How the Sun Was Born

            When the Elemental Spirits first created the Earth, there was no sun; the Earth was dark and dismal, and lifeless. This bothered the spirits not at all, for they had created the Earth as a dwelling place for only them. The spirits liked to spelunk in volcanoes, to walk through the skies, and nap at the bottom of the ocean. While these things would be impossible for any human, the elemental spirits were perfectly capable, and they were content having no one else to spoil the fun.

            One day, the Water Spirit visited a volcano for a swim. He dove down into the volcano, trough the magma, all the way to the center of the Earth. And there, he found something. Smaller than the smallest pebble, and yet it shone brighter than anything he’d ever seen. Light was something the elemental spirits knew not of, which is why the Water Spirit was so amazed. He grabbed the tiny ball of light, and began to swim up. But he noticed, as he got further and further from where he found the pebble, it seemed to grow larger in his fist. After a few moments, he needed both hands to carry it. But as he kept swimming, up and up, the ball got bigger and brighter and hotter, until it was even hotter than all the magma around him.

Eventually, the ball of light became too big and heavy for the Water Spirit to carry himself. He stowed it in a safe place, and swam to the surface to recruit the other spirits for help. He led the other three spirits into the volcano, down, down, down until they found the mysterious shining object. The other spirits were just as amazed.

            They all grabbed hold of the ball, and began to drag it toward the surface. And as they pulled, it grew larger and larger, hotter and hotter, brighter and brighter. Eventually it became the size of a boulder, but still, it did not stop growing.

            When they finally reached the surface, the spirits found that they were barely able to push what was previously just a pebble through the opening in the volcano. They pushed and pushed and pushed, and finally they got it through.

            That was when they noticed the change that had occurred on their dismal, dark Earth: life. This immense mass of light and heat had cast its light across the land, and now the spirits could see plants growing, trees sprouted up before their very eyes.

            They were astounded by this change; they had never imagined that such a thing could happen. They were so moved by the beauty of this new life, of the animals that began to appear, the plants that enveloped everything around them, that they decided that they must use this light to spread life all across the planet.

            The Elemental Spirits took hold of the Light and threw it as hard as they could into the air. And as it flew farther and farther from the Earth, it continued to grow and grow and grow, until it was bigger than the planet they had created. Then, suddenly, it stopped, and there it stayed, spreading light and life all across the Earth.