Xavier was young but knew what he wanted. He had a wife and a baby. Xavier was loved by all because of his kind soul, generosity and his ability to provide food for the town.
One day, Xavier was strolling in the forest, looking for something he could possibly take back for his family to eat. Xavier walked off his normal trail and stumbled upon the biggest vines he had ever seen. Confused, he continued forward to investigate what was going on.
As he walked past the wines laying on the ground they began to move slowly, transforming into a phoenix. His feathers were fiery and dark smoke came around him as it moved in front of Xavier. The Phoenix looked terrifying, moving closer to Xavier.
Xavier was frightened but knew he could not run away He knew the creatures of the island meant peace, no matter how scary they looked. He kept his stride and looked for the fruit to gather for the town. The Phoenix soon stopped him and spoke, "I need your help. Not only am I in danger but this island is too if nothing is to be done."
Very shocked that the creature just spoke to him, he stopped in his tracks and turned to the Phoenix.
"What is happening?" Xavier asked curiously, wondering if what the Phoenix was saying was true.
"There is a monster coming. They are destroying the other side of the island and will kill anything in sight. It has taken my family, my food and my home and it must be defeated, It is a horrendous monster, a snake with eight heads. Every time it is attacked it grows stronger and bigger. Please tell me you can help," pleaded the Phoenix.
"Lead me to him and we will come up with a plan. We will save this island and everybody in it," he said confidently.
Together the pair walked deeper into the forest, farther than he has ever gone before. They came across the tallest, widest tree when the Phoenix stopped and opened a passage for Xavier to come in. On the inside was a beautiful wooden home, almost like a castle. It was impossibly bigger on the inside than the outside. There were rooms and stairs that spiraled to the top where you could see all over the island.
Xavier looked across the land and saw the other side of the Island was in ruins. Trees were taken down, and the ground was flat and in despair. No life had been living over there.
"When does this monster come out?" Xavier asked, more determined than ever to save his island.
"At dusk he begins," said the Phoenix sadly.
Xavier and the Phoenix waited until dusk and prepared for what was to come. Xavier sharpened his arrows and ate so he would continue to have the strength. The Phoenix kept a look out at the top, waiting to see if the creature would come out any earlier.
The Phoenix made a loud noise of surprise when the monster finally came out. He got Xavier and brought him to the top, showing him what they were up against.
Xavier looked around before getting his bow and arrow. He only had ten arrows with him - he hoped that was enough.
He set himself up and waited as the snake slithered closer to where they were.
When the snake was close enough, Xavier lined up his arrow and made his first shot, seeing how it would effect the snake. He shot it off, anxiously waiting to see what would happen.
The arrow pierced the snake, but fell out not doing any damage to him.
Xavier felt discouraged but knew he could not stop now. He shot another arrow, aiming for one of the serpents eyes. It went in and slowed the monster down as he was in pain.
This gave Xavier an idea. He knew just arrows would not stop this creature. He turned to the Phoenix who's tail was made of fire and had an idea. Xavier lit his next arrow on fire and quickly shot it at the monster.
The arrow pierced all the way through one of his necks, the monster going back, trying to retreat.
Xavier realized that fire would kill this monster. He continued on with his fiery arrows until he was out. On his last one he knew this would be the one to kill the serpent. The serpent was fighting hard with only one neck left and trying to get to them, but Xavier shot his final shot and ended it's life.
"You did it! You have saved Aphelia. I owe you many things for saving what was left of my home." The Phoenix told him gratefully.
Xavier was modest. "I only did what I had to do for my island."
The Phoenix shook his head and present Xavier with gifts. A roll of the finest silk that would never run out for his people to wear, a bag of rice that would never empty for his community to eat and seeds for Xavier to plant that would grow tress with fruits that would never run empty.
Xavier graciously accepted all of these gifts and went to tell his people about all that happened, walking into the sunset.
Authors Note:
This week I found inspiration from Japanese fairy tales. I was really inspired by My Lord Bag of Rice because of its beautiful detail and ability to genuinely keep my attention. I knew immediately after I read it that I wanted to keep doing this story for my storytelling project.
This is a story of a man who goes walking and runs into a dragon who pleads for help because a caterpillar is killing his family. In it's most basic form, that is what it is. I did not change much, but I added my own details but kept the same story line because I truly enjoyed it.
Bib:My Lord Bag of Rice by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).
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