Week 10 Story: Boy in the Moon

 Long ago in a quaint Alaskan village lived a little boy named Saysa. Saysa was the youngest of five boys and just wanted to grow up and be like them. Unfortunately, he was looked at as the runt of the group and much smaller than all his siblings. That never slowed him down much though, and he tried to do everything they did. 

Now in the same village lived a little girl named Mira who also was the youngest with three older brothers. Her brothers were extremely protective of her and were always looking out for her. They already knew that no one would be good enough for their little sister.

One day Saysa was out exploring and met Mira out in the woods. The two automatically became best friends. The two met up to play everyday for weeks and went on many adventures. While playing one day, Mira's brothers came back from hunting early and spotted the pair running through a field.

They immediately went over to the pair and began scolding Saysa.

"Who do you think you are playing with Mira?"

"Keep away from her."

"No runt like you needs to be associated with out sister."

"Don't let us catch you near her again."

Poor Saysa was so sad that he ran all the way home crying. He knew that he would have to see Mira again, he loved her so much. 

No matter what he tried, Mira's brothers forbade their love and ran him off anytime he tried to get near Mira. Mira was also so sad and distraught that she was no longer allowed to be with Saysa. The pair decided that they would do anything necessary to be together and began to create a plan to run away with one another. 

After planning and many failed attempts they thought they would never find a way to be together. Then all of a sudden a ladder up into their meeting tree appeared. The ladder did not stop at the top of the tree but ascended so high up into the sky that one could not see the top of it. This ladder must have been placed there by some greater being to help them get away and be together. 

So, the plan was for Mira to go to the ladder early in the morning and climb to the very tippy top and Saysa would join her later in the afternoon. However, when Saysa finally reached the ladder it was late in the evening. As he began climbing he thought he could make out Mira but she was so far in front of him he thought he would never reach her and the top of the ladder. 

After climbing for what seemed like ages, Saysa reached the top of the ladder and realized Mira was floating off into the distance. He followed and began floating aimlessly. 

Eventually, Mira became the sun and Saysa became the moon. 

Constantly chasing after the sun, Saysa was never able to get back to Mira. Their forbidden love became eternal. Yet was set as a constant reminder to never stop chasing after your one true love no matter what.

(Sun and Moon from Pixabay)

Author's Note: For this story I made many revisions while keeping the overall storyline similar. In the original story, the boy and girl are siblings who fall in love, which despite being an old Alaskan legend, I find odd. So I made the pair from different families. The boy and girl also do not have names, so I made some up to add to the storyline. Overall, I mainly lengthened the original story by adding in details and dialogue.

Bibliography

The Boy in the Moon Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).