the Stroking

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS!

Houseboats were to get further away from sharing too much space with the WOLVES that would get into our heads... had to prove the loyalty of every other tribe and shield or else there would be violence where it was supposed to have none FAR away from the rest of the world.. please stop thinking that people of the sky were rapists merely because you have been living among cats or something too much?

Pride is the worst sin!

Of course things might change the further you go to another direction as the devil was found where the goat hides were not enough and people would be more motivated to take seal skins or whatever from others among other things... because of the addition of cattle.. either way I was merely PRACITING and would not consider these to be "A-rated" film ideas quite yet.. if you have already read what I was writing please understand that I was not getting enough space to be able to have a cleaner head or habit.

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The weeks following the death of his wife he tattooed himself with the help of some tribe members and the local Crone who had blessed him with wishes of memorable visions and more energy to work harder for the rest of the living. The following days he did not sleep and kept venturing out into the woods alone in search of his wife... as was tradition. He did not even worry about the safety of the children and this frightened them as it was so out of character but neighbors did stop by once in awhile to check on them. He did not have a normal look in his eyes and when returning it was obvious that he had wept a lot. On the final day of mourning he went to sleep and had the kids gather many different pieces of artwork that he made while on his journey of letting her go back to nature for now until he was ready to join her. The next day he was filled with much more energy than usual and on this day the tattoo on his left wrist had been completed.
He startled his kids when he had suddenly started talking again like nothing bad had ever happened and he was obviously anxious to get back to work with new-found energy that frightened the children in a way difficult to describe... like he was on a spiritual high. He was not eating food much if at all but drank much more water than usual. They took extra care to groom all of the animals and tidy up everything rather than the work on the chores which they regularly did. Something was obviously different and it was obvious that things would never be the same.
It had been a couple weeks since their Mother died and their Father seemed to be stressed far more than usual and nervously groomed himself as if expecting the most important company. All of their chores for the day were canceled and they were told to look their best. Instead of gathering berries all morning they had to find as much dry timber as possible, adding to a huge stack which Dad had already prepared. After that they stripped as much dry bark as they could find, also adding to an already huge but somewhat damp pile. It appeared that he was about to make more tar than ever before and kept assisting with their grooming themselves, showing them how to do it a bit differently with the reflection of still water in a nearby dark pot one of the neighbors must have brought to them. Their hair was braided from the front with the help of one of the neighbors because of the complex design and the time that it took to do it while the rest of it was chopped or burned off... the Father removing all of his hair with fire due to the possibility of fleas while he was in the woods and to be sure to be as clean as possible. Many people during this time were either cutting most of their hair off or burning all of it off entirely whenever this had occurred and the kids had no idea what made this occasion so special... the people who did not seem to have them kept what hair that remained tightly knit so that anything living in it would be immediately noticeable.
While they were ready for what was next he just told them to wait in grim silence and  then started to remind them of the evils of the people below them in a more serious tone. They loved hearing about the dangers from there, especially on those late nights that they were allowed to stay awake and hear the tales of horrors outside of their home around the fire. Those below them carried the Tickle and it not only killed children, but was capable of killing and burning everything that they knew and caused great sickness that could wipe out all life as they knew it. They were taught that what kept them safer was being above them and staying as clean as possible while always working harder than ever, no matter how old one became or how much rest they had earned. He assured them on this unusual day that they should always remember all of the stories about those below them which were true and sincerely looked at each of them in the eyes when he told them to remember everything that he had taught them as if their lives depended on it. Out of seemingly nowhere he muttered something about those from heaven becoming like those from below someday being possible... but stopped himself.
Nervously, he kept checking where the Sun was in the sky as if he was expecting something to happen at a certain time. They knew by this that he was preparing for something more serious than ever before. Whatever it was he was expecting, it must have been one of the most important lessons ahead for them that he ever had to give or something along those lines. When asked if he was going away he remained quiet. He then made it worse and told them to choose one of the baby cows to sacrifice to those below them. He then looked at the ground, sighed, then for the first time he appeared frightened and gave them the look which meant that they must obey and that there was nothing he could do about it.
With a look of horror, he had noticed a flea on clover’s head but had to touch it to make sure that it was really there as lately his eyes played tricks on him. Despite her cries and begging he made her burn off the rest of her beautiful red woven curls as fast as he could in a way that made him seem more cruel than he had ever been before. Branch tried to sneak away when the process was almost complete but the Father caught him frozen in his tracks with a stern look. Both of them had all of their hair burned off.
As ordered, the pouting children then went to their stock which they loved and to the young which was their favorite then asked him what they were going to do with the cutest calf, afraid of what would happen if they had picked their favorite. He said that the baby would need to be given as a sacrifice to teach those below us that our ways were accepted in the eyes of all those in the heavens and also to pick the best one. For the second time he left them alone together without adult supervision and instructions to stay put no matter what because there could be something evil in the forest that was not there before. Today was a day that someone below them who do not understand their ways may try and hurt them or take them away or that someone above them might kidnap one and for an unholy sacrifice. But why would anyone want to harm the children? Because there were hungry monsters they were always taught that those in need should be feared no matter what although people tended to die from refusing to ask for help making them possibly too polite overall. There were places in the world that were so crowded that almost everyone was in need of help of some kind and may simply take everything that they wanted without asking for it because they needed it and they may not even challenge a disagreement or duel ahead of time... he left them to think of this by themselves. As the children waited they thought that they heard creatures in the woods far away... sounds that they had never heard before. The only thing that kept them from fleeing in terror was knowing and trusting that their Father would not leave them in danger on their own.
