Short spiritual Stories
The Man in the Mountains Goes Home. Click HERE for this story in song.
There once was a man who lived in the mountains. He saw people rarely in his life. He wasn’t usually lonely, though. He was at peace, and felt love all around him. He never really felt alone. When people would come see him in the mountains he found he had little in common with them usually. But he treated them kindly and welcomed them. He was not sorry to see them leave, though. The man spent a lot of time thinking, but he spent even more time not thinking, and let his mind be still. This pleased him and he felt it was the right thing to do. He didn’t have the terms for this, and didn’t understand it, but he knew how he felt.
One day he heard a scratching at the front door of his cabin. He didn’t know what to expect, but he went to the door, opened it and saw a small raccoon. The animal looked healthy, and seemed unafraid and yet somehow lost. Not yet fully grown, the little creature quietly walked into the cabin. This surprised the man a little, but he was not overly concerned. It had turned chilly outside with the coming of autumn and he was glad to have a little company. The raccoon didn’t appear to need anything, just looked around curiously, then went to the fireplace, curled up and fell asleep on the woven rug in front. This was unusual thought the man, yet he wasn’t concerned, the raccoon seemed like a peaceful little fellow. So, while the raccoon slept the man made some supper for himself and then realized his guest would be hungry when waking from his nap, so he went out back of the cabin and retrieved a couple cobs of corn left over from his summer crop. The kernels were dry and hard, but he thought it would be all right. Sure enough, a couple hours passed by and the little bandit-faced visitor woke up, yawned, stretched, blinked his eyes a couple of times and looked around. The man placed a small bowl of clean water nearby and a second bowl of corn next to it. The little fellow looked at him and waddled over to the bowls. He dipped his front paws into the water and washed them in his fashion, he then sniffed the corn and began to eat. He was very hungry after all and cleared the bowl out quickly, and enjoyed a long drink of the cold water. After a couple more minutes of cleaning up he looked around and went to the door. The man got up from his chair, and still, without fear, moved to the door. As it swung open the visitor slipped out into the darkness. The man felt a little sad. His new friend was around for such a short time! And he had a friendly face, and even picked up the corn like he had tiny human-like hands. He wondered if he would see the raccoon again, or was this just a quick visit in the night? He was surprised that a wild animal would seem so fearless, after all the man was over six feet tall, with a long gray beard and flowing hair. He hadn’t seen a mirror for many years, but figured he was probably a frightening site. But the little friend had had no fear of him, he seemed to sense that he was safe.
Time went by and it was time for bed. The man went outside and looked around, maybe hoping a little face would appear and come back in, but he was nowhere to be found. So, giving up, with a sigh he went on to his bed and settled in. During the night, might have been a few hours later, he felt something by his legs. Small. Warm. Fuzzy! And lightly snoring! The man woke up fully but didn’t move. He wasn’t sure what to do. He was sure it was the little bandit, but when did he come back? How did he get in? Why didn’t the man hear him? How could this be? So he thought for a while, but still didn’t move. Was he safe with this wild creature laying next to him? He didn’t feel any fear, just a soft warmness. So, he looked around the dark cabin, said a prayer to his ancestors and found himself relaxing, and falling back to sleep. He still couldn’t figure out how the raccoon had gotten into the cabin, and what about others? This was a very young fellow, but wouldn’t he have siblings and parents somewhere close? He didn’t know. Well, these things would just have to sort themselves out in the morning, for the first time in a long time he felt another life connected with him and it woke something up in his heart. Sleep found him and when he awoke the sun was coming up.
