Manabozho Scene

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Anyone who's read Return To Manitou Island is likely to be way confused by this, so...

I used to have (and once in a TINY while still do have) the bad tendency of writing the occasional story scene long before coming to that part of the story. Usually this isn't an issue, seeing as most of my stories go unfinished. But in this case, Return To Manitou Island, and the scene referenced here, were completed...and by the time I got around to them, the scene as it's written here was outdated. I include it here as an example of how things can change in between coming up with an idea and its execution.

The scene in question is from Part 36, "Deep In The Woods." For ease of comparison, I've included the scene as it eventually turned out, following the early version. Feel free to compare the two.

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Original version:

Charmian topped the crest of the hill, still calling out. "Manabozho...?"

She stopped and then paused, staring down at the scene below. The hill overlooked a tribe she hadn't known lived here; a few natives walked about, doing their daily chores, but who she noticed first of all was Manabozho. He had walked down into the camp as if he were long welcomed there; and indeed, none of the natives cast him a second glance, except a woman who came forward with a young girl in her arms. Manabozho smiled and the girl did the same, jumping to the ground and holding out her arms to him as she ran. He grabbed hold of her and instantly swept her up into the air, making flying noises as he whirled her around over his head. The woman stood where she had been left and Charmian could see a faint smile come to her face as well while Manabozho pretended to make the little girl fly.

Wabasso came up beside Charmian and looked down at the scene below. The corner of Charmian's mouth twitched.

"He really likes kids, doesn't he."

"Children? Mana loves children. Her, most of all."

Charmian tilted her head with a questioning look. Wabasso lifted one shoulder and offered a smile.

"She is his."

Charmian blinked in disbelief. She looked back down into the camp.

"Mana...Manabozho has a daughter...?"

Wabasso nodded. "He comes to see her, whenever he can. Never a week goes by when he does not stop here at least once to see how she is doing."

Charmian couldn't speak for a moment. An odd feeling overtook her, but she couldn't quite explain it. She tried to shake it off, and nodded at the woman who stood watching the two play. "Is she his wife?" she asked, feeling somehow cheated that she had never known any of this before.

Wabasso shook his head. "He is not married."

Charmian looked at him again. Wabasso shrugged. "So...who's the woman?"

"She with whom the girl was left after she was born."

Charmian's face screwed up. There was no way she could be hearing him correctly. "He abandoned her?"

"No, no." Wabasso shook his head adamantly, then lowered his voice. "Her mother. She left her with this tribe, before returning to her own people. Manabozho did not know that the child existed, until he met her by chance. Then he could tell she was his. He could have taken her, but he decided it was best that a woman help to raise her properly. And so here she lives."

"Her mother abandoned her?" Charmian frowned. "But...why would she..."

"Her mother was a Michinimakinong."

Charmian started. "You mean--one of the turtle spirits--?"

Wabasso nodded. "They are forbidden to bond with those outside their kind, upon punishment of being expelled from Geezhigo-Quae's guard. I can only assume...for some reason, one of them became intimate with Manabozho anyway. He was young. It was his first time with a woman." Charmian's face started to go red, so he moved on. "She did not tell him she was then with child. As far as I know, it was the only time they were together. After she had borne the girl, she left her with the humans." He paused, and for a moment they simply stood and watched as Manabozho tickled and chased the little girl in circles, the child shrieking and laughing and ducking between his legs. They looked for all the world like any normal father and daughter, enjoying themselves upon a sunny day.

"When he learned of her, he vowed he would not be the same as our father." Charmian looked at Wabasso, but he didn't look back. "He visits her whenever he is able. I do not think she knows yet that he is her father. Yet at least he is there."

"Your father wasn't there for you?"

"Not often...no. He visited us, a few times; but I believe that after Mudjikawiss, he was simply disappointed in the rest of us. He did not stop to visit Manabozho at all."

Charmian's brow slowly furrowed. "You mean, he never came to see Manabozho? Not once? Not even when he was born?"

Wabasso shook his head. Charmian looked down again at the two playing below.

"What kind of father doesn't even come to see his own kids...?"

Another shrug. "Simply the kind of father we had. Noko...and myself...we were the closest he had to family. He was angry for a long time, when he found out about our father." He nodded at the girl when she grabbed onto one of Manabozho's feathers and pulled him along, laughing. "And so he vows he will not be the same way. Every little chance, he comes here to see her. So she will know, when she is grown, that she had a father, if not a mother."


Final version:

Charmian rubbed her arms, although by now it was no longer chilly. "Anyway," she continued after a moment, "I wasn't supposed to be on my own...but Manabozho kind of ran off on me again...he didn't even bother to see how I was doing after the fight. The louse! He's always bailing out on me right when I need him most, and he never even has so much as a good excuse whenever he bothers to come back."

Niskigwun peered at her from the corner of his eye. "He has not told you where he goes?" he queried.

Charmian shook her head. "No. The least he could do is make something up. I suppose he goes off and pulls practical jokes or steals things from traps or leaves rabbit doo on doorsteps or something, knowing him..."

Niskigwun slowed his step, so she had to slow down as well until they both stopped. "Are you expected?" he said, and she frowned in puzzlement.

"Expected...?"

"Are you expected anywhere?"

"No, not at the moment...why?"

He looked into the woods, as if searching for something, and she noticed with surprise that he was fiddling with one of the feathers which decorated his clothing, the same way as she had been fiddling with her pouches. It was such an odd gesture to see from someone so staid. Then he cast her a brief glance before turning and waving his hand at her. "Follow."

