Chapter One, Caminuee, the spirit of the forest.
Sarah was born at an early age. As soon as she was old enough to heft a rifle, she hunted. She and her father would sometimes wake up at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school. She fished and hiked and was more at home in the outdoors than in a warm, cozy cabin. Sarah was one with nature.
One morning, when she was a teenager, she was tracking some moose sign when she was startled by an unusual sound coming from a dense stand of trees to her left.
“Sarah.” It was a deep voice – it sounded like James Earl Jones calling her name. Who could it be?
“Sarah.” There it was again. She carefully eased towards the voice, her .30-06 ready.
Then she saw it through the dense cover.
A pure white moose. A giant one at that. He must be eight feet at the shoulders and his antlers – wow – must be six feet, at least. She was transfixed – the white moose was glowing, shimmering, like a flickering candle flame.
“Cama-I, Sarah.” Sarah recognized that as a greeting in Yup’ik. She was dumbfounded, was this ghostly, giant moose actually talking to her?
“Yes, Sarah, I am Caminuee, the Spirit of the Forest.” Sarah’s mouth, now wide open, was paralyzed – she couldn’t speak. An insect flew right into her open mouth, buzzed around, and then flew back out.
“You have been chosen.” The moose said.
Sarah finally came to her senses, “chosen for what?” She couldn’t believe that she was having a conversation with a moose?
“To save the world.”
Sarah shook her head. She didn’t drink or smoke, she didn’t do drugs – was she going crazy? Hearing a moose (a white one, at that) telling her that she had been chosen to save the world – must’ve been that elk and anchovy pizza fighting back or something. She wanted to turn and get away but found that she couldn’t move. This was becoming scary.
“Do not fear, Sarah. You are the chosen one who will save the earth.” “Because you are pure of heart and spirit, you will be given powers.” “You will fight evil and do good things for all the world’s creatures.”
A shiver started at Sarah’s toes and traveled up to her hair – like a cold chill – then, all at once, it was gone, replaced by a feeling of confidence and strength. Somehow, she knew that she could do it. She could save the world.
The moose spoke again, “your powers will remain dormant until the ninth month of the year of the dark son. A great evil will be at its strongest then, and only then can it be defeated. The spirits of the earth will come together and fill you with the power of truth. At that time, you will be prepared to do battle with the forces of darkness.”
Sarah understood. Somehow, everything was clear to her now, and she knew when the time came, she would be ready.
“Owahkänaa, chosen one” the moose shimmered, blurred, and ‘pop’ he was gone.
Though it was close to freezing, Sarah found herself sweating. What an experience. She decided not to tell her mom or dad about the moose. They’d never believe her anyway. Later, she began to question herself about what really happened. Gradually, the experience began to fade and over the passage of time, it was forgotten.