He looked around. No raccoon. Where had he gone? He got up, looked under the bed, behind the boxes in the corner, everywhere in his little cabin. Nothing. That was strange. The door was shut wasn’t it? He checked and realized that for some reason the night before he had not latched the leather loop over the nail to hold the door shut! He never forgot that! Then he wondered if he did that so the door would swing in easily, just in case someone wanted in? Could it be? Had the little creature connected with him in some unspoken way that would cause him to leave the door unhooked? He was puzzled, but also somewhat happy, yet now lonely. What was going on here? He had not felt lonely for years, so what was this? He opened the door and the sunshine felt warm and surprisingly bright on his small porch. And sitting quietly gazing out at the sun was his little friend greeting the morning. The raccoon turned and looked at the man. But didn’t move away, so the man walked over to the steps, sat down close to the little fellow and looked out at the morning with him. They sat quietly for a while, with no stress, no fear, no hurry, just accepting. But after awhile, the man realized his guest must be hungry again, so he carefully got up, but then he changed his mind and sat back down. He slowly reached his hand out to the raccoon who continued to look out at the valley as the sun rose higher. He touched the little furry creature on the back, very gently. The raccoon gave a small start and turned to look at the man, but then settled down. So the man very lightly ran his finger down the raccoon’s back and after a couple times the raccoon relaxed. There was no fear. The man was quite surprised how this seemed to be the right thing to do. He had never touched a raccoon in his life, never had a dog, or a cat. This was strange, but it seemed OK. After a bit he again thought about food, so got up slowly and entered the cabin.
After a few second s, one mystery was solved. The little hands and face pushed open the door a few inches, he didn’t need much room to squeeze in, and walked over to where the man was, sat down on the floor, and looked up at him, and the man swore that that little raccoon smiled and winked! If anything could make the man laugh this was just the thing, and he started giggling and guffawing and belly laughing to see such a comical face looking at him! And the little raccoon fell over, and rolled over a couple of times, as if joining in the mirth. But all things come to an end, and after all, they were both still hungry, so the man wiped his eyes, having enjoyed himself more in the last few minutes than he had in years, and prepared water and corn for his guest, as well as his own breakfast. They ate in comfortable silence and the man wondered if this creature was going to stay with him. As he looked down he thought to himself that he sure hoped so. He felt something new stirring within him. Something long gone, from way back as a child. But he didn’t want to put words to it, it was magic, and words might destroy what was happening. So he just stayed present in the moment and let things move as they would. Soon they finished their breakfast, and after cleaning up they decided to go back outside in the sunshine again.
There were tall weeds growing by the path from the cabin down to the stream where the man got his water every day and he had planned on trimming them down a bit to make the walk easier. At first he thought he would skip it and wait a day or so, but after a bit decided to go ahead and get it done. Even with a visitor he had things he had to do, so he went to his little shed in the back of the cabin, got out his corn knife and walked back to the path. He didn’t see his new friend, but thought to himself, that he is a wild creature and must be allowed to come and go as he pleased. He set to work, moving slowly along working the left side first and then coming back up the path a few paces at a time and trimming the right side. When both sides were trimmed the path was about three feet wide, which offered plenty of room for carrying his jug and pail to the water without getting stickers and brambles on his arms and sleeves. In a couple of hours he was done and looked over his work. Satisfied, he walked back up the path and around to the shed. No sign of his new friend, and he hoped he hadn’t left for good.
The rest of the day went by and he began to wonder if the little raccoon had gone away. He had no idea how a wild animal thinks, or how it makes decisions, but he suspected there was more going on than it seemed. He wondered if they simply lived minute to minute like he did. If so, there may be no real pattern or plan to the raccoon’s whereabouts. He may be a wanderer from day to day. He supposed this was possible, so he tried to move on through his day as always. Finally he went to bed, and felt again surprisingly lonely. How could a little animal make him feel this way? This was something long dead and buried. He didn’t need anyone else, and no one needed him! But still, an empty ache lived in his belly tonight. This was different. And he had no answer. So he tried to sleep. Eventually he was able to do just that, and sadly drifted off. After a bit he jumped up! He ran to the door, and opened it. Nothing. The wind. But this time he made sure he didn’t hook the door shut as he had before, just in case.