Charmian frowned but obeyed. They changed direction, away from the Fairy Arch and heading further inland. She looked around them several times, hoping nobody spotted them; for some reason she didn't think the Michinimakinong would like being seen, though she wasn't sure why. He didn't seem to care much at the moment. After they had walked a while in a direction she didn't remember ever taking, she spoke up.

"Where are we going...?"

"You know already that we see much from the Sky Tree," Niskigwun said, and she nodded.

"Yeah, I know."

"We keep watch over the Island," he said. "Although it is no longer our land, I suppose we do this out of habit...though there are times when we try not to spy. We do not see all for this very reason. Yet there are some things we see which were meant to be private."

"Private--?" Charmian's frown grew. "You mean you DID see me after I...?"

Niskigwun hurriedly waved at her, flushing. "This is not what I was talking about!" When she opened her mouth he waved at her again and held a finger up to his own mouth. "Be quiet," he said, then gestured her forward. Only now did she notice they had come to a slight rise, and judging by the way sounds echoed beyond it, she guessed a hollow of sorts rested on the other side. He started silently climbing up the slope, and she bit her lip before following.

He already rested on his elbows at the top of the rise, and waved once more. She crawled up beside him with an irritated look, spitting wet grass out of her mouth.

"You better not have seen me..."

He shushed her and pointed down into the hollow. "You wished for an answer," he whispered. "There it is."

Charmian gave him an odd look, then followed his gesture to look into the hollow. It was much steeper than she'd expected, and she wondered how she'd missed it the last time she was here; maybe it was another thing the Island had not wanted her to see until now? In any case, she could now see that a small wigwam sat in the middle of it, in a little clearing surrounded by trees. A woman sat just outside the entrance, smiling. Out front of the hut, Manabozho was playing with a little girl, who hopped and ran around and laughed.

Charmian's brow furrowed again. "This is it?" she asked. "This is what he's doing whenever he runs off?" She paused, then scowled. "Well why didn't he just TELL me? Like I'd get mad at him because of this?" She leaned forward to get a better look and her face softened. "He doesn't have to be embarrassed about liking kids...I think that's kind of sweet. Like he'd be any less of a guy if I knew that. I don't understand some people..."

"He comes here frequently," Niskigwun said quietly. "He has made it his duty to see to the child's welfare."

"Well, I still don't see the reason for all the secrecy. He doesn't have any reason to be ashamed of having a heart." She gasped when Manabozho tossed a handful of little colored stones into the air, and they changed into butterflies. The little girl laughed and waved her arms, trying to catch them as they fluttered away. Charmian watched the scene with awe. She hadn't known he had that sort of power. But even more, she was surprised by how much he smiled. He'd never seemed so happy whenever he was around her. In fact, until now she'd always assumed he was just the cranky sort of person who would hate little kids.

"He should come here more often," she murmured. "It looks like he really cares about her."

The woods were silent for a while but for the sounds of the two playing below, the woman every so often saying something herself. Charmian leaned on her elbows and watched the scene, a faint smile tugging at her mouth.

"She is his daughter."

The words pierced through her brain like a needle. Charmian blinked, and it was as if the three below came into even greater focus; she then glanced up at Niskigwun in disbelief. The Michinimakinong stared at her silently.

"That...that little girl...?" Charmian's voice came soft, hesitant. "She's...she's Manabozho's daughter...?"

Niskigwun nodded slowly.

"Then that woman--" Charmian pushed herself up to get a better look at the woman seated outside the wigwam. "Does that mean that she's--"

"She is not the girl's mother."

Charmian's brow furrowed. "Then who..."

"Her mother is Michinimakinong."

She looked up at him again, even more confused than ever. Niskigwun knelt down beside her and they both looked at the scene below.

"Relations among our people and others are forbidden," he murmured. "This much you may have realized from your visit to our land."

Charmian nodded, still perplexed.

"Her mother could of course not keep her if she wished to remain among the Michinimakinong. So she left her here, with an Island woman. He did not ever know of her existence until he discovered it himself, by chance."

"She never even told him...?" Charmian stared at the little girl who was now running in circles around Manabozho. Understanding finally came to her face, and her eyes softened.

"That's why, then." When Niskigwun gave her a questioning look she leaned on her elbows again. "When we went to the Fairy Realm. He didn't want to have anything to do with it--he even knocked a bowl of food out of a girl's hands. I thought he was just being a jerk, but if this is what happened..." Her voice faded to a murmur. "That's why he hates the Michinimakinong." After a further moment of staring her eyes grew a little, and she lifted her head.

"That means she's part Michinimakinong, too?"

Niskigwun nodded again. "Although you cannot tell from looking at her. She obviously takes after her father's side of the family, which is probably best for her."

Charmian watched the little girl pick up handfuls of leaves and toss them into the air, still laughing; Manabozho turned the leaves into feathers which drifted back to the ground, making her laugh even louder. For some reason she couldn't take her eyes off of them. She found that something in her chest was hurting.

"Then that means that part of her is something Manabozho hates."

Niskigwun gave her a curious look. Charmian pushed herself to her feet and he rose alongside her. "I think we should go," she said in a subdued voice, and she was glad that he didn't ask her any questions. Instead they turned and made their way back down the slope as quietly as they could, leaving the hollow and its occupants behind.