Read Online For Joshua by Richard Wagamese - Free Book Online Page A

way—to feel, to experience.
    “Maybe the best way to teach Man now is to let him feel his way around the world that way, too. Let him bump into things, lose things, get confused, flutter about in the dark for a while. Then he’ll learn to appreciate seeing for what it is.”
    And that is what they did. One by one the Animal People disappeared from the world of Man. They became creatures of the dark, of the deep waters, of the highest flight, the deepest burrows, the farthest corners of the forests, the steepest peaks, and remotest valleys. They ceased to speak with One Mind in case Man, in his dreaming, might find a way to speak this way, too. They separated and Man was left alone.
    Loneliness was born. Before the departure of the Animal People, Man had felt comfortable and secure in the world. Now, with his teachers gone, Man became filled with a deep blue feeling in the pit of his belly. It was an uncomfortable feeling, one he did not like and wanted faraway from. But instead of turning back to his teachers for guidance, Man chose to become even more and more concerned with getting and having. He seemed to believe that getting and having was the cure for the deep blue feeling in his belly. But the more he got and the more he had, the more that feeling grew.
    Soon the new creatures had divided themselves into groups. Each separate group found its own place in the world and settled there. They called these places “home.” At home, Man worked hard to put great distances between himself and the deep blue feeling called loneliness. But all he achieved was to put great distances between his groups. The loneliness grew. Man told himself that the feeling came from not having enough, so he worked hard until finally he had achieved his destiny and filled every nook and cranny of the world. There were fields where forests had stood, dams in rivers and streams that once flowed strong and swift to the sea, roads where once trails had been blazed, and fences to mark where one’s home ended and another began. Man had shaped his world into straight lines. He had made things predictable, controllable, secure. Still, loneliness lived in the deep pit of his belly.
    The Animal People watched all of it from their hiding places. They could sense Man’s desperation, and when it gotto the point where they could not endure Man’s suffering any longer they met in a secret valley in the mountains.
    “It gets worse,” said Bear. “Even though they suffer they still keep on the same path.”
    “Yes,” agreed Turtle. “I have heard from my cousins around the world that it’s the same everywhere.”
    “But we still need to teach them,” said Rabbit. “We agreed to be their teachers at the request of Creator and they still need our help.”
    “That’s true. That’s very true,” said Cougar. “But they are so stubborn. So ready to pounce on us if ever we show ourselves. Who can teach anything when all we mean to them is food or hide?”
    “Maybe we should choose,” said Owl.
    “Choose? Choose what?” asked Porcupine.
    “Not what,” said Owl. “Who.”
    “What do you mean?” asked Buffalo.
    “I mean,” replied Owl, “that we should chose one group, one Family of Man, and teach them. And maybe, just maybe, that Family of Man can reach the others.”
    “That’s a good idea,” said Squirrel. “But how do we choose? And who is worthy?”
    “No one. No one is worthy,” said grumpy Skunk. “Everywhere it’s the same. There isn’t anyone living accordingto the teachings. No one who remembers what we taught them in the beginning. None is worthy.”
    “There must be someone. Somewhere,” said Woodpecker.
    “Where?” asked Moose.
    “This is what we should do,” said Owl, after much talk. “We will send out a scout. The scout will travel far and wide and if he or she can find one Family of Man that is still following the teachings, still living in the way we taught them in the beginning, then we’ll come out of