Morning. A furry lump by his legs. What? When? How did….? He was confused, he hadn’t heard or felt anything during the night. In fact, he thought he had slept badly, and seemed awake most of the night. How did the little bandit get in and up on the bed without him knowing? He hated to move, to awaken his little friend, but he did reach down to gently run his finger down the raccoon’s back again. The creature moved slightly, but was so tired he didn’t seem to wake up. Feeling braver, the man rubbed his finger between the raccoon’s ears and neck, and the little visitor stretched and yawned, and obviously enjoyed the petting. So the man continued until the raccoon rolled over on his back as though he wanted his tummy rubbed. And the man did just that, when suddenly the raccoon’s arms reached out and grabbed the man’s hand, pulling it in, and his teeth flashed out as thought to bite. But the little raccoon’s teeth touched his hand and stopped. No bite. A little lick. Another. He looked up with those large bandit eyes right into the man’s eyes and gave him another lick with his tiny tongue. Then he let go. The man withdrew his hand in amazement. He hadn’t been bitten. After all, this was a wild animal living in the mountains. But instead of questioning and wondering, the man simply accepted. He didn’t need a reason, things just were as they were. So he smiled and his little friend winked again.
So they settled into a simple life, the raccoon coming and going during the day and sleeping next to the man’s legs at night and they became a small family. The man never saw another raccoon so figured this little fellow had been abandoned or had gotten lost. He certainly didn’t show any fear of the man and became quite tame. After a couple of months (it was now winter) the little fellow spent more and more time with the man, on his lap when he was reading in his old rocker, or on the bed at night, or down by the fireplace, and the man began to talk to him. And when he talked the raccoon would look right at him and tilt his head from side to side as if he understood, and the man came to believe that he did understand. Such was their life over the winter.
Now the man was not young, and he was not in the best of health, so it came about one night that as he slept he felt some pain in his chest. He was used to various pains and aches, but this one was a bit more than usual. It woke him up and he sat up slowly hoping the pain would go away. His little friend looked at him, and moved closer, climbing on his lap. This comforted the man and he did begin to feel a little better. After a time he laid back down and fell asleep again, now with the little raccoon laying against him near his chest, snuggled in closely. Just before he fell asleep he had an overwhelming sense of pure love. Was it from the little bandit? Or the Universe? It didn’t matter, he knew his friend somehow caused the wonderful feeling, so he reached out and put his arm around the little wild animal, and for the first time since he was a small boy a teardrop ran down his face, warm and full of feeling, and like that they went back to sleep.
A while later, he wasn’t sure how long, the man had a dream, and in this dream he had no pain at all. The years of aches and soreness were gone! He felt fantastic! He looked around. He was in a large clover field, and some of the blossoms had opened, and he could smell them! He hadn’t been able to smell anything for years! So sweet, and beautiful! He saw white capped mountains in the distance, and felt a warm, soft breeze in his hair. What was going on? It was winter, wasn’t it? Where was he? He had a moment of panic, then remembered that this was a dream. Dreams can have lots of good things in them he knew, so he relaxed a bit and wished this dream didn’t have to end. Well, might as well enjoy it while I can, he thought, so he looked around some more and took a few steps in the field. His knees no longer ached, he felt light as a feather and had a notion to run through the field. It felt so real! Suddenly he looked over and saw his little bandit friend was also in the dream. Smiling up at him! And he walked over, picked up the raccoon and hugged him. He was rewarded with a wink and a kiss on the nose. And the man couldn’t help it, dream or no dream, this was fantastic! And he started to laugh, and he swore his little friend laughed with him. And life seemed full and wonderful and beautiful, and he felt so complete and happy since the little bandit was with him. He could feel his friend’s thoughts and they were both so full of life that he set the raccoon down and they started to run in the field. After a while they stopped and found a clear, cold stream. After a drink they laid down on the mossy bank and the man suddenly understood. He told his little friend, “You brought me here, didn’t you? I don’t think this is dream anymore. You came to get me. All my pain is gone, and I feel great. And I want to stay here. With you, my little friend.” The little raccoon looked up and winked.
Epilogue: when springtime came to the mountains some hikers happened upon an old cabin sitting back in the middle of nowhere, and in it they found an elderly man’s body. He had obviously passed away some time ago. He seemed so alone up here by himself. But something even stranger was found. A small raccoon was curled up in his arms, and it too, was dead.
