The Battle Of Knob Hill - Storytelling Week 3

The sun blazed overhead warming the summer afternoon. The grass was lush and green on the hillside where a cozy cottage was nestled quietly. A brown split rail fence encircled the small hermitage with a small barn off to the side. Arnie, a young boy of stout nature, felt the natural textures of the soft grass graze between his toes as he walked up to and leaned against the split rail fence, gazing over the sparse landscape of houses tucked away on a gentle giant of a mountain. His mind raced back in time.

A Split Rail Fence much like the one that might be on Arnie's Farm

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Small Mountain Town like the one in the story

Courtesy of Pixabay

You see, he once had a friend, long ago that he thought would last forever. They had made bonds that were unbreakable! They had claimed Knob Hill as their kingdom. But one day that friend was sent off to live with other relatives. That friend, Petra, was gone for many, many weeks. Arnie had thought that Petra was never coming back. Their farm just didn’t produce as much as it once did. Arnie had tried to goad the clouds to form and rain more on their land. But the wind didn’t want to cooperate. The water was stubborn. So Petra was sent away.

Arnie kept their kingdom alive. All of the kids would come to Knob Hill to play, but all would have to hear the tale of how Petra and Arnie had been there first. How they had claimed it. How they were friends for always.

A hill like Knob Hill

Courtesy of Wikipedia Western Ghats

One day, a couple weeks ago, Petra showed up out of the blue. Arnie had not been there, but the other kids were. They lied about Arnie telling Petra that he had said bad things about her. That he had called her a liar and a cheat. Petra came to believe the other children, how could so many be wrong? When Arnie heard that she was back, he had rushed down the small cobblestone road to the mound they had so often played on. He scurried up Knob Hill to hug her and welcome her back. But Petra, believing the other kids, had pushed him down the hill. He tumbled all the way down the long slope till he reached the bottom. Petra had come up to him and said, “Go away, Arnie. Nobody wants you here. Don’t even leave your house or I’ll pummel you again.”

Scared and hurt Arnie had rushed back to his house and hadn’t left since.

Arnie looked to the sky and saw his friend, the great Bird, circling overhead. “Mr. Bird, how are you this fine day?”

A Osprey in flight like Mr. Bird

Courtesy of Flickr

Mr. Bird circled down and landed lightly on one of the posts. He picked and fluffed his feathers in a most self centered way. “I am good. But why is a young man like you staying inside the fence. Young men like you need to be running and playing.”

Arnie leaned away from the fence letting the sun drench is face. “I don’t want to get in a fight with Petra. She said I can’t leave the house.”

“Petra, the girl you were such good friends with?”

“Yes. The children lied about me and now she won’t let me play in on the hill.”

“It is not right for her to have banished you from the hill. You had cared for it so.”

“Without help, I’m afraid I will never get to go back to the hill.”

Mr. Bird spread his wings wide and large studying his grandeur. You see, Mr. Bird, loved the way he looked! “Tell you what, I help you take back your hill.”

“I can’t fight a girl. Especially Petra. I like her.”

“Just engage her. If she does not accept your story, then I will help you.”

Arnie smiled wide. He needed no more assurances. Arnie rushed down the cobbled road, past the old merchant's store. He rounded the bend of the road and rushed up the hill. He looked up over his shoulder to see that the great bird was flying high.

Not paying attention to where he was running he ran directly into none other than Petra herself. The force of the impact sent Petra falling face first in front of her. A slap of mud was heard as she landed. Arnie shrank back, appalled at what he did.

“Petra, please, listen, it wasn’t me. I didn’t--”

But Petra was hearing none of it. Her face that was visible under the caked mud had turned a crimson color of rage. Her fists were balled up into furious revenge. “I told you to stay off this hill!” Petra loosened a punch at Arnie. Arnie attempted to dodge it, but it landed squarely on his cheek. He flew backward in a flash of pain landing on his back. He whirled around seeing Petra towering over him.

“Please, Petra, you're my friend! My friend forever. I would never say a bad thing about you, you must know that!”

“Now I’m going to beat you to an inch of your life Arnie Brooke!”

Petra raised her fists again in anger.

“Mr. Bird, please help!” Arnie balled himself up as tight as he could to keep from getting too badly damaged by the onslaught.

Mr. Bird let a kaw echo over the vale. And a doo doo escape from his bowls. Petra looked up just at that moment to see the source of the great cry and the bird poo splashed right in her eyes. Petra was mortified. She stumbled backward and fell to her rear. Arnie couldn’t control it. A laugh rang from his mouth at the absurdity of it all. Soon all the kids on the hill were releasing a raucous course of mirth. Petra wiped the bird poo from her eyes with her dress, her face melting from shock to horror and back again. She turned and ran down the hill to escape the humiliation. Petra never came back to the hill and Arnie began a rule of benevolence for all in his kingdom.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is loosely based on the story of Vali and Sugreeva. In the story, Vali through an entrance to another world to fight a great beast. He is gone for many years and eventually assumed dead. Sugreeva rules in his stead as regent. On suggestions of his advisers, he boards up the only portal between worlds for fearing that the beast would come back through instead of Vali. Vali eventually returns and sees the barrier and believes that Sugreeva, his brother, has tried to overtake his throne. Vali becomes enraged and bursts through the barriers. He violently banishes Sugreeva from the land. Rama comes to find Sugreeva and decides to help him. Sugreeva goes to fight Vali and before Vali kills him, Rama shoots his arrow at him ending his life.

I thought it would be interesting to take this and make it more into a children’s story. In this incarnation of the story the part of Vali was turned into a little girl, Petra, and the part of Sugreeva was Arnie. To keep with the magical aspect of Rama, I made his character Mr. Bird, as Arnie is using his mind speak (telepathy) to speak with him. I made the parallel of the brotherly love to of love between a girl and a guy. 

This will probably be one that will show up in Na Paisti Na Cumhacha, the children's book I am writing as a companion to the TV show Pooka's Passages that we have in development. The book is used by the key character Charity Patch to read to children of the group home. This book is based on more of celtic centered story lines. I will use this and other stories that I build with the story book to highlight the Indigo children that is the central theme of the Pooka’s Passages. These children are not magical. They just use more of their brain than other humans do and thus have extrasensory powers.

The meanings of the names:
Arnie (English: Eagle Power)
Petra (Greek: Rock)

Narayan, R. K. "Sugeeva's Story". The Ramayana. Penguin Books, New York, NY. 1972.  Overview of Narayan Ramayana