A native american story, a hidden spider story. The second chapter of this intriguing short story series surrounding the mysterious dream catcher, or as Minda would call it, the spider. Evan Reyes is on the hunt for answers and nothing is to stop him.
The next day broke through on Red Bluff, California. There was a gentle spring warmth and the fragrance of flowering and pollination in the air, and Evan was no stranger to it, having been born and raised in this western town.
However, there was indeed something strange about the moment Evan first opened his eyes that morning. A soreness on his face, one that grew in intensity the more his skin stretched. He couldn’t bring himself to yawn or scrunch up his eyes. What was this random affliction?
The boy waited no more and stumbling from his bed half-asleep, confronted the first mirror he could find in his room. He felt his cheeks and was puzzled at what he was seeing before him. Something very similar to what he would call a mild sunburn. It was fresh and warm, as though he had just come from a baking hot beach.
As the rational young man Evan was, he found no compelling reason to ascribe this sudden finding to. But he couldn’t ignore it.
And something else.
Evan’s mind had seemed to assign secondary importance to it and therefore block it while he was discovering the sensation. It was a burning smell and this time it wasn’t Evan’s mum’s overdone pancakes that was accustomed to; this smelt industrial.
He turned on his heel and started investigating. No sooner had he followed the scent, than he found the source. It was this paper bag he had on his bedside table, which presented a gaping hole, exposing the centre of the gift he had received the day before, Minda’s dream catcher.
Of that particular morning, all the dots were about to connect in ways he probably wasn’t prepared to witness..
All in a swift blur, the young man took the paper bag with him to the toilet room opposite his bedroom. There, he set the souvenir down on the sink top while he washed his “burns” with cold running water.
“No, no way. How did this happen?” He kept asking himself in between face splashes.
“Evaaan. Breakfast is ready! Come down now!” called out his mother.
Thank goodness it was a Saturday, Evan thought. Today was not a day to waste precious time on school when something as puzzling as this just happened to him.
“Already? Give me some time, mom” Evan barked out while nervously eyeing the paper bag, with high hesitations tormenting him.
“No, I said now Evan!” Evan’s mom growled. “The pancakes are at last done to perfection, don’t let them get cold on the day I get it right!”
At that manipulative remark, all Evan could pull was an eye roll, he knew he had to give in. Alas, his mother was a showboat. Before going downstairs to greet the breakfast table, he made a final stop to his bedroom and hid the seared paper bag under his carpet, paranoid that someone may see it and accuse him of pyromania.
The thirst for knowledge
“You’re looking like a piping hot grilled sandwich, son!” Evan’s mother blurted without shame while she was wiping the dishes dry.
Evan went on his breakfast routine with a shy look on his face, not very eager to face the day.
“I always tell you to put on sunscreen, and you and your puny teenage brain never listen to me!”
His fists were clenched and he munched away with haste. He didn’t dare to lift his head up to face his mother’s expected derisive gaze. She was a hard-headed woman and from the southern states, a deadly combination which meant her humiliation powers were second to none, especially in times like these.
Regarding the mystery, he shared nothing. There was really nothing to be secretive about but he sensed deep down that what had just happened between him and the recently gifted dream catcher or “spider” deserved to be kept under wraps.
He thought he needed to investigate first and avoid any commotion from his mother. Even more reason after beholding his mother’s desperate and dismissive reaction the night before. The flashback wasn’t hard to relive: “We’re tired Evan, it’s been a long day of preparing this day for you, please just acknowledge this for now and I’ll play out the details another time, yes?”. For an instant, Evan was pondering if right then was the opportune time to ask about godmother Minda, until his mother added:
“It would be nice if you agreed with me, young man! Remember that you can’t afford to do this when you go to college” His mom said in a sarcastic tone and with a nagging finger. As a result Evan bit his tongue and just replied:
“Yes mom, I just…forgot”
His typical teenage self tried to care but just… couldn’t. Not only did he have the exciting news of college to get used to but he was in a rush to get upstairs. He decided to ask her about Minda another day.
