THE AMERICAN STORYBAG Page 3

  To Cornsilk, the name Ishbish was magic. You see, she had been in love with him since she first heard his name some months before. And now, whenever anyone said Ishbish, she felt herself falling dreamily under his spell. That evening she told all of her suitors to leave her alone, which they did; and then she cried herself to sleep.

  The next morning her grandmother saw that Cornsilk's eyes were swollen. "Child, are you so taken with Ishbish that you must cry all night?"

  "My heart is bad," Cornsilk said, looking into her empty hands. "I want more than anything to meet Ishbish. But no one will tell me where he lives."

  The old woman spoke sternly. "Hida, hida. You must never go there. Don't you know that others, just as lovely as you, have gone off to marry Ishbish, and have never returned? Some say that he feeds them to his fathers, the monsters of the water."

  Cornsilk listened without alarm. "I cannot help it," she said with downcast eyes. "I love him so."

  Her grandmother's lips tightened; she nodded. "I think you are under his spell. If that is the way it is, there is nothing you can do but go to him. Ishbish is evil, but it does not matter. Some things a girl must find out for herself."

  For a moment she gazed fondly at her beautiful granddaughter. Then she said, "If you truly love Ishbish, then you should go to him and see for yourself what he is."

  Cornsilk's eyes widened and her heart beat fast. "Oh, Grandmother, tell me at once where he lives and I will go there."

  The old woman sighed. "Make no mistake," she warned, "your troubles are not over. They have just begun."

  "But Grandmother, how do you know?"

  "I was young once," she said; and would say no more. Then she told Cornsilk where Ishbish had his lodge and how she could find it by herself.

  "It is toward the rising sun," the old woman said. "Before you get there, you will see a hill. In a little canyon overgrown with wild roses, you will find a family of old women who will help you. Here, take this magic ball and this old root digger of mine. When you kick the ball, its quickness shall be yours. The root digger will also come in handy. But now you must go, child. May the Great Mystery watch over your journey."

  So Cornsilk took with her only the things her grandmother had given her: the ball made of buffalo hide; the root digger made of ironwood. She put on her finest dress fashioned of mountain sheepskin and embroidered with red and blue porcupine quills. On her feet she wore her best elk-soled moccasins, the ones with flowering beads over the front. Then, packing only enough pemmican for her trip, she climbed the high hill that overlooked the camp of her father.

  At first, seeing the beauty of the camp, she was sorrowful. The great ring of lodges, over which her father was chief, spread out as far as the circle of sunlight, and as far as the eye could travel.

  Cornsilk thought, "Now I am to leave my home and go on a long journey to marry a man that I have never met." Her heart was heavy when she realized she might never see her home again. It was then that the great circle of lodges, surrounded by the greater circle of the sun and roundly held by the embracing earth, seemed so dear to her that her eyes moistened with tears. Yet she fought them back, for even now, in her sadness, her desire to be beside Ishbish was strong.

  After four days Cornsilk came to the canyon of wild roses. They were lovely to look at, blush red and softly whitened by the ashes of many fires. Below the pink haze of the roses, down in a small hollow there was a little lodge, just as her grandmother had said. When Cornsilk came up to it, she was met by the old women who dwelt there; they were blind folk, mole people. One of the oldest, leaning on a stick of dwarf oak, came forward.

  "Child," the old woman spoke, "we have been waiting for you."

  Cornsilk said, "I have walked a long way."

  "Why," the old woman asked, "did you not use the ball given to you by your grandmother?"

  "I did not want to miss anything," Cornsilk said. But right away she knew this was untrue. "I was afraid," she added truthfully, "afraid of what might lie ahead. But seeing you here, just as Grandmother told me, I feel better."

  The old mole person smiled. "It is good," she said. But now you must hurry along, child, you must not keep Ishbish waiting." Then she told Cornsilk everything she needed to know in order to deal with Ishbish.

  "Child," she concluded, "Do what I say and no harm can come to you. Now kick the buffalo skin ball and travel across the night to tomorrow morning."

  Cornsilk went on her way, feeling much blessed by these old friends of the earth. At the top of the draw, she drew a deep breath and kicked the ball hard. Away it flew into the purple sky and Cornsilk's feet flew as if winged. Far below, the white-bearded prairie grass lay upon the hushed field of the earth.