© Dan Bird
The companion song and video called "The Old Man and the Bandit" has been recorded and tells the story above in a few verses. Had a fun time writing it. You can find it here: VIDEO
There once was a man who lived in the mountains. He saw people rarely in his life. He wasn’t usually lonely, though. He was at peace, and felt love all around him. He never really felt alone. When people would come see him in the mountains he found he had little in common with them usually. But he treated them kindly and welcomed them. He was not sorry to see them leave, though. The man spent a lot of time thinking, but he spent even more time not thinking, and let his mind be still. This pleased him and he felt it was the right thing to do. He didn’t have the terms for this, and didn’t understand it, but he knew how he felt.
One day he heard a scratching at the front door of his cabin. He didn’t know what to expect, but he went to the door, opened it and saw a small raccoon. The animal looked healthy, and seemed unafraid and yet somehow lost. Not yet fully grown, the little creature quietly walked into the cabin. This surprised the man a little, but he was not overly concerned. It had turned chilly outside with the coming of autumn and he was glad to have a little company. The raccoon didn’t appear to need anything, just looked around curiously, then went to the fireplace, curled up and fell asleep on the woven rug in front. This was unusual thought the man, yet he wasn’t concerned, the raccoon seemed like a peaceful little fellow. So, while the raccoon slept the man made some supper for himself and then realized his guest would be hungry when waking from his nap, so he went out back of the cabin and retrieved a couple cobs of corn left over from his summer crop. The kernels were dry and hard, but he thought it would be all right. Sure enough, a couple hours passed by and the little bandit-faced visitor woke up, yawned, stretched, blinked his eyes a couple of times and looked around. The man placed a small bowl of clean water nearby and a second bowl of corn next to it. The little fellow looked at him and waddled over to the bowls. He dipped his front paws into the water and washed them in his fashion, he then sniffed the corn and began to eat. He was very hungry after all and cleared the bowl out quickly, and enjoyed a long drink of the cold water. After a couple more minutes of cleaning up he looked around and went to the door. The man got up from his chair, and still, without fear, moved to the door. As it swung open the visitor slipped out into the darkness. The man felt a little sad. His new friend was around for such a short time! And he had a friendly face, and even picked up the corn like he had tiny human-like hands. He wondered if he would see the raccoon again, or was this just a quick visit in the night? He was surprised that a wild animal would seem so fearless, after all the man was over six feet tall, with a long gray beard and flowing hair. He hadn’t seen a mirror for many years, but figured he was probably a frightening site. But the little friend had had no fear of him, he seemed to sense that he was safe.
Time went by and it was time for bed. The man went outside and looked around, maybe hoping a little face would appear and come back in, but he was nowhere to be found. So, giving up, with a sigh he went on to his bed and settled in. During the night, might have been a few hours later, he felt something by his legs. Small. Warm. Fuzzy! And lightly snoring! The man woke up fully but didn’t move. He wasn’t sure what to do. He was sure it was the little bandit, but when did he come back? How did he get in? Why didn’t the man hear him? How could this be? So he thought for a while, but still didn’t move. Was he safe with this wild creature laying next to him? He didn’t feel any fear, just a soft warmness. So, he looked around the dark cabin, said a prayer to his ancestors and found himself relaxing, and falling back to sleep. He still couldn’t figure out how the raccoon had gotten into the cabin, and what about others? This was a very young fellow, but wouldn’t he have siblings and parents somewhere close? He didn’t know. Well, these things would just have to sort themselves out in the morning, for the first time in a long time he felt another life connected with him and it woke something up in his heart. Sleep found him and when he awoke the sun was coming up.
