Once long ago, two siblings, Te and Ve, heard a tale of an old wolf who knew how all stories end. He lived over the winding river, beyond the last of the wheat crops past the tall mountains, in a dark cave. So they made a pact to learn the endings to their favorite fairy stories and sealed it with spit and stone. The boy set out immediately, running, his hair whipping in the wind. The sister stayed, she did not go.
He ran past the winding river and saw a fair lady, her hands behind her back, she gave him an inviting smile...
but he ran on
He ran through the wheat crops and saw a young dark skinned man with a child on his shoulders, they laughed and gestured for the boy to come stay.
but he ran on
He took the mountains two steps at a time, and near the top of one he saw an old women had built an inn where weary travelers could rest, the warm fire inside called to him.
but he ran on
So in no time at all he approached a wide cave at the end of a long road. He entered never breaking stride. Hardly visible, the boy could just barely make out an old man sitting on a broken stump of a tree some ways in. He looked up at the young boy and he saw only a pale grey where iris should be, the old man was blind. Why have you come? The old man said. His voice was a whisper.
"I want to know the ending to all the stories!" The boy said proudly, knowing in his heart that he had finally beat his sister at something.
"I want them laid out before me and analyzed."
The old man nodded once. "I will do that, but first I must hear yours in trade". He offered the boy a drink and he drank. He offered the boy to sit but he stood.
"That will take no time at all" said, and said "I bet, ran and won!" The boy finished with a flourish. "and now I'll have what's due"
The old man let out a mirthless chuckle. Overhead the branches from the old tree seemed to stretch out beneath him. And as the boy’s eyes adjusted, he saw the old man wasn't blind. His eyes now a full moon rising, his face slanted, his mouth opened. Te saw the man was not old, but young, as if his skin had never seen a sunrise.
"That will take no time at all"
He said, and his voice was endless desert sand rolling.
"For there is only one story"
His voice was hollow oak and shattered glass across bare skin and though the boy had never seen a thing die, he knew the shape it took. So he turned to run and tripped on a root. He came down hard, his head ringing. He tasted blood and bitter green. The boy saw there was no cave, only the canopy of a great tree far above him.
Te crawled and covered all the ground beneath him, all the world. The boy turned to run, the cave exit was no door, but a maw, it's sharp white teeth reflected only darkness.
The voice was a one voice, then four, then seven then ... Te’s heartbeat drowned out everything.
"and there is only one ending"
Much, much later a woman approached the same cave. Her steps touched the whole of the ground and though she was old, she seemed to slide, to dance upon the earth. In the cave there was an old man by a gentle fire. He bid her sit and share wine but she took water first. With a sly smile she told him of rivers embrace and beating drums. She spoke of soil, toil and trough and the joy her son brought. She spoke of far off lands and old forgotten ways. As the fire faded and the dark inched close, the old man was now a wolf and she laid her head upon his fur and though it gave no warmth, she could hear in him the heartbeat of the world as she drifted into sleep.
