Week 9 Storytelling: Mescal Pecker

Long ago, woodpeckers used to be Indians. Hidden among the tall rugged trees in the Texas woods, there was a noise heard throughout. The noise was loud and sounded almost as if someone was knocking on a door.

"Tap! Tap!"

The sound made many ponder what was actually happening. What were these tiny birds and why did their pointy beaks make constant sound on just the wood of the trees? Legend has it that these birds were part of an Indian tribe whose parents went out looking for their children, but what they don't entirely know is what happened to their children.

In the Texas woods, lies a plant known as the mescal plant. The plant had magical powers that the Indians did not know about. When people were around them, the world would be much more lively. Things would happen that people did not know about and could not remember. After much observation over this plant, it was told that people should not go near it for fear of what would happen to them. If they did, however, there would be many consequences faced.

The Indian children played among the woods, and knew the rules of the woods. One child, however, took it upon herself to not follow the rules. She was curious and wild, with a heart that wandered. He careless mind took her to the mescal plant. It was so vibrant and green with a mind of its own too. The pointy leaves from the plant tempted the small child to go even closer. The child had also brought with her a group of friends to also see the plant. Some were more reluctant than others.

"Are you sure we should do this?", yelled one little boy.

"I think we should ask our parents", screamed another girl with brown hair.

"Will we get magical powers?", asked another curious boy.

The girl whose idea it was lied to her friends and told them that she had received permission from their parents and that the plant would give them magical powers. What the girl did not know, however, was that there was a magical spell that was put on to the mescal plant.

The children heard the sound of knocking and followed closer to the plant where they thought it was coming from. Soon, they were in another world of their own. Life was a as carefree as the girl anticipated, but a little too carefree at that. They saw things they never thought they would. It was like a never ending dream. Anything they that they were thinking was brought to life.

Everything was going just fine until the children started to hear the knocking sound appear to get louder and louder. All of the sudden, the children started to feel feathers appear and their nose began to lengthen. In the blink of an eye, the children were turned into woodpeckers. They thought it was still part of the dream that they were in so they went along with it.

Soon, the children got tired of being a bird and wanted to go back to their original life... Little did they know that they would be trapped as a woodpecker knocking on trees to find their way out. Their lives became more of a nightmare than a dream from disobeying the orders.

This is why you hear the tapping of woodpeckers trying to find their way out.

(Mescal Plant) 

Author's Note: My inspiration for this post was from the Tejas Legends story, "Why the Woodpecker Pecks". I liked the idea of the story leading up to a greater meaning. I changed the original story up a bit and gave it new ending. In the original story, the children go near the mescal plant that they are not supposed to go to. The parents of the children also go looking for their children and are turned into woodpeckers. I thought it would be a fun twist to have the children be punished and trapped as woodpeckers.

Bibliography: Tejas Legend by Florence Stratton