  Now before the coming of morning, Cornsilk touched the buffalo skin ball with her toe. Gently it fell from the sky and arced slowly downwards. Cornsilk followed it, floating like a feather. As soon as she touched upon the soft grass, she saw that she was in a place much like her home. In the four directions lay the lodges of a large camp. "This is the village of Ishbish," she thought.

  Then she spied a woman gathering kindling in the dawn light. "Could you tell me where Ishbish's lodge is?" she asked politely. Without looking up, the unhappy woman raised her hand and pointed to a smoke-smudged tepee, which stood on the edge of a red butte overlooking the village. At the bottom of the butte ran a swift stream of white water, twinkling among the black rocks of the broad plain.

  However, though the place was nice, Cornsilk's heart was sad. She thought, "This is not the way I wanted to be greeted on my wedding day--by a grumpy woman." Nor was Ishbish's tepee what she'd imagined. Smoke-rimed and beaten, its tattered flaps ragged in the wind. "Could this really be the home of a chief?" Yet she'd come a long way, there was no turning back now. So Cornsilk swallowed her pride and climbed the steep butte to the home of her future husband.

  When she arrived at the top of the cliff, Ishbish was there to meet her. He was handsome. Cornsilk was thrilled. "Perhaps I've not made a bad choice after all," she thought. But Ishbish, though handsome, spoke roughly. "I sent for you long ago," he snapped, "and by now, you've worn my patience."

  Cornsilk tried to explain, but Ishbish stalked off, and she didn't see him for the rest of the day. In the evening, he returned, however, and was more friendly. Cornsilk loved the way he looked and she threw her arms around his neck. Ishbish accepted this greeting with a shrug. Then, kneeling by the fire, he ate the rabbit stew she'd made in silence.

  The following morning, Cornsilk woke and stirred the embers of the fire. Ishbish was still asleep. His face was in shadow, but when the flames brightened, she gave a little gasp. The face of Ishbish was all worm-eaten. His eyes were sunken in and his lips were sneering.

  Then Cornsilk thought of all the handsome men who wanted to marry her. "I thought I was too good for them," she said to herself. A tear fell from her eye and struck a hot stone by the fireside. The tear's hiss startled Ishbish, who sat up, awake. "I will feed you to my fathers for your thoughts," he whispered cruelly.

  "How do you know what I am thinking?" Cornsilk asked. But he did not answer her. The worms came out of the holes in his face; they writhed and his mouth parted, showing a thick, pointed tongue. Cornsilk wished, then, that she might be back in the safe embrace of her grandmother.

  "You persist in annoying me with your foolish thoughts," Ishbish said. "I was going to throw you over the cliff four days from now. But I see that I'll have to do it now." He jumped up and grabbed Cornsilk's hand. Then he dragged her to the edge of the cliff. Ishbish cried out, "Fathers, here is Cornsilk who thought herself too good to marry the men of her tribe. You have asked for her bones, now I give them to you."

  He let go of her hand and gave her a little shove. Cornsilk, turning around, saw that it was too late to get her ball and root digger. Below her the frothing water crashed and the monster fathers danced in the spray. They were scaly old men with the warty heads of snapping turtles. But now Cornsilk heard the voice o
f a mole person. "Child, look at your feet!"

  Cornsilk looked down and saw a buffalo skull. Beside it there was a tiny hole, out of which peeped the whiskered nose of a mole.

  "Stand on the skull!" Ishbish commanded.

  But the mole person said, "Kick it over the cliff!"

  Cornsilk sent the skull into the air with her foot. The bone-white head struck the water and the monster fathers fell upon it. The morning was filled with a terrible crunching.

  Ishbish glared at Cornsilk. "It should have been you."

  Then he forced her to the cliff edge. Four times he threw his weight against her, but she was immovable because the mole people had hold of her moccasin strings. At the same time, many more mole people snuck up behind Ishbish, and they ate away at the earth where he stood. The ground gave way, and Ishbish tumbled, head over heels, into the abyss.

