Um…help?
By Robin Ann Bates
What would happen if Wiggins, John, Powhatan, Nakoma, Thomas and a somehow-alive-again Kocoum and Ratcliffe got turned into four year olds? What in the world would Pocahontas do? What would you do? Easy- get a babysitter and run for your life.
"What happened?!" Pocahontas screamed at the seven kids in front of her. She stared at disbelief at the people she knew and loved…and two she didn't like. The kids looked at each other and shrugged.
"Who are you?" Powhatan asked.
"This can't be happening!" Pocahontas said. She looked at the seven kids before her. They were like mini, younger looking versions of her friends and family and her enemy.
"Who are you?" Powhatan demanded. Pocahontas had always known that her father had always been stubborn and demanding, even as a kid.
"I, uh…" She said. She was totally at loss for words. The seven kids looked at her.
"I'm Pocahontas, remember?" She asked. "You're my father." She said.
"That's funny! I'm only four winters old!" Powhatan said. Pocahontas recognized Nakoma. She had known her since she was a baby and she remembered what she looked like when she was four. But the others?! John, Thomas, her father? Ratcliffe, Wiggins, and…Kocoum? How was that? He was dead! What had happened? She needed help! Surly she couldn't ask the kids what had happened; none of them remembered her, let alone what happened. All the kids began to run around and make noise. Pocahontas shook off her shock and yelled for them to stop over the ruckus.
"OK! Everyone, calm down!" She said. The kids went on without even hearing her. Pocahontas opened her mouth to shout again when a loud boom of thunder made all seven kids freeze and scream.
"OK, OK, now," She said after they quieted down. "We need to discuss this."
...oOo...
Pocahontas stared out at the rain falling outside. How had her friends, family, and enemies get turned into four year olds?! All she had done was go canoeing…and came back to this! Worse, no one knew who she was! She needed help! John and Kocoum were constantly fighting with each other. She would have to pull them apart again within five minutes of the last fight. Nakoma wasn't sure how her best friend had grown up, but she had. Thomas had curled up and was asleep. Powhatan was as stubborn as the weather and was climbing on top of things and the support poles to the top of the hut.
"Powhatan! Stop climbing the poles!" Pocahontas said, pulling John and Kocoum apart again.
"Stop it, you two!" She said. John and Kocoum glared at her, then at each other. Ratcliffe was doing what he did best: bossing Wiggins around. Wiggins was more than happy to do whatever Ratcliffe told him to. She went over to her father and pulled him off of the table.
"Stop climbing! You're going to get hurt!" Pocahontas said, trying to talk some sense into her stubborn kid father. She turned around when she heard the sounds of a fight. John and Kocoum were at it again. They hadn't gotten along the night Kocoum was killed and they sure didn't get along now!
"Kocoum! John! Stop it!" She said, pulling Kocoum off of on top of John, pinning him to the ground. "You'll wake Thomas up!"
"I don't wanna stop fighting!" John said defiantly. Thomas sat up.
"What happened?" He wailed. He wasn't happy about being woken up from his nap.
"Sorry, Thomas! I tried!" Pocahontas said, pulling her father off of the top shelf near the ceiling and setting him on the floor. Nakoma tapped on her.
"Can we go outside and play?" She asked.
"No, it's raining." Pocahontas said sadly. She was getting so tired of pulling John and Kocoum apart, that she was about ready to let them go outside and get wet!
"I demand that we go outside! Wiggins, let's go!" Ratcliffe said and started to go towards the door. Pocahontas was holding John back with one hand and Kocoum back with the other as they struggled against her strength to get to each other.
"Oh no you don't!" She said, letting go of Kocoum and John and letting them go at each other again. She caught up to Wiggins and Ratcliffe.
"Move!" Ratcliffe ordered. Pocahontas shook her head.
"No, Ratcliffe. We aren't going outside!" She said, turning him around. She knew she needed help! But who? WHO?! Then she knew. Grandmother Willow.
...oOo...
Getting to Grandmother Willow was easier said than done. Pocahontas constantly had to watch the seven rambunctious kids, but John and Thomas especially. They were always running off and exploring.
