Week 10 Story: Belonging

In a small farming village there was a middle aged widow who found a baby and became his mother. She named the baby Ahvi and cared for him as her own. Ahvi was a beautiful baby boy seemingly normal and in perfect health. However as he grew, two little bumps on his head began to grow as well. They were small little horns. It turned out Ahvi was part rakshasa.

Hoping to protect him, his mother hid his little horns with various hats or wrappings around his head. She would tell him, "Ahvi, it's very important you do not reveal your horns to anyone except me." And when he asked her why, she would only smile sadly and hug him tightly.

Also as he grew, Ahvi discovered the powers of illusion inherited from his rakshasa parent. He enjoyed these powers and would practice and play with them in secret deep in the forest. Because of this, he grew stronger and better at illusions the older he got.

One day, the small farming village he lived in was attacked by a crazy bear. This bear destroyed some of the villagers property and killed some of the livestock. Thankfully no one was harmed. This attack though gave Ahvi an idea. What if he used his illusions to keep dangerous wild animals away from the town? And so he began to use his illusions to send any dangerous animal away before they could do any harm. The villagers had no idea they were being protected until the day the village was attacked by a hungry rakshasa who had long ago thrown his honor and morals away.

This day began like any other normal day. Villagers were working in the fields and Ahvi was helping where he was needed while keeping an eye out for signs of wild animals. Then a stranger entered the town. But this stranger had large horns growing from his head and two sets of arms. He was also larger than any normal human. The stranger bellowed the order, "BRING ME YOUR LIVESTOCK FOR ME TO EAT OR I'LL KILL YOU ALL INSTEAD!"

Before the villagers could move to obey, Ahvi approached the stranger and simply stated, "No. You will not have our livestock or our lives." And he created the biggest illusion he could to scare the rakshasa away. The evil rakshasa took a step back and Ahvi used this chance to strike him down quickly. He grabbed his hunting knife and slashed through the intruders neck.

The villagers stood there shocked. Then Ahvi's mother rushed forwards to stand between Ahvi and the villagers with her arms spread wide. But Ahvi simply smiled at her and gently pushed her behind him. He looked at the crowd of villagers and, with the evidence of his defense of the village behind him, addressed them, "You all know me. You have seen me grow up and know I have never hurt any of you. Does what I am really make a difference when you already know who I am?"

Ahvi, with the woman who raised him as her son behind him, watched the crowd. What will they decide? And as he watched, the crowd relaxed and slowly approached...

Painting of a Rural Village

image found here

Author's Note:
The inspiration for this story is the Jataka tale Granny's Blackie. In this story, an older woman is given a baby elephant that she names Blackie and raises. The elephant gets along with all the villagers and never has to work. One day, he realizes that the woman is getting old and can't work as much as she used to so he goes to find some work to help make money. He does manage to make money and then helps her with any hard work after that.
I wondered what the story would be like if the woman raised a boy who is part rakshasa instead of an elephant. And from that came this story where I wanted to show that a person's heart and mind are more important than their appearance or race.

Bibliography:
"Granny's Blackie" from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt found here