
Crow was alone. So he brought form and shape to the Earth. From the Earth’s belly creatures emerged, swarming, swimming, and walking each according to its type.
But still Crow was lonely. So he played a trick, holding in his beak a shiny pebble, round as the sun and smooth as a lake. The Earth wanted the shiny thing and grew a grasping hand. Quick as a tornado, Crow seized the wrist, pulling until the hand stretched into an arm. Twisting until it rose from the mud, he made a torso. The mud sat up, looked around, and said “Wow!”
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
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Wow! Soul infused into the crow’s creativity!
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Dear Neil,
That was certainly a twist on an ancient theme. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle
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I love crow origin stories. In some cultures he’s Coyote. The Blackfeet call him Napi. Well done.
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Thanks. I’ve had a long fascination with Crow. He crops up in quite a number of my stories
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And we’ve been grabbing at round shiny things ever since.
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Great take on a very old ‘First Man’ tale. Loved it!
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Thanks so much
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Crow may be sad at how man has turned out, perhaps that is why he tried creating so many other non human species
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Love that spin on the human origin myth – so very true of many cultures, man made from clay because the Earth felt empty without him. Pretty sure the Earth doesn’t feel the same way now … Nice tale Neil
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Thanks, Lynn
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My pleasure 🙂
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Wow, indeed! You took my breath away!
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Thanks so much
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I had to look it up to be sure, but that’s an actual religion of the Great Plains Native Americans.
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Yes, but I played fast and loose with the story
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A good story to tell the kids when they ask the question. Expertly done, Neil.
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Thanks. Iain
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A superb story, Neil. I really liked it. I wonder how Crow feels now. Has man been a good companion to him and alleviated the loneliness? I wonder.
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Thanks. Edith
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Very creative! It is very interesting to see how many different types of stories come from seeing the photo!
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Thanks, Karuna
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Hi Neil,
I really love this piece. It was very moving.
Thought you might be interested in reading about stories of crow from Australian Aboriginal culture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow_(Australian_Aboriginal_mythology)
Hope you’ve had a great week.
xx Rowena
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Thanks, Rowena. I had no idea that Crow was an aboriginal legend as well as a native American one. How interesting
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Nice take on the prompt and the legend. It made me think and realise, “Wow!” has to be the reaction to new life/birth
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Thanks, MIchael
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Wow… love this Neil. And the crow story. Looks like you went origins where I wrote descendents. Fantastic!
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Thanks, Laurie
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That explains why I have mud in my ears.
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Love this.
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Thanks so much
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Brilliant fable.
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Thanks, Liz
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Nice spin on an ancient myth.
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Love the use of visualisation in this piece. Nicely done
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Thanks so much
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Loved the take on the prompt – very nicely created too!
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Thanks, Dahlia
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Brilliant! Loved it.
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Thanks, Derek
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Crows like to laugh and cackle at themselves – very funny birds! Interesting story and I really liked it. Thanks!
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Thanks, Nan
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Very nice, written in the style of an Aboriginal legend. Can imagine hearing this by a traditional story teller.
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Thanks so much
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And I’d like to say ,wow! Amazing story.
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Thanks so much
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Welcome 🙂
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I went away, briefly. Okay, for a couple of hours. Needed to cycle. I’m back, taking your backlog, and I must say this story is phenomenal. So simple. So powerful. You have a gift, sir, a gift.
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