Grizzly
tried to swat away the thoughts that were buzzing in her head, like so many
bees. She knew that the words in her mind were false, but she couldn’t make
them shut up. Ever since the birth of her two cubs, she had been plagued by an
overwhelming sadness and sense of dread. Grizzly sighed in frustration. She was
always tired and scared, but there was no real reason for it.
Doe
looked quizzically at Grizzly as she growled and mumbled to herself. It had
been happening a lot lately. The bear woman had just been acting strangely.
Even the two women’s husband, Chickenhawk, had noticed the weirdness. Just the
night before he had asked his deer wife if she knew what was wrong with
Grizzly, but Doe hadn’t known what to tell him. She considered asking her father’s
advice. He was the King of the forest’s deer and he was awfully wise. Perhaps
she would go do that tomorrow.
“Are
you ready to take the wash to the river?” Doe asked Grizzly. They always did
the wash on Tuesday.
“I
suppose. You go on ahead and I’ll meet you down there,” Grizzly replied.
As
Grizzly lumbered down the hill toward the river, the thoughts rushed back, full
force, into her head. She had seen the questioning look that Doe sent towards
her. She had seen Doe and Chickenhawk whispering together at night, sending
furtive looks in her direction. Perhaps the thoughts and the voices weren’t
crazy after all. Maybe they were telling the truth.
As
the bear woman and the deer woman waited for the clothing to soak, Doe
suggested that she and Grizzly check each other for lice. She had hoped that
the grooming session would make the poor bear feel better. Doe did her check
and reported Grizzly louse free. She sat and waited for the bear to begin her
part of the check. The bear had a different plan in mind.
Grizzly
realized that the only way to protect herself and her children was to kill Doe.
She didn’t want to do something so awful. She’d always loved the deer and
viewed her as a sister. But, her sister had gone crazy and wanted to kill her
and her two cubs. Doe was conspiring with Chickenhawk. The voices had told her.
She resisted believing it for so long, but all the signs were there. It must be
the truth.
It
took only moments. Doe hadn’t expected a thing. One second she had been waiting
for Grizzly to check her neck for lice, and the next she was dead. The
bear woman cried for a moment, overcome by the sadness of what she’d been
forced to do. Finally, she picked up the head of the dead deer woman and
trudged back to the cabin.
Chickenhawk
had come back to the cabin soon after his wives left to do the wash. He knew
they’d be down by the river. His wives were very conscientious and never
deviated from their schedule. He thought it would be a good time to meet with
the village wise woman. Perhaps she would have some ideas about what was wrong
with his bear wife.
“I
have seen this type of situation before,” the wise woman said. “It often
happens to women after they give birth. Perhaps it is the shock to the body of
pregnancy and labor. It will often correct itself over time. The mother just
needs rest and understanding. However, there have been times when tragedies
occurred.”
“What
do you mean? What kind of tragedies?” Chickenhawk asked.
“I
have seen women begin to see and hear things that aren’t there. Sometimes, they
have become violent. There have even been occasions where they hurt the ones
that they love. They just aren’t in their right minds. It’s good that you came
to me with this, because the situation could get very serious. There are definitely
steps that need to be taken before something terrible occurs. Grizzly needs
lots of rest and peace. She needs someone to talk to about what she’s feeling.
We need to get her healthy before we end up in a worst-case scenario.” The wise
woman explained to a confused and scared Chickenhawk.
Chickenhawk
stood and walked to the window, trying to clear his thoughts.
“Oh,
no.” Chickenhawk’s sad voice came out so very softly.
“What
is it?” The wise woman asked as she got up to go look out the same window.
The
two stared silently out the window as they watched Grizzly walk up the path
from the river. They saw the blood in her fur. They goggled with horror at what
she carried in her paw. The worst-case scenario had already happened. They were
too late.
Author's Note: The story,
Bear Woman and Deer Woman, is about the two wives of Chickenhawk. One day, while they're down by the river, they begin checking each other for lice. Grizzly lies to Doe and tells her that she has lice and must bite it out. She ends up killing Doe. Doe's head later warns her two children (fawns) that Grizzly will kill them. Instead, the two fawns trick and kill the two bear children before feeding some of their remains to Grizzly. After being taunted by some kids that she's eating her own children, she begins to chase them. They get away over a stream. When Grizzly tries to get over the stream, she ends up floating away. In my variation of the story, I wanted to explore why Grizzly would suddenly kill Doe. They have obviously been getting along fine up to this point. They have both been married to Chickenhawk long enough to have two children. I wanted to present the idea that Grizzly was suffering from some sort of postpartum depression that led to her having a psychotic break. I decided to stop the story after the killing of Doe, because I thought that bringing the children into it would just be too sad.
Bibliography:
Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson.
Web source.
