Week 11 Story: The Raven's Moon

The Raven's Moon 

(Image Information: Image by Pixabay)

Perched atop a low hanging branch was a young boy named Zander. All-day and all night, Zander went to his favorite tree. Then he lifted his head and his bright blue eyes to the heavens and cried to his mother. "Mother, please give me the moon."

Each time she heard her son's cries, the white, translucent spirit woman came down to the Earth. Her long dress flowed at her sides. With the white and gray sphere gently cradled in her arms, the woman appeared before her young son and gave him the moon in order to silence him. However, she warned him the moon was considered to be fragile. If the moon broke into pieces, then the whole world would be swallowed in eternal darkness. 

Time and time again, the mother and her son had played this game. She advised him to not fracture the moon, and he replied with a quick nod and neglected her words of wisdom.

Again, Zander repeated his child-like ignorance by nodding and disregarded her motherly advice. See, he was a shapeshifter, and he often enjoyed the fly and freedom of a bird, which is why he took the form of a black raven many times. He took to and played with the moon as if it was a toy. The small raven boy threw the moon up into the air like it was a ball. Then he caught it between his beak or under his wing.

The young raven liked to carry the moon to many different places where he had many adventures. Once Zander flew to toward a high-peaked mountain topped with snow. After landing on the mountain's tip, the raven boy tossed the round glowing sphere into the air as he was ready to catch it. However, an invisible force much greater than the raven pulled the moon down the ground.

Zander flew as fast as he could, but it was too late. The beautiful moon shattered into millions of pieces. The young boy sobbed and sobbed.

Mother was right.

He thought himself guilty and had doomed the Earth to eternal darkness.

Suddenly, Zander's mind was struck with an idea. He gathered all the broken pieces he could carry and placed each one as close as he could to the heavens. When he finished, the young raven looked up at the once black sky and was proud of his work.

Authors Notes:

I thought the original story was way too long and repetitive. I decided to condense it into a short version. The original tale was confusing as to how the raven could transform into a boy but isn't, so I decided to make him a shapeshifter. Then I thought the story took too long to explain how the mother would give the raven the moon, but then take it back. She repeated this over and over and over and over again. This is why I summarised that in one sentence. Also, I tried to give the raven some personality.

Bibliography: 

Raven and Moon Woman by Katharine Berry Judson (1917).