John will never change. Pocahontas thought, remembering how John had been an explorer. Finally, the willow came into view and she led the kids up to the stump.
"Pocahontas?" Grandmother Willow asked.
"Yes. And a few friends." Pocahontas said. Grandmother Willow appeared and was surprised at what she saw. There, beside Pocahontas, were seven kids.
"Who are they?" Grandmother Willow asked. Pocahontas sighed.
"Everyone." She said. The kids stared at the tree that was talking to them and started to scream.
"They do that a lot!" Pocahontas screamed over the screams of the five kids beside her. Great. Two are missing. She thought.
"Alright, alright!" Grandmother Willow said. The kids grew quiet.
"Are you going to eat us?" Powhatan asked, frightened.
"No!" Grandmother Willow said.
"You're not?"
"No."
"How come?"
"Because I don't eat kids."
"How come?"
"I just don't."
"How come?"
"Who is he?" Grandmother Willow asked.
"My father. As a four year old." Pocahontas answered.
"Powhatan?" Grandmother Willow asked.
"Yep. That's my name, don't wear it out!" Powhatan answered. Pocahontas put her head in her hands and laughed.
"What?" Powhatan asked.
"How did this happen?" Grandmother Willow asked. Pocahontas shook her head.
"I have no clue. But…wait, hold on." She said. "John! Thomas! Get over here!" She yelled. Grandmother Willow watched as two four year old boys came running up to the stump.
"OK, who got turned into four year olds?" Grandmother Willow asked, knowing who had gotten turned into four year olds very well.
"John, Thomas, Ratcliffe, Wiggins, Nakoma, my father, and Kocoum." She said.
"Kocoum? I thought he was dead? Didn't Thomas kill him?" Grandmother Willow asked.
"Shh! Don't say that in front of Thomas! He's already had his nap interrupted today and I really, really don't want him to have nightmares about him killing someone and I don't want Kocoum to fight with him. He and John have been fighting all day!" Pocahontas said. She pulled John and Kocoum apart again.
"You need to find out what happened to them." Grandmother Willow said. "I'll watch them until nightfall."
"Thank you, Grandmother Willow." Pocahontas said. She took off running for the village. Grandmother Willow sighed at the task she had just given herself. How in the world was she going to keep seven kids in line? And two from fighting? Pocahontas had warned her that John and Kocoum had been fighting all day. She would have to keep them apart.
"Come on, Kocoum, stop fighting with him! What did he ever do you?" Grandmother Willow said as she pulled Kocoum away from John.
"I don't know." Kocoum said. "I just don't like him."
"And I don't like him." John said.
"So? I didn't like you first." Kocoum said. Grandmother Willow had to laugh. She didn't know how they had gotten turned into four year olds and she sure didn't know how Kocoum was back from the dead, but he was. Somehow.
"Can we go exploring?" Thomas asked.
"No." Grandmother Willow said.
"Why not?" John asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Because I said so." Grandmother Willow said.
"How come? Who made you the boss?" Powhatan asked stubbornly.
"I'm older than you." Grandmother Willow said. "So, I'm the boss." She said, trying to show them that she was the boss and they had to listen to her.
"How old are you?" Nakoma asked.
"Four hundred years old." Grandmother Willow said. The seven kids quieted down. All seven that is, except Ratcliffe.
"I'm hungry. Wiggins, find me something to eat."
"Sorry sir. There's nothing." Wiggins said.
"Nope. Nothing." John said.
"Shut up." Kocoum said.
"You shut up!" John said back.
"You!"
"You!"
"No, you!"
"YOU!"
"NO WAY! YOU SHUT UP!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Grandmother Willow said. She held back Kocoum with one branch and John with another. The two continued to swing at each other. Finally, she took hold of John's fist and made him hit himself. Then she did the same to Kocoum. That made them stop.
"Ow!" John and Kocoum said together.
"Now then. No more of that, do you hear?" Grandmother Willow asked.
"Yes."
"I still want something to eat." Ratcliffe said. He sat smugly on the ground.
"How about a story?" Grandmother Willow thought. The seven kids looked at each other and nodded.
