Fairytale Prompt#8

Growing up my life was filled with all kinds of tales thanks to my Cherokee heritage. I think Cherokee have stories for all occasions and most had a moral behind them similar to fairytales. My cousins and I would always beg my grandfather to tell us one of his many stories. Sometimes he would oblige us right away and others we would have to bribe him with candy. He was a wonderful story teller and it was so easy to get swept up in his words.

One of my favorite stories is about how strawberries came to be on earth. It is also why in many Cherokee weddings you will always see strawberries being served. I will give you the very brief story but link you to the full one if you would like to read.

In the beginning the Creator made the First Man and the First Woman. They were in love and built a home together. As years passed they began to argue and eventually the First Woman left their home.  At first the man went on with his life but soon missed the woman. He cried out to the Creator to help bring her back to him.

The First Man set off to find the First Woman. The Creator placed different blueberries, blackberries and raspberries in her path to slow her down.  Each time she would ignore them and keep going. Finally she came upon a fruit she had never seen before. There were beautiful white flowers along with the most beautiful red berries with a texture she was unfamiliar with and it had the sweetest smell. She finally decided to taste the berry and as she did her anger began to fade. Then she realized how much she missed the First Man. She gathered up the berries and retraced her path home. Little did she know that the First Man was right behind her and they found one another. They go back home and share the berries which become a symbol of good luck and a reminder not to argue.

Here you can read the full story….The First Strawberries

This week write a tale and allow strawberries to have a role. It doesn’t have to be about love as in the Cherokee tale, maybe they are poison or anything else your imagination desires.

Write your story and then please link up below.

About Anja

“Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity” – Charles Mingus

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