Stormy ocean waves by iStock user andrej67. Source: Link.
My name is Tomah and I reside along the north shores of my fellow birds' land. I was born into an honorable family from which a male in each generation is chosen to be the Storm King. I had always looked forward to taking on this role growing up as I only had two other sisters and a younger brother, meaning I was next in line. I dreamed of protecting our land from violent storms, washing away flood waters, and providing beautiful weather to my flock. This was all until the day of my tenth birthday, when I was expected to begin training with my father to take over the Storm King role.
I woke up to a peaceful morning with a cool breeze blowing through the warm coastal air. I left my nest and excitedly went to my father. When I met with him, though, he had a sorrowful look on his face and I could sense unrest. I asked him what was the matter and he broke the news to me that the Storm King would no longer be chosen from our family. This meant that I had lost the opportunity to accomplish what I had always dreamed. I was so upset at the unfairness of the situation that I immediately left my home and flew to the coast on the farthest point in the ocean.
As I sat there on the point, staring out at the clouds dotting the sky, I grew angrier and angrier. Angry at my community for deciding I would no longer be Storm King, angry at my father for letting the community decide such a thing, and angry at myself for not realizing this was happening until this day. I closed my eyes, started screeching into the open ocean, and flapped my wings as hard as I could to release as much anger as possible. It grew dark and I noticed the ocean growing rougher with clouds building in, but I just could not stop, so this continued for days until suddenly a large human approached me from behind. He questioned me as I stopped flapping my wings and said that he could take me somewhere I could calm down.
This seemed sincere, so I agreed and he took me upon his back to start towards this new location. Before we even got off of the point, this human tripped and landed on my wing. I cried out in pain and the human took a piece of cloth to bind my injury, apologizing the whole time. I could not believe that in just a few days I had lost my dreams and broke my wing, rendering me incapable of returning home. After setting my wing, this human carried me to a covered area along the coast and told me to rest until he returned with food. I had no idea if he meant hours, days, or weeks, so I sat there alone sadly with just my thoughts and the breeze blowing through the trees.
After what seemed like an eternity, the human finally returned with some fish for me to eat! He also noticed that my wing looked to be healed, so he took the cloth off and suggested I only flap my wings at a steady, flying pace at most. If I were to get angry again, I would risk dislocating my wing and having to start the healing process all over. After I ate some food and felt well enough to do so, I thanked the human and decided to fly home. While saying goodbye, though, he addressed me as the Storm King. Shocked, I explained my situation and asked why he would call me such a thing.
This man told me that while I was angry and flapping my wings violently towards the ocean, I was the one who caused the water to grow rough and the skies to cloud up. This made it impossible for him and his family to fish, which is why he took me away from the coast. Now that I was well, the breeze was back to normal and their fishing was going wonderfully. This was great news to hear, because that meant I really was the Storm King! I controlled the wind and the clouds! I thanked the man and flew straight home to my father to tell him the great news.
Once I made it home and told my father, he smiled and hugged me explaining that he knew this all along. Part of my training was realizing my own power, which I accomplished through my emotions. We finally started the rest of my training right away and I was the happiest I had ever been. Nowadays I have taken on the role of Storm King and I enjoy every single day of it.
Author's Note: This story retelling was based on "The Bird whose Wings Made the Wind" from Silas Tertius Rand's Legends of the Micmacs. The origin of this story was through the Native American Micmac tribe who resided along the coastal Atlantic Provinces of Canada. Currently, this tribe is still coastal and most prevalent in the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick areas. The people rely heavily on natural resources for items such as clothing, shelter, tools, and even canoes. They especially rely on fishing for nutrition, which was included in this retelling.
In the original story, it is told from the perspective of the human who carries the bird away from the point and breaks his wing. He does this so that the wind will calm down and they can fish again since him and his family are hungry. I decided to give the bird (the Storm King in the original story) a backstory to give the reader an explanation for why he was flapping his wings so viciously on the point. I also wanted the story to have a happier ending for the bird since in the original story the human treats him rather poorly after breaking his wing and lies about not being able to flap his wings hard anymore.