A MASK FOR HALLOWEEN

The little girl stamped her foot so hard dust fell like rain from the rafters of the old trading post. "Grandfather," she shouted, "I want to be a Power Ranger!"

Everyone in the trading post turned to look at the little girl with the big voice and fiery temper burning in her eyes. That fire smoldered the instant her grandfather scooped the little girl up in his arms and gently said, "Choosing a mask for Halloween is serious business; the wrong mask could make you its prisoner and give you a very miserable life. Come out on the porch and share a soda pop with me while I tell you all I know about masks."

"The little girl showed no resistance as the old Indian strode through the doorway to sit down on the edge of the porch with her. As he handed a frosty soda pop to her, he said, "Long ago when the world was so young that rocks were still soft, Kah-chee-nay became the greatest warrior among men."

"As you can imagine, all the young men wanted to kill Kah-chee-nay so they could instantly become a great warrior without having to spend years in training and fighting battles to earn the right to be called a great warrior."

"Yes, my little one, even in those long ago days, some people wanted glory and respect without having to earn them.

Some things were very different then. Nobody owned anything, so there was nothing to steal. Food was everywhere, so no one went hungry. There really wasn't very much for people to do but make love or play, so they multiplied faster than rabbits. And that meant that every day, there were more and more young men climbing up the mountain to fight Kah-chee-nay, but all that fighting just made Kah-chee-nay bigger, stronger, and more difficult to kill.

Nobody likes doing the same thing from sunrise to sunset every day, and Kah-chee-nay grew weary of fighting more and more young men every day, especially those with little or no training in battle.

So one day Kah-chee-nay decided to see just how many young men he could scare away without fighting them. When the first young man reached the top of the cliff, Kah-chee-nay stamped his foot, ducked his head like a buffalo, growled like a bear and then, like an afterthought, Kah-chee-nay stuck out his tongue at the young man.

Well, that young man took one look at the battle-scarred Kah-chee-nay with his tongue hanging out, and fled down the cliff faster than a bighorn on the run!

When the next young man got to the top of the cliff, Kah-chee-nay repeated his performance, this time sticking out his tongue as far as it would go; once again, a young man lost all his courage and ran pell-mell down the cliff.

Kah-chee-nay discovered that pulling faces was faster and easier than fighting, so he really put his heart into making terrifying faces and ferocious poses with horrible noises which sent young men scrambling down the cliff and gave them all nightmares.

It didn't take long, my little one, before some of these young men got together to console themselves and began holding contests to see who could stick out their tongue the furthest. No matter how far out a tongue went, their friends would shout, More! More! They shouted so loud and so often, pulling really horrible faces at each other, that they got on everyone's nerves, so people made them go further and further away until they came to an island way down in the southern corner of the world where, even today, they are called the More-ee people.

But no matter how much they practiced, no one could look as terrifying as Kah-chee-nay because no one had as much battle experience Kah-chee-nay.

And then, like the end of winter and beginning of spring, Kah-chee-nay's season of battles came to an end and he finally found time to look at the world where he lived.

One day, in a beautiful meadow near a waterfall, he saw The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth. She was so beautiful Kah-chee-nay was almost speechless, but his courage never failed him, so quick as a mountain lion, he leapt to the highest rock, pounded his chest with his mighty fists, and yelled, I am Kah-chee-nay!

The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth took one quick look at Kah-chee-nay and ran for her life! She had never seen such a big, ferocious, absolutely terrifying human being before, especially one whose tongue stuck out so far!

Then Kah-chee-nay was ready to kill himself because he had terrified The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth, and his heart was very sad. In despair, Kah-chee-nay flung himself over the cliff, but his skin and bones were so tough from so many battles that he just bounced like a ball from rock to rock until he got dizzy.

Then Kah-chee-nay threw himself into the river, but his lungs were so powerful from so many years of fighting from sunrise to sunset high in the mountains that he kept bobbing up to top of the river like a fishing float.

Finally, Kah-chee-nay swam to the east bank of the river where he saw an old woman making clay dolls for her grandchildren. Kah-chee-nay was admiring happy doll faces when he suddenly realized clay was just the magic he needed to change his life.

Kah-chee-nay didn't even have to pull a face to persuade the old woman to make a mask for him, a mask that would show Kah-chee-nay to be very handsome, kind, and cheerful; a mask that could win the heart of The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth!

For the next four days, Kah-chee-nay wore the mask while he walked in all four directions looking for The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth. When he found her, it was almost love at first sight!

The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth simply adored Kah-chee-nays strong muscles and tender touch. Here was the man of her dreams, a man with the maturity of autumn, the strength of winter, the joy of spring, and the harmony of summer.

Here was a man for all seasons, a man she could live with all of her life!

