Week 10 Story: The Ghost in the Woods

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Chatan looked up at the swiftly gathering storm clouds. He realized that the dark was coming fast and he would not make it to the village before the storm hit. A cold wind lifted his hair as he watched lightning flicker in the onrushing clouds.

Chatan had already spent a fruitless day hunting in the forest, and the coming of the sudden storm heightened his frustration. With not even a single rabbit to show for the days work, he prepared to spent a cold and hungry night outside.

A closely growing stand of trees offered some protection from the icy cold raindrops that were already beginning to lash his skin. Chatan took cover under the dense foliage just as the last light disappeared from the sky. He settled down against the trunk and attempted to get comfortable.

A lightning flash reflected from something white underneath Chatan’s tree, drawing his attention. He reached forward to pick it up, feeling cold smoothness and odd indentations. Another flash of light brought him face-to-face with the skull in his hand.

Chatan screamed, threw the skull, and ran out from under the tree into the woods. Seeing a light up ahead, he made a beeline for it. He paused at the edge of the tree line and studied the sweat lodge in the clearing. Worried and uncertain, he slunk toward the building.

Peering inside the sweat lodge’s door, Chatan saw two men talking. The inhabitants of the sweat lodge, feeling someone’s gaze upon them, looked toward the door and saw Chatan in the radiance of the flickering lightning. They also saw what was behind Chatan.

Still filled with fear and adrenaline, Chatan became convinced that he was seeing ghosts within the sweat lodge, not flesh and blood men. He decided to go back into the woods and attempt the walk back to his village in the dark.

Chatan had been walking for several minutes when he sensed someone walking beside him. He looked over and saw a ghostly woman at his side. She told him to not be afraid, that she only wanted company for the moment. Exhausted into numbness from the constant rush of terror, Chatan continued to walk at a modest pace.

He soon began to relax in the ghost’s presence, forgetting his fear. That was a mistake. The apparition turned on Chatan without warning, and began to choke the life from him. He clawed at her bony fingers as he fought for breath, and stared at the skull of his spectral attacker. The same skull that he’d found under the tree.

The ghost was ripped away from Chatan and thrown to the ground. Gasping for breath, he looked up to see his the two men from the sweat lodge beating up the spirit woman. The drove the phantom off and saved him.

Later, the two men explained to Chatan that they had followed him after he ran. They knew that they had to save him. While he’d stood in the door of the sweat lodge and looked in, the lightning had shown them them the skeleton-like ghost as it stalked Chatan from the trees.

Author's Note: The story, The Ghost and the Traveler, is about a traveler who was out of doors, and a storm came up that forced him to spend the night outside. He came to a sweat lodge, but he thought the two people inside were ghosts, so he ran away. As he was walking, a woman ghost walked with him for a ways. After wondering what would happen if the ghost decided to choke him, the ghost disappeared. I wanted to do a variation on this story that had some action. I wanted the ghost to actually be a threat and to attack the man as he traveled. I also thought it would be fitting if he ended up being saved from the actual ghost by the men in the sweat lodge that he'd thought were ghosts. My character's name, Chatan, is a Lakota name that means Hawk.

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Great Plains, Part B

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- The story, The Ghost and the Traveler, doesn't have a lot of action. It's basically just saying that a man was out of doors, and something came up that forced him to spend the night outside. He came to a sweat lodge, but he thought the two people inside were ghosts, so he ran away. As he was walking, a woman ghost walked with him for a ways. After wondering what would happen if the ghost decided to hurt him, the ghost disappeared.
- I would want to do a variation on this story that has an action component, some sort of circumstance that the traveler must overcome. There needs to be action and a climax to that action.
- Perhaps the traveler could be lost and alone when he comes to a sweat lodge and he runs away because he thinks the men inside are ghosts. However, they are not. As he's walking, someone starts walking with him that he thinks is a person. As night begins to fall, his traveling companion is revealed to be a ghost. The ghost attacks him. He is saved by the two men from the sweat lodge who had followed him when they saw he was being trailed by a ghost.


Bibliography: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Great Plains, Part A

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- The Forked Roads is a story of the Omaha that provides some information about what happens to the soul of a person after they die. It provides the explanation for one of their rituals as well. Apparently, long ago in their history, a man died and was forced to walk in the dark for four days until he was able to find the Milky Way. The Milky Way is the path in the stars that must be walked to reach the final sorting place of souls. This is why the Omaha people burn their funeral fires for four days. They provide the newly departed with light to help find the path of the Milky Way.
- After the spirit finds the Milky Way path and walks along it for a while he will come to a fork in the road. An old man sits in the middle and points to which path the spirit must take.
- Who is this old man and how does he determine the proper path of the spirit?
- It says that a short path leads to where good ghosts go and a long path leads to where ghosts go wailing. What determines if a ghost is good? What is the criteria? What makes a ghost wail?
- I think this story needs a Dante's Inferno type treatment in which someone explores the different areas of the afterlife and gets a description of what caused them to be in each specific area.


Bibliography: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.