dead mans possessions
A Ghost is a spirit of someone who has died and is earth bound. This story is about a ghost that chased four teenage boys.
It happened long ago, even before the white man came. The plains Indians buried there dead by placing the body on a scaffold.
it was customary to bury the person with their most valueble possessions . A man had died and he was buried their in the traditional way of the plains Indians.At the same time the burial was taking place,there was a celebration going on about eight miles away. At the celebration there were four teenage boys .the oldest boy about sixteen and his three friends were younger.
Although they were having a good time at celebration the oldest boy wanted to leave and ride out to the burial grounds. The boy was curious about the dead man and what kind of belongings he was buried with . He really didn't want to go alone but he knew his friends would never agree to go there with him.It was a scary place and a long ride to get home before dark. He decided to make up a story about going hunting he knew his friends would leave the celebration for that.
They all like to hunt and he knew they would be anxious to go along. The boys left the celebration and rode their horses toward the burial ground.the oldest boy did not tell them where they were going.he just told them they would hunt something good in a secret place. So the boys rode along and did not ask any question.They took their time and only made their horses walk. Soon they arrived at the burial grounds. The boys were surprised their had tricked them into going there the younger boys didn't like being there they became scared and wanted to leave. The oldest boy said" We have come this far lets look at the dead man and see what kind of valuables he has." the younger boy protested "We better leave now or it will be dark before we get home and we will be in trouble the oldest boy paid no attention and began to climb up on to the scaffold where the dead man was lying he was surprised to see all the valuables belonging to the dead man and had decided to take them for himself and for his friends.
He than gave each of his friends some of the dead mans belongings. The boys were scared and didn't want to keep them . the oldest boy said" The man is dead and has no use for them.Go ahead and keep them. " The older boy was about to climb down when he saw the dead man's sun dance whistle around his neck he decided to keep for himself and put around his own neck.
The younger boys were scared and anxious to leave.They were already on there horses and called up oldest boy to hurry up the older boy climbed down,got on his horse,and they all started back to celebration. They had only rode a short distance when on of the boys felt very nervous and uneasy.He felt like someone was watching them he nervously looked back and was terrified at what he saw the deadman was climbing down of scaffold. He shouted to the others,"Look!Look!" When the other boys looked back they also saw the dead man climbing down from the scaffold they were all shaking and scared and wanted to get away as fast as they could.the dead man was heading straight for them.
The boys made their horses go faster but it didn't help. No matter how fast they went the deadman was getting closer. they could not get away.Thay ran their horses hard but it was no use.the dead man was gaining. One of the boys yelled"He wants his things. Give them back!"The boys begun throwing his belongings onto the ground.
When the dead man arrived at the spot where the boys had thrown his belongings he just stopped and looked at them.He started after them again even faster.He was getting closer and closer. The older boy realized he still had his Sundance Whistle around his neck. He threw it down so hard it broke into many pieces when the dead man got to the spot where the oldest boy threw his whistle he stopped and picked up all the pieces. He turned around and slowly walked back toward the burial ground.
The boys were exhausted and so were their horses .Their hearts were still pounding but they felt safe and could continue back to celebration at a slower pace. It had been a long and frightening day for all the boys. Since it was getting late they decided to go straight home. When the boys arrived at home they went their separate ways to their own tepees and went to bed. During the night the old boy wake up.he heard strange sounds.It sounded like people crying and praying. He was so tired he fell back to sleep. He didn't wake up again untill morning.When he saw his parents he knew something was wrong. His parents told him"One of your friend died during night"He wondered if it had something to do with taking the things from the deadman that didn't belong to them.
The following night he heard the sounds again .people were crying and praying.In the morning his parents told him ,"Another one of your friends has died during the night."The boy was very scared now that two of his friends were dead. On the third night it happened again.
Sounds of people crying and praying in the night and the news in the morning that another friend died. The boy was scared because he knew he would be next. He knew te deadman's spirit was getting even with him for taking his things. Tonight would be his night to die.
As the boy got ready for bed he prepared himself for his own death he put on his good buckskin clothes and his best moccasins.He didn't think anything or anyone could help him now. He thought of painting his face red to keep away the bad spirits but it seems too late even for that. He didn't want to die so decided to use the red paint anyway.It was worth a try. As he was putting the paint on he had many thoughts. He felt he was to blame for his friends deaths. How wrong he had been to take the things that didn't belong to him. He was sad and sorry for what he had done. When the sun rose next morning the boy's father shook him wake him up. when the boy woke up his father said ,"why are you wearing your good buckskin clothes and your best moccasins"? The boy was surprised to be alive but he was very glad.
He told his father about the day he and his friends left the celebration to visit the burial ground."I tricked my friends into going with me.when we got there we took many of dead man's belongings,"He said. He told his father how the deadman had chased them.It didn't matter how fast the boys made their horses run the deadman continued to follow them. The boy described how his friends had thrown the deadmans belonging's onto the ground but he still followed them.
The boy said," I finally realized the sundance whistle I had taken from him was still around my neck. I threw it to the ground and than deadman finally stopped chasing us". The boys father told him the reason he didn't die was because he painted his face red."The deadman's spirit had come for you but when he saw the red paint he knew you were sorry and had learned about feelings and respect for others.The dead man let you live so you could tell the story to others,"said the boy's father. The young man learned a valuable lesson.This story has been told many times to remind everyone that they must always respect the people who have died and as well as to respect their possessions.
By:- TARUN SHARMA