Horror Stories

A Thanksgiving to Remember

Posted by Raven

Time it is said heals all wounds, but some wounds run too deep. The winter of 1608 was bitter, cruel and deadly for the newly arrived colonists and their small settlement on the shore of what would one day be called Virginia. They called their colony Sanctuary because that is what it meant to them. Theirs' was a small splinter denomination, unlike the other groups that had sailed to the New World. The tenants of their beliefs were strict, but their faith was strong. The leaders and members of the other groups considered them to be heretical, sacrilegious and bordering on being a cult. They were tolerated, but barely.

The establishment of Sanctuary did not go unnoticed by the people who lived near the shore for thousands of years. They watched from their concealment of the woods with curiosity and caution. Wars between native tribes were a part of their history and their lives. Were these strangers another invading tribe?

The colonists of Sanctuary were ill prepared as the seasons quickly changed. Food became scarce and their meager supplies dwindled, even as the natives in the woods prepared for the long winter to come.

She watched the people of Sanctuary and listened to their songs as they gathered together every seventh day. She could not believe that people who made such beautiful sounds could be a threat. She saw them comfort and care for one another, as their children played together, even as the children of her own tribe played. The more she watched, the more she knew she had to help these people.

It was on the seventh day, when the people of Sanctuary gathered together to sing praise and ask for salvation, that the young native girl approached the settlers. They looked at her, eyes wide with amazement - and something else. An elder approached her slowly. His white hair and dark robes marked him as a holy man. He smiled at her and held out his arms, gazing toward the sky with tears running down his face. She never saw the men with the clubs come up behind her. It was over quickly.

The people of Sanctuary sang into the night and until the next morning, when a band of men gathered for the hunt. They had been delivered from certain death and the path to survival had been shown through the selfless sacrifice of the native girl. As they boldly strode into the woods, their bellies full, they rejoiced in the knowledge that the people in the woods would sustain them through the harsh winter and their hunger would be vanquished. This was indeed a day of thanks.