Finally he squeezed the rest of his breakfast into his mouth and without looking back departed, saying in a muffled voice:
“I have some errands to run mom, catch you later.”
Examination time
Evan Reyes’ bedroom door was now locked from the inside. After closing the curtains, the room was left dark and the desk was the only thing lit up by its corresponding desk lamp. There Evan was, preparing to examine the dream catcher with absolute concentration. He was expecting to see most of the charm in a charred state, after what he hypothesised might have happened. Yet when he slipped the amulet out from its bag, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
Each and every single part of it was intact. What is more, something had upgraded. The beads, the feathers and the white string conforming to its netlike intricate pattern were all just like he remembered, however, he noticed that the solid outer hoop had changed colour all of the sudden. He recalled that it originally was of a pale butternut wood colour and now, in contrast, it was matte orange, like someone had painted it overnight. A colour change…
His gasp followed when the reality sank in. First the burn and the blatant hole on the bag and now this. This had to be a practical joke, he assured himself. The more he thought of it, the more he was weirded out. Did the “spider” “catch” fire during the night and in the process unveil its undercoating?
Nonetheless, there was nothing fire-resistant about the organic materials it was composed of, which somehow survived undamaged. And none of that explained the burn on his face or how it caught fire in the first place. It was all incongruent, he couldn’t make out a logical order of events. It would be a lie if Evan admitted that the idea of it being an inconspicuous paranormal weapon didn’t cross his mind.
Thoughts of Minda being a secret agent, a spy, a mastermind brainwasher to his parents, a shaman, a voodoo master or a hypnotherapist. It all circled his mind bathed in the ignorance he was sadly experiencing. His godmother’s indigenous background probably had nothing to do with what Evan was brainstorming. The boy was left too much in the dark and he deemed it unfair to himself.
There was only one way to get out of this mudhole, and so he turned to his phonebook on the desk. His next thought was to look through the emergency numbers that were jotted down there; the numbers were all faded because they were written at a time when Evan was a young kid and minded by his nanny while his parents were away on business trips. He recalled Minda’s number featured in that tiny book and for a few seconds dithered over whether it was necessary to call her.
Evan was genuinely afraid of what he was contemplating in front of him and nobody else would have the answers other than Minda, who proved to be so sage about the subject from day one. He gave it no more thought before he dialled her number. Something between trembling and fidgety hands was making it hard for Evan to keep his mobile still. After the second tone, Minda picked up:
“Is this Evan who speaks??” She said non-chalantly.
“Hey Minda, yeah, hi. Uhh. I’m in a bit of a…” He spoke, feeling intimidated by the greatness and wisdom that he assigned to her.
“It’s the spider, yes?”
“Yeah, uhh. You gave this to me and now…uhh..basically, I have no idea what is going on”
“My boy, you are learning. And you need to learn. But all in steps. Your hand won’t always be held”
After a four second pause, she continued.
“The spider protects you. From forces. Forces change at every new stage of life. Tell me boy, what do you see?”
After a while getting accustomed to her soothing and drawn-out way of talking, he lost some of his nerves.
“Something must have lit up or something. Like it must have burnt through a hole, like somebody left a match and a magnifier in there. A-a-and now it’s changed. It’s…” His hands resumed its tremble and he was back to his overstrung teenage self.
“Orange?”
“Y-yeah…how did you know?”
“Because of the stage of the cycle. I had an inkling this would happen. You are lucky, god-son, I told you this is special. Mount Shasta is highly conscious and concentrates so much. The destiny whispered well to me.”
“Okay, first, why orange? Did it actually set on fire?”
“Oh growing boy Evan. Follow your inquisitive light. The spider is a sieve. Something bad was about to catch you last night …. seems. The energy is s… strong, are you near the spider r…. now Evan?” The voice was cutting out and Minda seemed to be aware of it.
“Yes, I am. Why?”
“It is draining our wave connection”
“Our what?”
“In a f…. seconds …. wave connection will fade if you don’t … away from … spider. Also, …mission is done”
“I…”
“Ev…., follow… where…. will take you. Look for…. and….”
