Free Totem by Jennifer Maruno

rain,” he said in a louder, stronger, voice. “The sea rose and it reached the houses.” He pretended to see water oozing its way across the earth floor of the lodge and lifted one foot as if it were about to get wet. “It crept through the houses and out into the forest. The houses groaned and the great poles began to tremble.”
    For the first time, the story he heard at another time in another place made sense.
    Jonny told his story as if he were experiencing the flood right there and then. He made himself look tired and wet. He used the staff to show how he paddled with the rest of the village to safety. When he lowered his head and galloped like a mountain goat, Jonny caught the eyes of Tommy-Two and Ernie watching in utter amazement. Seeing Ernie, he remembered the words he was to add at the end. “These are the words of my people,” he said. He held the staff out to the speaker. “These are the words I have learned.”
    The speaker took the staff and pounded the floor. The drumming and singing resumed.
    The chief lifted the small carved box that sat at his feet and handed it to Jonny. “I thank you for your story,” he said.
    Jonny nodded in appreciation. As he turned to sit, a woman lowered a patterned blanket of goat wool onto his shoulders. As the piles of carved masks, boxes, baskets, bowls, and blankets grew lower, no one could doubt this generous man’s wealth. Each person accepted the chief’s gifts with grace. Ernie received a club shaped like a fish. He smiled and danced his appreciation.
    Jonny stared about the room, determined to drink in every detail of this important night, but his eyelids felt heavy.
    Tommy-Two tapped him on the shoulder. “Come and bunk in with me.”
    â€œWhat about Ernie?” Jonny asked.
    â€œHe’s still dancing,” the chief’s son said. “He’ll probably go all night.”
    Jonny made his way to the back of the great wooden lodge through the throng of people. So much had happened since they’d left the cave. He’d learned about the figures on the pole, watched dancers leap about the room, eaten his fill several times, spoken in front of a crowd, and received gifts. He placed the carved box at the foot of the platform bed. Then he lay down and covered himself with his new blanket.
    â€œAren’t you going to look inside?” Tommy-Two asked.
    â€œTomorrow,” Jonny said. It didn’t matter to him if the box was empty or full. He now had more possessions than he had ever owned in his life.

12
    The Workshop
    â€œIt is time for me to leave the village,” Kalaku told Jonny a few days after the festivities ended. Even though his skin was leathered from years of working in the sun, his face looked young and full of excitement.
    â€œWhy?” Jonny asked, putting down the tool he was examining. It was similar to his hatchet, only with the blade set sideways. Inside the small cedar box, he’d found a whole set of carving tools: a wedge of antler, three different-sized stone chisels, a hammer, and the adze.
    â€œI must return to my work,” Kalaku said.
    â€œLet me come with you,” Jonny said. He often thought about making something with the wood he used to split and stack. He loved the idea of creating something beautiful from something plain, like the time he taught himself how to make a paper airplane — until the priests took the paper away. “I want to learn how to carve.”
    â€œThe making of a pole requires a strict, simple life,” Kalaku said. “Any bad thoughts or action will cause the wood to split or warp.”
    Jonny looked past the heavy, wooden canoes to the endless horizon of water and sky. “I know that kind of life,” he said.
    Kalaku placed his hand on Jonny’s head. “Yes,” he said, patting it. “You do.”
    That afternoon, Jonny sat with Ernie on a log near a small fire on the