Week 9 Storytelling: When Beaver Shared Fire

(A campfire)

Many ages ago, Beaver stole fire from the Pine Trees. He did it because the winters were so cold that all of the animals and plants almost froze to death. The Council of Animals nominated Beaver because he was silent and swift.

Animals were not the only ones who wanted fire. Only Pine Trees had it, and the other trees wanted it too. The Council advised that Beaver should not share fire with others. They wanted the fire just for themselves because that is what the Pine Trees did. The Council wanted to ensure that Pine Trees would not be able to steal it back. Beaver felt that it was wrong to not share fire after he stole it, so he came up with a plan on his own.

Beaver worked with all of the other trees to trap Pine Trees and share fire with everyone. Beaver thought that it should not be owned exclusively by one party.

So on the day that the Council of Animals picked to steal fire, Beaver stole it, but using his plan.

Beaver hid in the bank, near the fire and when the Pine Tree guards were not looking, he stole fire and ran away. Pine Trees pursued him as he had hoped and whenever they got close, Beaver would run from side to side making the winds slow them down.

Beaver ran for miles and miles until the Pine Trees got tired. Actually, they got so tired that the Pine Trees just stopped on the river banks to live there forever. This is why there are dense forests in the Pacific Northwest.

However, a few trees still went on after Beaver, but he was far too fast and they eventually gave up.

On his way to the hiding spot of the Council where he was planning to meet all of the animals, he would stop along the trees and share a little bit of fire with them. He planned his trip so that he would run ahead of schedule and could share fire with other trees without the Council knowing.

He did not share enough fire that the Council would know it was gone, but he ensured that everyone could have a little of their own.

When he made it to the safe spot, no one had known about Beaver's deviation in the plan and no one ever figured it out. All were happy during winter because all had warmth. Thanks to Beaver, that is why some woods burn better than others.

Author's Note: I chose to write about When Beaver Stole Fire. I found this story to be really cute and quippy. The original story isn't much different from mine, but I thought I would expand in some areas and tell why Beaver shared the fire with other trees.  I made it where the Council of Animals did not want to share fire because of how Pine Trees always wanted to keep the fire to themselves. So I made Beaver a beacon of good moral and let him share the fire with everyone but made it where no one knew. I wanted Beaver to plan with other trees to show that it was a collaborative effort on his part.