Circle of Stones

by Jason Clendenen

The village was alive with music and dancing. The annual contest to see who could first spot the Spring Star had been won! Staffa, a brave and strong young man received the cow this year. He had stayed up all night for a month to gain this prize, and his efforts were duly rewarded.

He watched as the men chanted and beat on drums, while the women danced in a circle around a fire dedicated to the people from the stars who had come down long ago to give his people wisdom. He caught a glimpse of the chief’s daughter. Ah, there was a prize craved by all the young men of the tribe - beautiful and rich. Staffa’s family would gain many cows indeed if he married this one. Surely he had a chance now - now that he was a powerful and respected man.

He looked up into the night sky. The Spring Star seemed to gaze upon him with a special light, as if it shined especially bright for him. He smiled as he thought about his future: soon he would have a dwelling of his own, with a wife to cook for him, and with children to help him tend to his cattle.

A young boy interrupted Staffa’s thoughts. He had a bowl of food for the new village hero, and Staffa took it gratefully. Barely had he finished eating when some young men grabbed him and drug him into the circle of dancing women. The formality of ceremony was over, and now it was time for the villagers to have fun.

After hours of dancing with the men and women of the village, Staffa took a long walk in solitude. He loved his people and his land, and he was glad that he could be the center of attention for the annual celebration. His father and uncle had each had their moment of fame, and Staffa was sure his sons would as well.

The night was calm and cool. The desert was a wonderful place at night, when all the animals came out to feed. Staffa liked to walk in the desert at night; he liked the night animals, and he liked looking at the stars. It gave a man time to think and ponder about things. Staffa looked upon the Spring Star, his star, and wondered if the people from the stars were still up there. He also wondered if they would ever come back to his people, and he vowed to continue worshipping them - just in case they did return.

Just then Staffa heard a sound! Something was rustling in the bushes nearby. He smiled and walked closer, waiting for the suspected lizard to scurry to another hiding place. No lizard ran, however, and Staffa became curious. He moved closer still, until he could hear a voice! Someone was there, and that someone seemed unaware of his presence. Staffa crouched into an alert position and listened to what the man was chanting. It was quiet and hard to understand. The man spoke Galla, but it he spoke it unlike any man Staffa had ever heard. It seemed almost archaic, like the way the old stories were told. It seemed strange that any man should speak this…and what was he saying? Something about a magical circle of stones. Staffa racked his memory for stories about magic stones, but he could not remember any of the elders ever mentioning such a thing. The strange man continued to rant about how the magic stones took him here and how he needed to please the men from the stars in order to return to his home. Strange talk indeed!

At this point Staffa decided to make his presence known, so he stood straight up and grunted. The man in the bushes stopped talking; he looked at Staffa with madness in his eyes, and then he started to run. Staffa ran after him, and it took all his effort and energy to keep pace. Staffa followed the old man out into the desert, loosing his way in the melee. In the dark, however, Staffa soon lost the fleeing man. He sat down to rest on a stone; the run had taken all his energy, and he needed to catch his breath.

After a few minutes Staffa began to wonder where he was. He looked around and noticed that he was in the open plains of the Sahara Desert, not a good place to be unprepared. There were no familiar sights around him – how would he find his way home? Then he remembered the stars! Yes, he could use the stars to find his way home, he knew that. He stood up and looked into the sky to find the River Star, the star that was always in the direction of the river that ran next to the village. He found the star and started on his journey home.

It was almost dawn when Staffa decided that the River Star was not leading him to his village. He was still in open desert, and his village was miles from the desert. This was no-man’s land, and he began to worry. Staffa was thirsty, and there was no easy way to come by water in the sandy deserts of his homeland. The River Star had to be right, he said to himself, and so he continued walking in the same direction he had been walking in for hours, hoping he would soon see something he recognized.

The next thing he saw, however, besides sand, was a huge circle of rocks sticking out of the ground. What was this? Surely he had never seen this before, yet it seemed to be familiar, perhaps preserved in his mind from his ancestors from long ago. A circle of standing stones? It was obviously deliberate, since they were in a perfect circle and evenly spaced. What could this be for? Suddenly he remembered the old man’s crazy chanting in the woods about a magic circle of stones in the desert. Could this be the circle the man was raving about?

Staffa slowly walked closer for a better look. He was unsure how to proceed, but curiosity got the best of him as he let down his guard and wondered around the place. It was quite marvelous, with stones taller than he pointing straight up into the sky, as if they were fingers reaching for the stars. The sun was coming up now, and Staffa noticed that from where he stood, he could see it rising perfectly between two stones. Was this a coincidence, or had some people planned things this way? He had a sickening feeling that this all had to do with something beyond his understanding.

The sun took its time rising; it was in no hurry. Staffa watched as it rose to half way up the stones, then most of the way, and finally it exited the valley created by the two stones and entered the free sky. He looked around and noticed that the strange old man was sitting against a stone, watching him with a smile on his face. What could this all be about?

The old man got up and walked slowly over to Staffa. He had a huge grin on his face. Staffa was tense, ready to react to whatever the old man did. He quickly glanced all around him, looking to see if they were alone. Once he was assured there were no more men hiding in the rock circle, he focused his attention back to the old man.

Staffa asked, "Who are you?"

To which the man replied, "I am Mofo."

"What are you doing here?"

"I am to show you something. Take my hand and let me guide you."

The old man reached out his hand for Staffa to take. He hesitated…what was this all about? Who was this old man? Was he really from the Star People? If he was then Staffa best not upset him. He took the hand, felt the old man squeeze it tight. He saw a flash of light! It was too bright to open his eyes. Everywhere there was pure light, white and bright. Staffa screamed out, "What is going on?"

There was no answer. Staffa realized that the light was gone and dared to open his eyes. He was in the blackness of space! What was this? How had this happened? He realized he was still holding hands with the crazy old man. Staffa looked at him, and the man smiled. "Look around you, boy. Here is the universe. Take a good look, then go back to your people and tell them what you see."

Staffa could not speak. He was awed by all the stars and planets that flew by him. Everything he saw he understood, he saw the planets in orbits around different stars, he saw comets hurtling through space with tails made of ice, and he saw stars explode and contract into nothingness. This was great knowledge indeed. This must be one of the Star People, he thought, and he is showing me the secrets of the universe.

Then another flash! Staffa jumped up with a start. He was lying in his room, in his own home. It was morning and his mother soon came to him with food to eat. She inquired into his distraught mood, but he wasn’t sure how to answer. Was it a dream? Was it real? He thought about it again, and he realized that he knew things about the stars that he had not known before.

"I have been blessed with knowledge, mother."

With that he left his house and went straight to the chief. He told the chief of his vision, and the chief listened with a gladdened heart. "They have chosen you, my boy. I have been thinking or retiring for quite some time, but I had no sons to accept my title. Now I see that you are to marry my daughter and be the chief of our people. Your knowledge of the stars is great, and it has been given to you by the Star People. Remember that and always pay your respects to them. In this way you will live a long and happy life, and the people will prosper." With those words, Staffa became chief. He did lead a long and happy life, and his people did prosper. The Star People had aided them once again.

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