  When he struck the froth, the monster fathers devoured him. Cornsilk wheeled about, ran into Ishbish's tepee, picking up her ball and digger. As she did so, she noticed four things that belonged to Ishbish. These were a bag of red paint, a porcupine-tail comb, four arrow shafts, and an arrow-straightener. Taking them, Cornsilk left the tepee. Then she kicked the buffalo ball, and followed it into the sky.

  At the same time -- in the stream of the monster fathers -- there was much confusion. "Brothers," said the eldest monster, "we have eaten our son!" Hearing this, the other monsters started to choke. "Aggh," they said, "we have swallowed our son." Then they vomited up the different sized pieces of Ishbish: bones, sinews and guts. Parts of him were lying all over the streamside.

  Moments later, these ugly pieces drew themselves together, and began moving about--a leg here, a hand there. And so the parts of Ishbish danced back together again. And he hopped about, howling with rage. "Oh but this wicked girl has powerful medicine!" Ishbish cried. "Someone must be helping her -- how could she trick me otherwise?"

  "Son, listen to us," the eldest of the monsters said. Ishbish, dripping with blood and crawling with worms, paused to listen as the father told him that Cornsilk had escaped. "Bring her back to us so that we can properly eat her," the eldest monster said.

  So Ishbish agreed to this and ran up to his lodge. Straight away, he saw that his medicine pouch was missing. "The wicked girl has stolen my magic." And then he tore off in the direction Cornsilk had gone.

  It did not take him long to catch up to her. Near a hillock of locust trees, Ishbish saw the silhouette of Cornsilk's dress. "I will have you now," he vowed, and ran on.

  Cornsilk, looking back, saw him coming.

  But the medicine power of the ball was losing its strength. Cornsilk was falling lightly to earth. When she settled on the ground, Cornsilk dipped her hand into the stolen pouch and took a pinch of red paint. This she scattered between herself and Ishbish. Immediately, the paint transformed into a dense reddish fog. However, Ishbish knew what this was, and he turned it back into paint that coated the grass and leaves.

  Cornsilk, now running, threw Ishbish's arrow-straightener at him. This became a mountain of stone that Ishbish would have to cross. It took him a long time to get to the top and once there, it was no easy thing to get down.

  Cornsilk ran on, and while doing so, she threw Ishbish's porcupine-tail comb behind her.

  Ishbish, just off the mountain of stone, now met a pine-quilled forest that separated him from Cornsilk. The tree trunks grew so close together, it was nearly impossible for him to pass by them. "I shall catch you yet," he hollered. And he scraped his skin from tree to tree and left many worms in his tracks.

  Cornsilk was slowing down. "I can't run anymore," she said to herself. But then she heard a small voice, urging her not to quit. It was one of the mole people, who said, "All is not lost, child, we are still at your side. Look inside your dress once more." She did, and found one of Ishbish's arrow shafts. "Throw it into the air," said the mole.

  As soon as the shaft met the sky it spun into a whirlwind. Ishbish was very near but the whirlwind took him and carried him far away. "Quickly, child, run," said the mole. And Cornsilk ran, though less strongly than before. "I can't go on much longer," she said.

  But the mole person said, "You've come to a safe place."

  Cornsilk looked around. In front of her was a small stone lodge. The door was made of strong wood. "Whoever is there, let me in."

  And the door swung wide and Cornsilk went inside.

  In the darkness of the lodge, Cornsilk was greeted by eight mole people. They introduced themselves, one at a time.

  "I am called Ivak," said the eldest mole person. "I am friend to all and enemy to none."

  "You must have powerful medicine," Cornsilk said. "For one who comes now is enemy to all and friend to none."

  Ivak laughed. "I have another name," he said proudly. "I am called Greasy Chest by my family."

  "Why do you have that name?" Cornsilk questioned.

  "From my habit of using a panther's tail to wipe my mouth," he explained.

  "Yes," said a second mole, ". . . he dips the tail into his soup--"

  "-- and it goes all over his chest," said a third.

  Cornsilk observed that all of the moles wore different clothes. Some wore the skin of the skunk, some possum, some weasel and a few had the feathers of birds. But these were happy little men and they laughed at everything they said, and Cornsilk felt good to be among them.

  Suddenly, there was a crash at the door. It was like the sound of thunder. "He's come for me," said Cornsilk.

