From the Ashes : A Creation Tale

Day 20

Prompt: A creation myth using a thread and feathers.

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In the days when the skies were void and the lands were yet to be formed, there existed a great phoenix. Her plumes of bright orange feathers lit up the darkness that had engulfed our planet, reflecting off of the great expanse of ocean waves.

Mother Phoenix emerged from the ashes of her dying planet and ventured throughout the cosmos in search of a refuge and home. Weary from her thousand-year journey, she descended upon Earth who was cloaked in water.

Her fiery complexion hissed as she neared the surface, preventing her from resting upon the face of the waters. A feather landed in the deep. Searing heat met the refreshing cool of the ocean and an island emerged from their union.

But this island was far to small for our Great Mother to rest upon, so she continued to hover over the rippling ocean, dropping feathers whithersoever she went. As each plume kissed the face of oceanic Earth, an island was formed to mark their cosmic union.

There were creatures within the depths of Earth who for centuries upon centuries lurked at the bottom of the endless ocean, searching for light. They multiplied themselves in their relentless search for illumination, hoping that by sheer number they would one day find such a sight.

But it was not within the depths of Earth that they did find their light, but rather from beyond and above. On the day that Mother Phoenix descended upon Earth, the waterlings began their long journey from the depths, pursuing the great light which emanated from her bosom.

The waterlings broke through the surface of the water and inhaled their first breath of the overworld. Squinting from the arid atmosphere above the waters, they began to search for the light of our Great Mother to no avail. 

They swam and they swam until the came upon an island still humming with an ember of light. “The Illumination was here,” they murmured to each other, swimming under and around the strange land.

“Let us rest upon this island and let its warmth soothe our weary bodies.” 

And so they did. And they rested. And they remained on the island for far too long. Their fins thinned, and toes poked out from their feet. They began to walk and to explore this strange new land. 

Their wandering of the dimming island tarried. Their hair grew long. Their hands grew nimble. Their eyes grew sharp, ever searching for that light they found so long ago.

The waterlings soon began to be earthlings, walking about clumsily in search of the Illumination. “Perhaps it isn’t here,” one said to another, “but on another island far away? Let us return to the ocean and seek out another land.”

“But what about this land? Our fins have become legs and we can’t swim for too long.”

“Then let us braid together our hair to pull this land along with us so that we may rest when we grow weary.”

And so they did. With the braids of their hair they threaded together a rope that they needled through the coastline and carried their newly found land with them in their search for the Illumination.

This went on for a long time as our ancient waterlings-turned-earthlings traversed the expanse of ocean for the Illumination that brought them to the surface. Along the way they found more dimming islands that they then sewed together to fashion a massive quilt of islands.

The earthlings grew tired. They became hopeless. They let go of their hair and clambered up onto the land, lying defeated in the muddy swamp lands. The Illumination was no more--gone as quick as it had appeared.

And so they slumbered a deep slumber, and they grieved a great grief.

Then in the midst of their sorrows a vibrant light blinded them, sending them into the darkness of the water to shield their eyes.

But the light did not fade as Mother Phoenix crashed with great relief onto the body of land sewn together by the earthlings. Her heaving sighs thrust mountains high into the heavens, piercing the clouds.

As Mother Phoenix tossed and turned in her fitful slumber, finally obtaining the rest she had been seeking for thousands of years, the ash from Mother Phoenix’s world was sprinkled onto the swamps, valleys, mountains, and plains. Soot blanketed all that had been before, turning the earthlings home into a dreary gray.

For years Mother Phoenix spread herself over the face of the earthen land. The ash seeped into the ground and even snaked into the ocean in wispy tendrils. The earthlings feared this Illumination to be a monster of darkness cloaked in light. The crystal clear waters of their homeland turned a murky gray as Mother Phoenix continued to slumber.

This continued until the day a brave earthling emerged from the murky waters and confronted Great Mother with nothing in hand except a palsy invocation.

“Oh Great One, hearken unto our plea!” Brave Earthling nudged the beak of Mother Phoenix. “We have threaded together a land for our people, yet you have overtaken it and destroyed it with your dust and ash. Even our former abode of the depths of the ocean has become tainted by your slumbering antics. Please, for the sake of our people and for the sake of this planet, return to your home in the cosmos.”

Mother Phoenix rolled over and stood, towering above Brave Earthling. She scanned the lands to see how her ash had ruined their home: The deep blue ocean had become a thick gray sludge; the flat land had become bulged and bruised.

She bowed in an apology and flapped her mighty fiery wings. She retreated from the earth, but felt a burden for the earthlings. A regret for her deeds. So she remained nearby, high in the sky, to illuminate the world with her fiery plumes.

As the earthlings made their way back to the surface, they beheld a sight so strange and so wonderful they began to dance. The ash gave way to life, clothing the land with green grass. Trees began to take form, rising from the ash like kings and queens of the renewed landscape.

The Brave Earthling danced a new dance and sang a new song, directing the others to gaze into the heavens. There, Great Mother Phoenix flew, sharing her light with them. The ash that had darkened their land now burst forth with life.

From the ashes rose the Phoenix out of her home and into our own.

From the ashes of the Phoenix rose life and color upon our land .

Under the span of Mother Phoenix’s great wings do we dance and sing, laugh and live blessed by her radiating light.

-(c) 2020 Kevin Barrick