He looked around. No raccoon. Where had he gone? He got up, looked under the bed, behind the boxes in the corner, everywhere in his little cabin. Nothing. That was strange. The door was shut wasn’t it? He checked and realized that for some reason the night before he had not latched the leather loop over the nail to hold the door shut! He never forgot that! Then he wondered if he did that so the door would swing in easily, just in case someone wanted in? Could it be? Had the little creature connected with him in some unspoken way that would cause him to leave the door unhooked? He was puzzled, but also somewhat happy, yet now lonely. What was going on here? He had not felt lonely for years, so what was this? He opened the door and the sunshine felt warm and surprisingly bright on his small porch. And sitting quietly gazing out at the sun was his little friend greeting the morning. The raccoon turned and looked at the man. But didn’t move away, so the man walked over to the steps, sat down close to the little fellow and looked out at the morning with him. They sat quietly for a while, with no stress, no fear, no hurry, just accepting. But after awhile, the man realized his guest must be hungry again, so he carefully got up, but then he changed his mind and sat back down. He slowly reached his hand out to the raccoon who continued to look out at the valley as the sun rose higher. He touched the little furry creature on the back, very gently. The raccoon gave a small start and turned to look at the man, but then settled down. So the man very lightly ran his finger down the raccoon’s back and after a couple times the raccoon relaxed. There was no fear. The man was quite surprised how this seemed to be the right thing to do. He had never touched a raccoon in his life, never had a dog, or a cat. This was strange, but it seemed OK. After a bit he again thought about food, so got up slowly and entered the cabin.
After a few second s, one mystery was solved. The little hands and face pushed open the door a few inches, he didn’t need much room to squeeze in, and walked over to where the man was, sat down on the floor, and looked up at him, and the man swore that that little raccoon smiled and winked! If anything could make the man laugh this was just the thing, and he started giggling and guffawing and belly laughing to see such a comical face looking at him! And the little raccoon fell over, and rolled over a couple of times, as if joining in the mirth. But all things come to an end, and after all, they were both still hungry, so the man wiped his eyes, having enjoyed himself more in the last few minutes than he had in years, and prepared water and corn for his guest, as well as his own breakfast. They ate in comfortable silence and the man wondered if this creature was going to stay with him. As he looked down he thought to himself that he sure hoped so. He felt something new stirring within him. Something long gone, from way back as a child. But he didn’t want to put words to it, it was magic, and words might destroy what was happening. So he just stayed present in the moment and let things move as they would. Soon they finished their breakfast, and after cleaning up they decided to go back outside in the sunshine again.
There were tall weeds growing by the path from the cabin down to the stream where the man got his water every day and he had planned on trimming them down a bit to make the walk easier. At first he thought he would skip it and wait a day or so, but after a bit decided to go ahead and get it done. Even with a visitor he had things he had to do, so he went to his little shed in the back of the cabin, got out his corn knife and walked back to the path. He didn’t see his new friend, but thought to himself, that he is a wild creature and must be allowed to come and go as he pleased. He set to work, moving slowly along working the left side first and then coming back up the path a few paces at a time and trimming the right side. When both sides were trimmed the path was about three feet wide, which offered plenty of room for carrying his jug and pail to the water without getting stickers and brambles on his arms and sleeves. In a couple of hours he was done and looked over his work. Satisfied, he walked back up the path and around to the shed. No sign of his new friend, and he hoped he hadn’t left for good.
The rest of the day went by and he began to wonder if the little raccoon had gone away. He had no idea how a wild animal thinks, or how it makes decisions, but he suspected there was more going on than it seemed. He wondered if they simply lived minute to minute like he did. If so, there may be no real pattern or plan to the raccoon’s whereabouts. He may be a wanderer from day to day. He supposed this was possible, so he tried to move on through his day as always. Finally he went to bed, and felt again surprisingly lonely. How could a little animal make him feel this way? This was something long dead and buried. He didn’t need anyone else, and no one needed him! But still, an empty ache lived in his belly tonight. This was different. And he had no answer. So he tried to sleep. Eventually he was able to do just that, and sadly drifted off. After a bit he jumped up! He ran to the door, and opened it. Nothing. The wind. But this time he made sure he didn’t hook the door shut as he had before, just in case.
