed the grey and white owl perched on a branch. His head was tucked under his wing in a sleeping position, but as the man approached him, the owl slowly raised his head.

            “Ah, I see you have made it,” the owl said sinisterly. “And just in time, yes?”

            “Yes,” the man said.

            “Well, I guess I must grant your wish then,” the owl sighed. “But first, I must know your name.”

            The man thought about this. He never thought he would need to tell someone his name. What was his name? Had he...forgotten? No. He couldn’t have. But he did.

            “I...I don’t know,” the man said. He looked down at the dirt and gravel at his feet, disappointed in himself.

            “Well then,” the owl trailed off. “I guess I don’t really need to know.” The owl mumbled a few words under his breath, ruffled his feathers multiple times, and then closed his eyes.

            The man’s whole world turned to darkness for who knows how long.

            Finally, everything came back to him. It was dark, but he felt different. He felt...kind.

            “Well, I guess you are ready to go of to the village,” the owl hooted.

            “Thank you, Owl,” the man said, and he smiled. It felt...natural.

            “You are welcome, kind sir,” and the owl flew into the night sky.

            The man spent a couple of hours trekking through the leaves and twigs, but finally made his way down to the village.

            He found out he had three brothers, named Ronald, Joshua, and Benjamin that he had deserted out of anger when he was 11. He met this mother and father, and got a job as a hunter. He found out his name, Peter. He got married to a beautiful woman named Lilia, and had three children. He then lived happily ever after.

The End