Shinning River

The following is an english assignment my daughter had to write.  The assignment was to write a fictional Native American myth.  She got a "A".  Please enjoy.

Once long ago, there was an ancient tribe led by Chief Tall Mountain, who was very tall. Chief Tall Mountain and his family were loved by all of his people. No one was more loved than Chief Tall Mountain’s adventurous daughter, Hopeful Song. Song was so loved by all that her father never had to worry about her safety for everyone who met her loved her. Her father told her,”You may go wherever you want in our territory, except near Shining River. It is a dangerous place.”

“Yes, Father.” Song responded. Song obeyed her father’s orders until one fateful day when she was riding her handsome paint horse, Free Spirit, when she stopped for a small break and did not know where she was. Nearby, Song could see a silver blue river. Suddenly song[a]know where she was. She knew all the rivers in the territory and there was only one she had never been to before; Shining River. She knew she should leave but the river was like a magnet pulling her in. She rode toward the river. A few feet away from the river, Song stopped hesitant to go forward yet hesitant to go back. How could a river be so gleaming, so beautiful, and so clean? Song had never seen anything like it before but her father’s voice keep her from moving further.

“You may go wherever you want, except near Shining River. It is a dangerous place.” Song knew that being near the river was disobeying her father’s orders but something held her back.

“Hello.” A smooth voice hissed. Song turned to see a thin black and white water snake on a rock near the river.

“Hello.” Song said.

“Do you want to swim the river?” the serpent asked.

“Yes, but my father says it is very dangerous.” Song replied.

“It is safe. Your father simply does not want you to be great and wise like he is.” The snake hissed.

“I do not understand.” Song stated.

“Oh, child. Didn’t you know that all the great chiefs have swam in this river and became great and wise?” The serpent lied. Song said nothing trying to understand.

“My father would not lie to me.” Song declared at last.

“Your father does not want you to be greater than he.” The snake remarked. The serpent, a great deceiver, had played this game before. He had said the same thing many years ago to Tall Mountain’s brother before he drowned. Song pondered what the snake had said. The snake added,” Only the brave can swim this river. Are you afraid?”

“No!” Song snapped. She got off her horse and walked to the river and knelt besides it.

“Do not worry. It is an easy swim.” The snake hissed slithering toward her. Song looked at the water. It didn’t look to hard to swim, a small current perhaps but nothing she couldn’t handle. In truth it had a very strong current that only river life could handle but Song did not know this. Song wanted to be great, wise and brave like her father so she dove into the water. The current overtook her and she soon drowned. The snake grinned and slithered into the water. He would have a large meal in his underwater cave. Hopeful Song’s tribe mourned her for many years but her father, mother and younger brother mourned the rest of their lives. Hopeful Song’s story is passed on from generation to generation to prevent others from making the same mistakes as she.