Sure they talked about running away or hiding because he was acting so strange but there was nowhere to go. The nearest neighbor was not far away but before they mustered the courage and took a chance of being eaten by one of the many known monsters they heard about he came back and gave Clove what appeared to be a shiny sewing needle and asked Branch to put the biggest and flattest leaf he could find onto the water in the pot... something that they used to do for fun when visiting the nearby streams was to have leaf-boat races so they were used to this. As they grew older the leaves became actual boats made from twigs and leaves.
After he confirmed that the leaf was floating he told his daughter to think of how much she loved the baby calf and wanted her to live while she pet her with the magic needle. The children were already used to treating their cattle in this fashion and they called it the Stroking. He told her to stroke the fur only one way or the magic would not happen because there was only one way to love something. He then told the boy to join her and give the baby the most loving pets possible so he did and they did this for several minutes. This was the only time that he seemed completely interested with reverent awe in watching them perform a Stroking.
The needle he gave her was a metallic shard made into a needle which sparkled more than anything they had ever seen before with tar glue and a small bone ring for the thread to go into.All of their tools were made of mostly bone, stone, or wood and they had never seen iron before... the only things that came close were the family copper hand-axe and community saw which were also believed to have some magical powers. They sparkled in the light as well and in the same manner. He told them to carefully place it onto the floating leaf and then they all watched in wonder as the leaf turned as if by some magical unseen force to point the end of the leaf in a different direction, towards the beach. That was the direction which he said those above them lived and also where the star people were located that he always told them about. They could not help but drop their jaws in wonder as he allowed them to try it again to make sure that the needle always pointed that way no matter how it was placed in the leaf or what direction it previously pointed.
He said that he would prove how much that he loved them and picked the needle up while giving the leaf a spin... then he stroked the needle against her cloth she wore many times as he told her how much he cherished her, reminded her of different times they had shared together, and he told her that he would never forget her no matter what happened while he placed his other hand on his heart. After what may have been hundreds of strokes he placed the needle back on the floating leaf and they watched in awe as it seemed to guide the leaf to point toward the beach again or the star of the Heavens. He told her that she was more beautiful than the Moon and to stay strong around people without losing her tempter.
He picked up the needle and then took a turn with his son. He admitted that he was not the best fighter the world had ever seen and that there was always someone who would be better and stronger somewhere else no matter how much one trained. He asked his only son to be stronger than him and reminded him that he must live long enough to witness his final rest as they had already seen recently with their Mothers funeral and also assured him that he was strong enough, stronger than he was at his age. He assured him that he was proud and to be brave in the rough times ahead as he held back his tears and almost felt as if he was being choked looking into his child’s eyes. He then put a dangerous looking club into his hand and told him that it was a very special branch and with their combined love they could defeat any evil foolish enough to try and inflict harm upon them. The boy barely noticed that his Dad was stroking the needle against his cloth in the same way he did with his sister. After turning the leaf a bit he placed it on top and again they saw the leaf point toward the beach, proving without a doubt that their Fathers words were true and that the magic of love he spoke of was real.
The grieving Father could not hold back tears completely while he told them to put the chosen sacrifice on their bed after a nice wash and when they complained of the dirt he reminded them to clean it better than ever before, dry it off with their bedding, and also mentioned that they would be getting a new bed soon so it did not matter much. It was obvious that he was holding something back but he did not have it in him to tell them what was to come or for some reason was not allowed to. He also explained that every thought was true and how wrong it was to lie because a person is unable to add to the thought for a good destination otherwise. Where they go when they sleep is where all of the lies could be found but every lie ever told also was there for a reason and there was a hidden meaning behind every deception waiting to be found. When thoughts connected to feelings felt all over the body, it was considered to have more truth than other thoughts because the good direction was felt which was love and pointed them in the right direction. Going through the ring was said to do this for people and the next ring to be found was always above them, not below them. What came from below them was meant for other life and other ways which were potentially harmful to the ways of their family. They were taught never to treat what came out from below as waste because it would hurt Nature and the Mother of all things needed it to help them grow stronger. To explain the importance of everything, no matter how different something else may be, he showed them the strongest magnet that everything shared, gravity. The rock he dropped had a feather design molded into it and he gave it to his son in a way that assured its value.
Next he glued twigs around their necks, wrists, and ankles... careful not to burn the skin with the tar using hardened-leather where the flesh met the heat and explained that this was a very important day, one that would be remembered forever, and that they have finally entered the rings which he and their Mother had always told them about. He told them that if they ever needed strength in the future, they could hold onto this moment and remember that they would meet again someday so long as they gave it their best and kept their focus on good moments. Again he put a finger to his temple and a hand on his heart then told them that like their Mother, a part of him was always with them whenever they thought about it. All they had to do was use the greatest magic of all, their minds. What was to be found was a place where the sky did not cry as much and they would find something like luck more powerful than any clover could bring. They were to stay strong and were chosen sacrifices just as the calf was.