In the beginning when the land was new there lived a Grift named Skookum. Even for a Grift, Skookum was exceptionally homely, and it is generally accepted that he was one of the most repulsive creatures that ever lived. He had breath so fowl it could wither a flower, curl your hair, or even make your hair fall out all together. His own hair grew in rank scraggly patches, and his few remaining teeth were crooked and yellow. His pale splotchy skin hung loosely over his bones as if it had been tailored for a larger body, and it sagged in loose rolls around his joints, midsection, and jowls. His nose was perpetually runny, and the sleeve of his left arm, which he favored, was hardened stiff as bark with dried snot. The rest of his shirt, and his pants too for that matter were badly stained and tattered. He was hunch backed. His arms hung below his knees, and he walked with a pronounced limp due to the fact that one of his long spidery legs was shorter than the other.
Skookum did not even have the benefit of a kind spirit or warm personality to offset his repulsive appearance. His watery bloodshot eyes shined with a feverish intensity, and revealed a soul full of malice and mischief. By all accounts Skookum was mean, shifty, lazy, self-interested, conniving, and like all Grift he was easily offendedand tended to hold grudges.
All this combined to make Skookum something of a celebrity and chief among his Griftish kin who celebrated such things, but to the Widjiwats and all other prudent creatures, he was something terrible to be avoided.
Skookum made his home in a soggy depression overgrown with skunk cabbage and fiddlehead. He had found there an old rotten log, the remains of a birch tree, which had long since crashed to the forest floor and gone to rot. He had pulled and hacked at the decaying log’s soft spongy flesh till he had created a cavity roughly the size of an apple. This dark damp hole was Skookum’s home.
It was his habit to begin the day by scouring the nearby lakeshore for fish, which had washed up during the night. If he was lucky enough to find a fish before the sea gulls and beetles did it would make a nice breakfast. He especially enjoyed the eyeballs.
One morning Skookum emerged from his home, and began making his way toward the lake. As he walked the grass and weeds wilted and shriveled away from his offensive breath like snowflakes on a hot stone. Jarudet once told me that the grass of the field parted before Skookum’s breath like the Red Sea parted before Moses and the Israelites.
As Skookum walked he could hear the sound of ants laughing. Now I can’t claim to have ever heard ant laughter myself because it is a sound too subtle for a Dindi’s ears, but Jarudet tells me that it sounds very much like ice cubes tinkling against the sides of a glass.
In those days ants had beautiful wings like butterflies. In fact, the ants we know today are really just butterflies without wings. At one time they were the smallest of the butterflies and they possessed a delicate twinkling beauty. If you had seen a meadow full of them you would have thought God had shattered a rainbow causing its tiny fragments to lightly settle to the earth.
It will probably never be known what the ants were laughing about that day, but Skookum, being a Grift, convinced himself that they were laughing at him on account of his appearance. Every day as he walked to and from the lake he heard the faint tinkle of ant laughter filtering through the forest and along the meadows. With every giggle and snicker. Skookum became angrier and angrier. The wheels in his evil mind began turning and he hatched a plan to get even with the ants.
One morning as Skookum was limping along he came upon a group of ants admiring their reflections in a puddle. He walked up to them and announced in his most pleasant voice (a stretch for Skookum) that he was going to throw a party in their honor. In his words it was to be a “celebration of beauty”. All the animals would be invited, and it was to be held in a clearing deep in the forest. The ants, of course, were delighted with the suggestion, and felt that it was high time they be recognized. So Skookum went back to his home and began making preparations for the party.
All that week the ants busily prepared themselves as well. They practiced their speeches, and were very careful not to get any dust on their wings. Finally the day of the party arrived. It was a sight to behold as the ants took to the air and flew towards the party. As if a great dazzling and sparkling cloud, all aswirl in color and brilliance, had taken shape, and was passing overhead like so much fairy dust.
However, when they got to the party they were disappointed to see that no guests had yet arrived. The meadow was festooned with banners, ribbons, and all the trapping of a party. Food and bowls of nectar were carefully laid out as if in anticipation of the arrival of guests, but not one creature could be seen in the meadow save Skookum.
The ants sounded disappointed as they asked Skookum why there were no guests at the party. He did his best to look perplexed and said “I don’t know. I personally invited all the animals I could find, and told them the exact time and location of the party. I simply don’t know why no one is here. Except, perhaps, they may not think your beauty is exceptional enough to celebrate.” Well, with that, the ants all began to protest, saying that they were the most beautiful creatures in the forest, and that there was no creature anywhere that could rival their beauty. Skookum then responded, “Oh, I quite agree. As a matter of fact I think the creatures of this forest are beginning to take your beauty for granted. Imagine if for one day they were not reminded of your beauty. Why, I bet then they would say ‘where are those ants that used to cheer our day with their beauty and charm?’ Oh yes, the creatures of this forest are some of the most ungrateful that I have ever known, and if you ask me I think you should give them exactly what they deserve.” “And what is that?” asked the ants. “Why take them off of course” responded Skookum. “I’m sure that once you take off your wings they will be reminded of just how drab their miserable lives are without your beauty, and they will beg you to put them back on. That’ll teach them to take you for granted. In the meantime I would be happy to hang onto them for safekeeping if you wish.” The ants complimented Skookum on yet another good idea and agreed to leave their wings with him.
After a few days the ants, which now resembled the ants we know today, returned and asked Skookum for their wings back. An evil smirk spread across Skookum’s face as he hissed his response;
You thought yourselves so pretty-
So much better than uglier things.
I heard you laughing behind my back
While you hid behind your wings-
Well, I’ve pounded them to dust,
And now you’ll always feel their lack.
From now on it is I who will laugh
At your retreating back.
Skookum had pounded the ants’ wings to dust and had cast them over the land from the back of a goose. This is why you will sometimes see a glint and shimmer in the dirt along streams or in a farmers field. It is the dust of thousands of ant wings, which were carried by the wind and streams and deposited wherever the currents took them.
The ants protested and denied ever making fun of Skookum’s appearance. They pleaded with him to return their wings, but the deed was done, and even if he had wanted to, Skookum could not have returned them. Without saying another word, Skookum slinked off and returned to his damp pungent home in the rotten birch log. To this day ants are without their beautiful wings, and Jarudet tells me that the sound of ant laughter has been seldom heard since that time.
In the beginning when the land was new
There lived a Grift named Skookum.
It’s because of him ants have no wings
Because, you see, he took ‘em.
* * *
“It’s true that I’m repulsive
On both sides of my skin
But these are the cards, which I’ve been dealt,
And with them I will win.”
Skookum
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