Two Wolves

White Eagle sat in silence, cross-legged; his eyes were closed, as the mountains wind blew against his feathered headdress. He breathed in and out uniformly, as though he was breathing together with Mother Earth. His brothers were preparing for a battle; they were fighting for their birth-right as chief elder. White Eagle wasn't interested in power. He was focused on the whispers of the Chief Spirit between the cedar trees in the woods, and seeing his ancestors' omens. "Both of you have two wolves fighting inside you; inside everyone!" he once told his brothers. "One wolf is good. He feeds on hope, love, charity, kindness, honesty, patience.... The other wolf is evil. He feeds on death, hate, anger, envy, greed, pride..... The one that wins is the one you feed most!!" Sadly they dressed up for a battle - faces decorated with dark rainbow stripes, backs loaded with bows and arrows, a hand ax, and moccasins for the snow. That winter took both of his brothers' lives that night. The wolves howled in unison until dawn, though there wasn't any full moon. Trees shed their leaves, though it wasn't autumn. The Chief Spirit was mourning for the deaths of great men, who would do greater good, if they let their little brother, White Eagle, rule; they didn't know the Chief Spirit was speaking inside him..... (The story "Two Wolves" is a Cherokee Indian Folklore) Date: 13/02/2017