Legend of an Origin
Iscah ©2026
540 Words
The snow fell hard by the half frozen lake reflecting the distant mountain. The young man wrapped in wolfskins held tight to his spear and stared back at the giant ape towering over him. They were the last of their kind, both of them. The last of great gorillas, and the last of the wild men who had dwelled in the mountain. The youth stood frozen from the anger and fear that warred within him. The great ape considered his foe more calmly, weighing the trouble the meal might cost him. They might have stood there staring until they both froze to death, but a woodpecker’s drum drew the attention of the great beast. The youth seized on the distraction and charged. As the stone tip hit flesh, the great beast roared and knocked him away with his trunk of an arm.
The beast was strong and enraged, but the man was armed and agile. They fought for ages as the winds howled at them. One getting the upper hand, then the other. The spear stuck the beast until it was broken. The great hand batted the man until he nearly broke as well. At length the beast fell with a crash, and the man panted to catch his breath. Their fight had last so long the man’s hair had grown white and his copper skin wrinkled. His wolf skin had been torn away in the battle, so he took the skins of the great ape around himself and struggled wearily back to the fir trees where he might rest out of the wind.
A small girl heard the crash a great distance away and thinking a tree had been felled by the weight of snow called for her brothers to bring their axes. When they arrived, they found no wood, but enough meat to feed the tribe over winter. Being young, they did not question the missing skin.
The wild man awoke a while later, and now hungry, returned to the carcass to find it stripped clean. He howled at the injustice. His voice carrying as the great ape’s once had. Sniffing the air, he followed the scent of roast meat. Coming upon the camp where the meat was cooking, he arranged his ape skin for he had taken the face with rest and wore it like a mask, so he might appear to be the great ape and frighten the people away.
He came out with a great roar, and indeed the people did run, abandoning the meat. He ate greedily. The eldest of the brothers regained his courage and returned the cooking fire. He took a scoop of ember and flung them at the false ape, two of burning coals sticking in the eyes of his ape mask. The wild man fled wrapped in his ape skin, but as his belly was full and no one gave chase, he eventually slowed. He found a dense thicket that made him feel safe and slept again. When he awoke this time, he found the ape skin had fitted itself so well to him that he had the great ape had become one. So be it, he thought. They walked together through the forest until they faded into the trees.