Chapter two: Rules are Rules

One day, the old grandmother couldn't get up from her bed to perform her household duties, and Dan came in.

She asked him in a weak voice to reach out his hand to help her sit up and prepare food. Dan gently grasped her warm hand and assisted her in sitting upright. Despite her efforts, she soon found herself lying back down, completely drained of energy.

Her daughter's husband entered and looked at her with stern eyes, seeing fear in her eyes that had only shown smiles, love, and tenderness throughout her life.

Dan understood that her time had come, and that his father-in-law intended to throw her off the cliff according to tribal customs. The boy's emotions surged, and he threw himself onto his grandmother, embracing her and pleading with his father to give her more time to recover. His father grabbed him by the neck with a large rough hand and lifted him off the grandmother's body. 

Then said coldly... 

"To belong to your tribe, you must be brave and hard-hearted!"

He shouted at him as a commander: "Go and fetch the mat!"

Dan understood what his father wanted, reluctantly searching for the reed mat. On his way, a clever idea struck him, which he decided to execute immediately! He reached where the mat was, unsheathed his dagger, a relic from his past, and bent down to split it into two equal halves.

His father slowed him down, heading to the warehouse to search for him, finding him cutting the mat.

And he faltered!

What are you doing?

I'm splitting the mat into two halves, as you can see.

But why?

I'll bring one half to my grandmother, and leave the other half for you when you grow old.

This confounded the man, and his jaw dropped, as if he hadn't expected it to happen to him! But he quickly recovered from the surprise; after all, he was a skilled hunter who anticipated surprises and knew how to face them. He said to his son: 

-My son, it's our tradition, and we cannot deviate from it. If we do, the village and the tribe will scorn us, deeming us weak and soft, and they'll shun us!

Dan remained silent, unconvinced, so his father added:

-Even your grandmother herself wouldn't want to remain a burden on us, feeding her, clothing her, and nursing her until she dies a natural death!

Dan fell silent, walking behind his father with his head bowed in sadness.

Meanwhile, they wrapped the dear grandmother in the mat, tied it around her with a thick rope, and carried her on their shoulders, she was silent and patient, tears streaming down her eyes, grieving the separation from her grandchildren and descendants, especially Dan whom she loved dearly.

As they bore her away, his patience dwindled to nothingness, so he released his legs to the wind, and Tears cascaded down his face like a torrent, blurring his vision into obscurity. Suddenly, he felt himself swimming in the air! He had misjudged the direction and headed towards the cliff, plummeting into the deep valley!

The whole village watched in great astonishment as he ran through the air!