In The Days Gone By

(Written in First Person from A Native)

In The Days Gone By

“The wind slowly began to pick up as I looked deep into the dark blue liquid. There was something out there, it was noticeable. Brown and tall, with white sheets that extended into the skies. There was more of these oddly shaped things dancing through the waves. After some minutes of watching these things walk on water I watched as they breached the land. A large silver object dove into the water as men began jumping off the ship screaming in what I assume is happiness, "Land!" That's what they said and, "We found it!" But how is it possible to find something you could never lose. My group approached these individuals who had enough clothing to dress the entire tribe and the neighboring. We welcomed them as they set lustful eyes on our golden bracelets and jewelry. Those same eyes were full of anger, disgust, and none of us knew why. But that didn’t stop us from sheltering them. Our mistake.

You see they started off nice like us. They traded our bracelets for odd tools they called spoon and forks. We taught them how to fish grow food and build houses. And in return, they granted us hell. Yes they said we were invaders of the land; not worthy of it. The called us disrespectful and morally wrong. They soon began to take over with these large things that shot round things at us. Soon we began getting sick of things the called spirits. Demons. But the way that description of demons made us believe that they were its true form. And they were. They invaded us, took our help and hospitality and like these ‘devils’ they turned us into weak beings. Striping us from our gods and damming us to worship a single creature with the ability to everything that the great ones did together. In the days gone by we grew sick, we endured torture, and we watched as they slowly took what was ours. In the end, we were left in small camps, with pieces of barren land, and left to worship one who we know only stories of.”

A silent tear slowly slid down my cheek as I read from behind the glass. I lifted my head, renewing the gaze with the pictures, and belongings of my ancestors. In the end, we lost something that was always ours, and they found what was never lost.