...oOo...
Pocahontas, meanwhile, ran into the village to find out what had turned her friends and father and enemy into four year olds. She searched her father's hut, but found nothing. Could Ratcliffe have tried to turn just her friends and father into four year olds, making them easy to get to? Maybe the soul thing he had tried to do to the others had also happened to him.
"Where is it? Where is it?" Pocahontas asked, looking for something, anything, that could tell her what had happened. She found nothing. Nothing at all. She had searched all day now and knew she had to go back and get the kids from Grandmother Willow. She turned around sadly and walked back. What if she couldn't find whatever it was that had turned them into four year olds? She would have to raise her father, the person she loved, his best friend, her best friend, her enemy, his manservant, and a dead person brought back to life. She reached Grandmother Willow. All seven kids were fast asleep.
"How am I going to get them home?" Pocahontas asked.
"Just leave them here. You've slept in my branches before." Grandmother Willow said with a chuckle. Pocahontas nodded with a smile. She climbed the tree to a sturdy branch and fell asleep.
...oOo...
Nakoma awoke Pocahontas the next morning. Pocahontas groaned. She did NOT want to get up. Then what had happened filled her mind and she opened her eyes.
"What is it, Nakoma?" She asked. Nakoma pointed down to the ground. Behind her, Thomas sat and he looked like he was about to cry.
"Kocoum and John are fighting again." Thomas said.
"Again?" Pocahontas asked, groaning.
"Yep."
"Alright. Let's get down." Pocahontas jumped down from the tree and Grandmother Willow lifted Nakoma and Thomas down with one of her branches.
"Alright! That is enough!" Pocahontas screamed as she pulled them away from each other.
"He started it!" John said.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"DID NOT!"
"DID TOO!"
"Enough!" Pocahontas said. "Can't you two stop for just a little while?"
"He attacked me!" Kocoum said.
"Nuh uh!" John said.
"Yeah huh!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Yeah huh!"
"NUH UH!"
"YEAH HUH!"
Pocahontas sighed. There was no keeping them from fighting. She had to admit that. She told them to follow her back to the village. The kids looked at each other and followed her home.
"Shut up!" It was John. Pocahontas groaned. It had been two weeks since they had gotten turned into four year olds and she still hadn't figured out what was wrong. She sat up. Kocoum and John, yet again, were fighting. She couldn't stop them, no matter how hard she tried, from fighting.
"Stop it!" She said, sitting up. She knew she had to find out what had happened. She was already ready to pull her hair out!
"He started it!" John yelled.
"Nuh uh!" Kocoum said in defense.
"Yeah huh!"
"Enough! That's it!" Pocahontas yelled. "We are getting to the bottom of this!"
"I don't want to." Ratcliffe said and Pocahontas gave him a look that made even him be quiet.
"What are we going to do?" Powhatan asked and Pocahontas sighed.
"Find out what happened to you guys!" She said. She had had enough. She finally decided to take them back to Grandmother Willow. Maybe she had figured out what had happened!
...oOo...
"Pocahontas!" Grandmother Willow exclaimed when Pocahontas and the seven bickering kids walked into the glade. "I know what happened to them!"
"You do?! What?!" Pocahontas asked.
"Apparently the storm we had the day before this happened made some of the water from the River of Youth overflow and they got wet with it. I don't know how Kocoum came back to life, but in order to get them back to normal you have to get them wet again." Grandmother Willow said.
"Why do we have to get wet?" Nakoma asked.
"Because if you do, you grow up." Grandmother Willow said.
"I don't wanna grow up!" All seven kids said in unison.
"But you have to! I can't take this anymore!" Pocahontas said.
"WE DON'T WANNA GROW UP!" The kids said again and they scattered. Grandmother Willow caught John and Thomas and Pocahontas managed to get Nakoma. Grandmother Willow held onto them with her vines as Pocahontas tried to get Ratcliffe and Wiggins, which she succeeded in doing without trouble. Kocoum and Powhatan were another story. Kocoum would beat on her arm if she caught him and Powhatan was crafty with a spear. He had made it earlier.
