I Know Your Name

 

            It was a high point in the breathless arc of a summer day in the Great Forest. Noon.
            Cherry had learned a thing or two from her friends, the Puma Bros. One of these things was to find a leafy spot underneath the local underbrush, where it is was cooler than the surrounding forest, and to rest there, in seclusion. Many times they had all three shared such a retreat. The cats crouched as cats do, golden eyes closed, panting.
            Cherry sat alone this time, on the forest floor, legs crossed in what they used to call Indian Style. On this particular summer day, she held court among the small creatures of the forest. She had the gift of speaking to the animals. Sometimes a few mice would come to  her with a tiny dispute, and she would help then sort it out for she had their confidence. Even insects would fly near her, and they would speak together about their lives, hers and theirs. She had the heartfelt respect of the dragon flies, other flies, mosquitoes even, and if truth be told, even fleas respected her. No flea had the temerity to bite Cherry!
            Many times small brown rabbits and their children stopped by, mostly to pay their respects. Rabbits are very adept at living their own lives successfully.
            So, once again, it was a typical day hidden away in the leafy undergrowth where enough sunlight reaches the ground to encourage bushy growth. A fisher cat had come and gone, staying just long enough to announce the progress of her kits.
            Cherry could hear an unfamiliar sound. A sort of low sad squeaking. She hadn’t heard anything like that before. It came closer as the moments went on and she listened silently. She heard light footsteps, and a sort of dragging sound maybe, like there were two creatures coming, but one of them wasn’t walking correctly.
            She waited, hands on knees, icy blue eyes looking in the direction of the strange whimpering cries and the footsteps.
            At last, a yellowish doglike animal appeared. He was not alone. He was accompanied by a much smaller version of himself. The small one didn’t really seem to walk along, he had to be nudged and dragged too, and his eyes were closed. The whimpering sound came from the small one.
            “Cherry!” said the father, for such he was. “I know your name!”
            “I know your name too, Jumpstart,” said Cherry in return greeting.
            “Have you brought me one of your children, Jumpstart?” she asked, formally.
            “My son, Cherry,” answered Jumpstart.
            “Tell me his name?” said she.
            “His mother called him Darkness, because he neither sees, nor speaks, or walks either, and yet as you see, he lives, but in darkness,” said Jumpstart, with his son huddled between his forelegs.
            “Yes. I think I will give him a new name. Are you willing to let me name him,” said Cherry. “That would be a good start.”
            “I know you, and yes, I trust you. Name my son,” said Jumpstart with a Coyote tear on his cheek.
            Cherry looked deeply into the young thing’s heart. She waited and listened for an answer. At last a name came to her.
            “His name shall be Sky, Jumpstart. Do you agree?” said Cherry.
            “I agree, yes,” said Jumpstart, and from that moment his son became Sky.
            “Sky” said Cherry, “open your eyes.”
            For the first time in his life, Sky opened his small brown eyes.
            “What do you see?” said Cherry.
            “I see my father. And I see you, Lady,” said the child, who had left off whimpering, in order to speak. “I see the forest all around me!”
            “Will you walk to me?” Cherry asked him, and he willingly trotted right over to where she sat. Then he sat as all canids do, looking all around himself, panting with his little pink tongue lolling as all canid tongues do.
            “Sky, will you do as your father does? Will you obey your mother? Will you do all things as a Coyote should from today?” Cherry asked Sky, formally.
            “I will do all as my father does,” Sky said. “I will obey my mother, yes. I will do all things as a Coyote should!”
            “I know you will,” said Cherry. She couldn’t help smiling.
            “Take him to his Mama, Jumpstart,” said Cherry. “I was very pleased to meet him!”
            “Yes, Lady Cherry, I will,” said Jumpstart. And with that, Jumpstart and Sky trotted away home.
            As Cherry rested her eyes for a little while, a small wind came from playing over the Silver River, to toss the leaves surrounding her. He stayed as long as she rested, then went on his way.
            When her eyes opened again, she thought of her mother, Ramona, and went to find her. Like every other day, she lived under Ramona’s teaching, desiring to be like her in every way.
            When she found her mother, Ramona said, “I think we should all go play in the river. Today is extra warm!”
            Ralph, who had been kind of snoozing in the heat agreed, so they all went over to the river to play until the sun had nearly set. While they were there, he gathered some fish, for an easy, quick dinner.

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