  But the mole called Greasy Chest, shook his head. "He won't come in here," he said confidently.

  "How can you be sure?" Cornsilk asked.

  "Well, because I am going out to meet him," Greasy Chest said.

  "Would you dare to fight the evil of Ishbish?"

  "Remember my name," Greasy Chest reminded. "--And now let me tell you how to use this--"

  Cornsilk looked in her hand and saw that she was still holding on to her grandmother's root digger cane. "Here is what you must do..." Greasy Chest whispered in Cornsilk's ear.

  Then he opened the door, stepped outside, and began to fight with Ishbish. The struggle was fierce. From the first, Ishbish had a hard time getting a grip on the little mole. Greasy Chest wriggled away, laughing all the while. Finally, Ishbish seized Greasy Chest, and raising him over his head, threw him to the ground.

  But as everyone knows, the earth is a mole's best friend. Greasy Chest rolled around while Ishbish tried to stomp him.

  "Where are you, devil mole?"

  Ishbish stomped.

  "Where are you, slime fur?"

  Greasy Chest popped out of Ishbish's shirt.

  Whereupon Ishbish began tearing himself to ribbons, until the ribbons of bloody flesh collapsed in a pile.

  Cornsilk then did as she was told by Greasy Chest.

  She built a fire and dragged Ishbish into it.

  The flames ate Ishbish the same way the monster fathers were going to eat Cornsilk. Soon there were only ashes, and a bad smell. Cornsilk got her grandmother's root digger and dug among the ashes until she found a small hard lump. Then she rubbed the lump with some goose grease that the other moles gave her, and as she'd been told to do by the brave little mole named Greasy Chest, she wrapped the slippery lump in a snakeskin.

  And the lump grew arms and a long tapered nose and it began to puff out and move this way and that, and a tiny voice made a big noise -- "I killed Ishbish," it said, and the voice belonged to Greasy Chest who now told Cornsilk, "You are our dear sister, and you will always be one of our family. Will you stay with us forever?"

  And it happened that Cornsilk said, "Yes, I will."

  And she stayed in the small stone lodge with her family of seven mole people until such time as they took leave of her and went away up into the sky. You can see them there now -- we call them the Little Dipper.

  The Story of Terence Trueblood

  This is based on a true story. It becomes my version of truth when I let the reader into the m
ind of a ten-year-old autistic boy whose main companions were a stuffed leopard and pink blanket. How he survived -- lost and alone in a northern Florida swamp -- is still a mystery. But the fact is, he lived. And though he couldn't tell his tale, he could respond to flashcards that told it in images. I have turned the flashcards into poetry and I have used some, if not all, of Terence's favorite phrases. The autism spectrum is a thread that runs in our family. It may be the thing that . . . well, now I'm getting ahead of myself. Go with Terence, you'll figure it out.

  I go down river, I float away.

  Mommy, Daddy, bye.

  I don’t know why, the river knows, I go down river.

  I see snake pretty snake.

  I see spider pretty spider.

  I hungry I eat berry lots of berry.

  I see fish lots of fish.

  Fish nibble my toes.

  I lose swimsuit.

  I see moon swim river drink moon.

  I hear puppy lots of puppy. Long tail puppy teeth.

  Puppy like my finger. I like puppy. I see big puppy I swim away. Bye bye big puppy.

  I see berry lots of berry. I hungry I eat berry.

  I see trees moving. I hear trees singing. I get out river. Dirty muddy nice warm I lie in muddy warm say hi to kitty kitty kiss my finger. I like kitty. I see big kitty, I get going.

  I see lake big lake. Long fish like me blow big bubble my face. Swimmy night cold. Trees got shirt. I don’t got shirt. Trees warm with shirt I cold no shirt.

  I cold moon.

  I warm sun.

  I see bird big white bird. I get going. White bird black leg get going get flying. I not fly. I swim, swimmy. I see fish lots of fish I see bird lots of bird. Fish water bird sky I get going.

  I see hand, I see man hand.

  I see man in boat wave hand.

  I hold boat talk to man.

  Man say hi, I say hi. I say man I see fish lots of fish. Man say get in boat go home now I get in man start boat I go home see Mommy Daddy tell them.

  I see fish lots of fish.