But not everyone was happy. Some men wanted The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth for their own, and many women wanted the now handsome Kah-chee-nay to be the father of their children.

It wasn't very long before these people got together and began making plans to destroy Kah-chee-nay, because it was enough to be the greatest warrior among men, and just too much to also be the husband of The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth!

So, day after day, Kah-chee-nay conquered the problems of the day and tried to establish peace among the people. Like his mask, which Kah-chee-nay never took off, he tried to be honest, kind, cheerful, and industrious.

But like a sore that never seems to get any better nor any worse, it bothered Kah-chee-nay to know he was deceiving the one love of his life, The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth, by wearing a mask to hide his terrifying face. Yet the man of courage never quite became brave enough to remove his mask until the day he died.

Lying on his death bed, Kah-chee-nay asked The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth to remove his mask so he could die as the man he really was.

The very last words Kah-chee-nay ever heard were The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth whispering in his ear that she couldn't see any difference at all between the features of his mask and the features of his strong, handsome face.

Just like an old moccasin reveals every wrinkle of the foot that wore it, by living a good life Kah-chee-nay's terrifying face gradually became an exact fit to the kindly, handsome features of his mask!

The Most Beautiful woman on Earth cried for the very first time, shedding tears of captured rainbows which rushed down her cheeks in vain attempts to restore the love and warmth so quickly seeping from Kah-chee-nay's body. But it was too late.

Before Kah-chee-nay's body was cold, everyone was making a mad dash for the river so they could make masks and instantly become another Kah-chee-nay, or The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth.

The first people to reach the banks of the river were shocked to find their reflections in the water revealed only their imperfections. With absolute disgust, these people immediately tried to hide everything but their lonesome spirits. They were so ashamed of the tiniest flaw, they hid from the sunlight until their skin became a sickly, skeleton-bone white, and then the tiniest flaw stuck out like a lone pine tree on a snow-covered mountain.

As you can imagine, these people passed their white skins and fault-finding attitudes on to their children, and you can see them today still putting on a different mask every day to conceal some newly discovered imperfection.

The next people to reach the river banks were delighted when they saw their own reflections. "Beautiful eyes, perfect teeth, magnificent sex organs!" they all shouted with glee. These people liked to make love in the shadows with noises like creatures of the night. Their children were born with black skins and flashing smiles which still light up the darkest night and happiest mask.

The third group of people to reach the river took their time because they really enjoyed walking through the beauty of nature. Some of them stopped along the way to make love in a big field of dandelions, and when they saw their yellow-stained skins reflected in the water, everyone began rubbing their bodies with dandelion blossoms until their skin became as yellow as butter, and as fragrant as a bouquet of flowers.

The Pollen People passed their yellow skins and love of nature on to their children, who still greet the rising sun from their immaculate gardens like rows of daisies along the roadside.

The last group of people to reach the red clay river banks arrived at sunset because they were still discussing which mask to choose.

Why make a mask to become another Kah-chee-nay, or The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth? Why not make a mask to become a god?

Since none of them knew very much about gods, it wasn't easy to decide which god to be.

While they were still discussing this problem, the setting sun sent one of its red sunbeams shooting up the river, and the water - muddied by red clay trampled in by so many people that day - looked just like a river of blood.

In a flash, those people realized the blood in their veins was the same color as the blood of the earth, and so with great joy they jumped into the river and smeared their bodies with red clay blessed by the setting sun. These Red Clay People passed their red skins on to their children after learning the hard way that the masks of gods can never be owned, only borrowed from time to time.

Now much time has passed from those long-ago days. Life has progressed. People have become so civilized that everywhere is a mask to enhance this and a mask to conceal that.

But no one has a mask for all seasons, my little one, because that mask is the mask you must earn every day - all by yourself - just as Kah-chee-nay did."

The little girl said nothing as the old man slumped back on the porch. His eyes were closed for a very long time before she pushed back one of his eyelids and whispered, "Grandfather, are you in there? "

There was no response. No flickering eyelash, no final breath, there was nothing to show her grandfather's life and dreams were now smoke. His spirit just slipped away without even the rustle of a leaf to mark its passing.

Slowly, the little girls fingers traced the deep, old lines in her grandfather's face. "Grandfather," she said, "Grandfather! Can you hear me? I want your face to be my mask for Halloween, OK? You wait here while I get some clay, OK, Grandfather?"

Her childish affection hung so heavily in the silence that, like a gift from The Most Beautiful Woman on Earth, suddenly tears of captured rainbows filled the little girl's eyes.

Her warm tears fell gently onto her grandfather's face, running unabated down cold, deep wrinkles to disappear between the cracks of the wooden porch.

As the tears melted away, the little girl realized she didn't want to be a Power Ranger, nor could she ever be her grandfather.

She would earn her own face.