Morning. A furry lump by his legs. What? When? How did….? He was confused, he hadn’t heard or felt anything during the night. In fact, he thought he had slept badly, and seemed awake most of the night. How did the little bandit get in and up on the bed without him knowing? He hated to move, to awaken his little friend, but he did reach down to gently run his finger down the raccoon’s back again. The creature moved slightly, but was so tired he didn’t seem to wake up. Feeling braver, the man rubbed his finger between the raccoon’s ears and neck, and the little visitor stretched and yawned, and obviously enjoyed the petting. So the man continued until the raccoon rolled over on his back as though he wanted his tummy rubbed. And the man did just that, when suddenly the raccoon’s arms reached out and grabbed the man’s hand, pulling it in, and his teeth flashed out as thought to bite. But the little raccoon’s teeth touched his hand and stopped. No bite. A little lick. Another. He looked up with those large bandit eyes right into the man’s eyes and gave him another lick with his tiny tongue. Then he let go. The man withdrew his hand in amazement. He hadn’t been bitten. After all, this was a wild animal living in the mountains. But instead of questioning and wondering, the man simply accepted. He didn’t need a reason, things just were as they were. So he smiled and his little friend winked again.
So they settled into a simple life, the raccoon coming and going during the day and sleeping next to the man’s legs at night and they became a small family. The man never saw another raccoon so figured this little fellow had been abandoned or had gotten lost. He certainly didn’t show any fear of the man and became quite tame. After a couple of months (it was now winter) the little fellow spent more and more time with the man, on his lap when he was reading in his old rocker, or on the bed at night, or down by the fireplace, and the man began to talk to him. And when he talked the raccoon would look right at him and tilt his head from side to side as if he understood, and the man came to believe that he did understand. Such was their life over the winter.
Now the man was not young, and he was not in the best of health, so it came about one night that as he slept he felt some pain in his chest. He was used to various pains and aches, but this one was a bit more than usual. It woke him up and he sat up slowly hoping the pain would go away. His little friend looked at him, and moved closer, climbing on his lap. This comforted the man and he did begin to feel a little better. After a time he laid back down and fell asleep again, now with the little raccoon laying against him near his chest, snuggled in closely. Just before he fell asleep he had an overwhelming sense of pure love. Was it from the little bandit? Or the Universe? It didn’t matter, he knew his friend somehow caused the wonderful feeling, so he reached out and put his arm around the little wild animal, and for the first time since he was a small boy a teardrop ran down his face, warm and full of feeling, and like that they went back to sleep.
A while later, he wasn’t sure how long, the man had a dream, and in this dream he had no pain at all. The years of aches and soreness were gone! He felt fantastic! He looked around. He was in a large clover field, and some of the blossoms had opened, and he could smell them! He hadn’t been able to smell anything for years! So sweet, and beautiful! He saw white capped mountains in the distance, and felt a warm, soft breeze in his hair. What was going on? It was winter, wasn’t it? Where was he? He had a moment of panic, then remembered that this was a dream. Dreams can have lots of good things in them he knew, so he relaxed a bit and wished this dream didn’t have to end. Well, might as well enjoy it while I can, he thought, so he looked around some more and took a few steps in the field. His knees no longer ached, he felt light as a feather and had a notion to run through the field. It felt so real! Suddenly he looked over and saw his little bandit friend was also in the dream. Smiling up at him! And he walked over, picked up the raccoon and hugged him. He was rewarded with a wink and a kiss on the nose. And the man couldn’t help it, dream or no dream, this was fantastic! And he started to laugh, and he swore his little friend laughed with him. And life seemed full and wonderful and beautiful, and he felt so complete and happy since the little bandit was with him. He could feel his friend’s thoughts and they were both so full of life that he set the raccoon down and they started to run in the field. After a while they stopped and found a clear, cold stream. After a drink they laid down on the mossy bank and the man suddenly understood. He told his little friend, “You brought me here, didn’t you? I don’t think this is dream anymore. You came to get me. All my pain is gone, and I feel great. And I want to stay here. With you, my little friend.” The little raccoon looked up and winked.
Epilogue: when springtime came to the mountains some hikers happened upon an old cabin sitting back in the middle of nowhere, and in it they found an elderly man’s body. He had obviously passed away some time ago. He seemed so alone up here by himself. But something even stranger was found. A small raccoon was curled up in his arms, and it too, was dead.
© Dan Bird
The companion song and video called "The Old Man and the Bandit" has been recorded and tells the story above in a few verses. Had a fun time writing it. You can find it here: VIDEO