And just like that, the connection was lost. To Evan, the fact that this connection cut-off happened just meant that this “spider” was a deeper enigma than he had expected. Clearly, Minda spoke in riddles, and there was nothing Evan could do about it, but it was even more frustrating to know that he wasn’t able to hear the last of her words. And above all, Evan was astounded at what this charm could do. This was no ordinary dream catcher one finds in souvenir shops and flea market stalls. It stored something other than just wood, beads, feathers and strings.
This was an ability beyond Evan’s comprehension. Something was brewing inside this magnificent creation, something possibly otherwordly or ancient.
Despite his hurried frustration, one thing was for sure, Minda had disclosed some tidbits about her so-called “spider”: the forces, the life cycle stages, Mount Shasta… He heard her mention Mount Shasta before, what was so special about it? It rang a bell…
At first he was dubious about how much of what Minda was saying was balderdash. But ultimately, Evan wasn’t a dismissive person or an easy skeptic. In reality, he was an analytical specimen, on a very inquisitive mission, one of a metaphysical nature that he had turned into an official project three years ago. For all that time, he had been gathering evidence of answers to some questions that he had pledged to himself to work on and refine until the end of his days. All compiled in the so-called “big book”. There were questions on the creation and origin of all things, higher beings, deities, other realms and dimensions, all dedicated to his personal research.
Whenever this topic would arise in conversation, people in his circles ignorantly assumed that too much Dungeons and Dragons had got into his head, a game Evan actually had no clue about. Nothing ridiculed him though, the young man was by all means a contemporary realist. And this dream catcher conundrum wasn’t going to fly over his head, as he actually had before him something of potential to his intellectual project. He had to grab this opportunity with both hands and begin assembling evidence for the “big book”.
The Big book
Evan was decided on not redialling after Minda in the meantime and welcomed the thought of the “big book”. It was about time he started a codex on this recent found evidence surrounding Minda’s “spider”. He set off to look for it, which was stacked away under other varieties of book on a lonely wicker chair. He couldn’t remember the last time he had opened it, as it is not often one can be sure of supernatural proof. It was leather-bound and thick, full of page markers and loose pages tied together and it smelt like a dust-cake.
Once back at the desk and equipped with his reading glasses, he proceeded to isolate the section page under the title “Unknown forces”
His index finger dragged from top to bottom until he reached the subheading he was looking for: “Native American origin”
Evan was about to write on a new entry page until his eyes met the only other handwritten report form there, attached to a USB pen drive. In journal-style prose it said:
“2015 – Schoolmate Alice interview, ghost dance.”
It was a new school term and summer break was officially over. Alice Hansen reported to have returned from a week-long campfire holiday with family and friends in The Herrera’s wilderness camps. She didn’t look the same as last term but I couldn’t tell what it was and between classes she wouldn’t stop talking about her vacation.
I observed her concerning repetitive behaviour and took her aside during recess. I questioned her so she could share her anecdote. Alice was making sense at first, talks of when she and her friends splintered from the main group and wandered together through the hiking trails at night. The moment she didn’t make sense was when she reported to encounter an isolated tribe of indigenous people whose name started with X or S. There was mention of “ghost dance”. Please see the interview audio stored on the attached pen drive to access the full consented interview with her. Pay attention to the key words that trigger her.”
Evan scratched his head trying to recollect the details of this file he had written two years ago, especially regarding this tribe’s name. It must have meant something big but the minutiae must have got lost in time and faded in importance when exam season arrived. He considered that it wouldn’t hurt to begin his journey learning more about the Native American world. Minda did say to follow his inquisitive light. Something had to be done about it.
The start of an inquisitive journey: a hidden spider story
Two hours later, Evan Reyes was found frozen in space. Sat in front of another desk this time where his laptop was running opposite him, which just finished playing Alice’s Interview audio file contained in the USB drive. Above his dilated pupils, his eyebrows were raised and his dark hair was ironed back and matted by his sweaty hands. In this current context, he had now heard so much yet knew so little. It was time to consider believing that there was more than meets the eye with this “spider”. Evan’s next stop: the public library. The journey had truly started.