"Powhatan, put down the spear!" Pocahontas screamed as she handed Kocoum over to Grandmother Willow. Powhatan refused and Pocahontas finally had to grab it from him. All seven kids had been caught.
"Let me go! Let me go!" Powhatan said as he struggled and kicked.
"That's it! You're the first to grow up!" Pocahontas said and she took him firmly by the arm and nearly dragged him to the river. The water sparkled with something and Powhatan stopped struggling to stare at it.
"Why is it sparkling, Pocahontas?" He asked.
"I don't know, but you have to go out in it." Pocahontas answered and Powhatan gulped. While he didn't want to go out in it, he did. He waded out into it until his head was covered. Then a grown up Powhatan appeared and waded to the shore. Pocahontas was astonished. It had worked!
"Father!" Pocahontas said as he got closer to the shore. She wanted to hug him, but she knew that if she did, she would get wet and get turned into a four year old.
"Pocahontas, what just happened?" Powhatan asked.
"Well, it's a long story. Come back with me." Pocahontas said and she and her father went back to Grandmother Willow, where they found the other six kids entangled in Grandmother Willow's vines.
"What happened to them?!" Powhatan asked, recognizing the kids as John, Thomas, Ratcliffe, Wiggins, Nakoma, and Kocoum. "How is Kocoum back?"
"That was you a minute ago before I made you go back into the River of Youth. Apparently the storm that happened three weeks ago made the banks of the River of Youth overflow and mix with our main river. I guess you all got wet with the water and you all got turned into four year olds." She explained. "But I don't know how Kocoum came back."
"Well, you had better get them to the River of Youth. I had better get back to the village. What did you tell them?" He asked.
"I said that you had business with another tribe." Pocahontas said and Powhatan patted her shoulder.
"Nice idea. And if I may make a suggestion, I'd turn John and Kocoum back. They're fighting." Powhatan said and he left.
"John! Kocoum! Stop it!" Pocahontas nearly screamed and the two looked at her.
"Follow me." Pocahontas said and the two were released and they followed her back to the River of Youth.
"OK, Kocoum, you go first." She said and Kocoum waded out into the water. He came back as a ghost.
"Pocahontas, what is that?" John asked.
"That's Kocoum's ghost." Pocahontas said.
"Who's that?" Ghost of Kocoum asked, pointing to John.
"That's John, Kocoum. Everyone got turned into four year olds and you came back from the dead, but now you're not. See you around!" She grumbled, wanting Kocoum gone as fast as possible. She still wasn't his biggest fan for what he had tried to do to John in the glade the night he was killed. She never really had been anyway, though.
"Aana." Pocahontas said as Ghost of Kocoum disappeared. She turned to John.
"Your turn." She said and John shrugged and waded into the water. As soon as he did, he was back to the John Pocahontas knew and loved. He was back to the person she had fallen in love with.
"John!" She said. She wanted nothing more than to hug him at that moment.
"Pocahontas? What happened? Why am I in this river?" He asked.
"You and six others got turned into four year olds and the only way to turn you back was for you to get wet again." She explained.
"Again? What do you mean again?"
"It's a long story. Come on and help me get the others."
...oOo...
After Nakoma, Ratcliffe, and Wiggins were turned back to normal, Pocahontas went back to Grandmother Willow.
"Uh, Pocahontas, I have bad news."
"What?" Pocahontas asked.
"Well, it seems Meeko, Percy and Flit got into the River of Youth, too." She opened her vines apart to reveal a baby Meeko, a puppy Percy and Flit was an egg.
"Oh no." Pocahontas muttered as she picked up Meeko, Percy and Flit's egg. "I'll be right back." She went down to the river again and threw a biscuit into the water and Meeko ran in after it with Percy at his heels. After they were back to normal, Pocahontas tossed Flit's egg gently into the water and the tiny hummingbird appeared. He wasn't too happy about being wet and he couldn't figure out how he gotten that way. Pocahontas laughed.
"Come on; I've got a story to tell the others." She said as she and her animal companions climbed the back up the slope. As she did, the water of the River of Youth sparkled as it was carried father down the river.