The Eagle perched still as death on Black Rock that jutted out from the cliff. The yellow moon shown precariously through the storming rain. The wind howled. Another hurricane was battering the island. The people of Balandana were used to these hurricanes. They came every year, but this year it was different. The hurricane was the worst Balandana had ever experienced, so the mayor rushed to consult the oracle of the island, Eagle of Black Rock.
At dawn when the moon was moving down the horizon, the mayor knocked on the door of the newest child born in Balandana. The mother answered the door and saw the mayor standing there. She knew what he wanted. She began to cry quietly, but what could she do except to give the mayor what he needed to appease the hurricane.
She left him waiting but within minutes she returned with her newly born baby girl wrapped in a white woolen blanket. She gave her newest daughter to the mayor. He apologized for taking the baby girl from her mother, but he could do nothing about the worst hurricane the people of Balandana had ever experienced.
The mayor of Balandana walked and walked with the baby daughter in his arms as the rain raged on and on. The clouds grew madder. The wind howled. The mayor shivered. But the baby daughter slept peacefully in his arms wrapped in her white woolen blanket miraculously covering her from the rain. The mayor and the newly born girl arrived at Black Rock where the Eagle perched majestically.
Seeing the opening to the cave, he placed the baby girl inside to protect her from the bruising rain and kneeled as he faced Eagle of Black Rock and began to speak. “Oh, majestic Eagle of Black Rock, tell me what I must do to stop this hurricane from raging on. My people are weary and need to return to work. Please help me choose the right path. Tell me what I must do.”
The Eagle looked down at the mayor and told him to rise. “Fetch the baby from the cave and return to me with her in your arms. I will not speak a minute more.”
The mayor hurried to the cave and wrapped the sleeping girl in the white woolen blanket and carried her solemnly to Eagle of Black Rock, wishing for a different ending to this tragic moment.
