At times, when playing outside when the northern lights were
at their most active the kids would be more subdued than usual. Even the adults
didn’t want to yell or exhibited an extra aura of fear in their speech. They
didn’t want to say anything negative nor tick off the old religion ancient
native deities while they were doing their thing and going about their usual
daily life routine. Being under the amazing display in the heavens was now not
regarded as special anymore to the locals who live in that area since they have
seen it so many times each year, every year just like a holiday season. It was
just part of the routine in contrast to the tourists who were fascinated by its
newness. An apt description by the elders would be like an animal’s tail
whipping against the sky while creating sparks at the same time. Mekkar has
never bothered to research what the Northern Lights phenomenon really is in its
true scientific state. The reason could be possibly to native superstitions or
a set of beliefs in legends passed down to him from a few adults in the village.
[nordicway.com; Aurora
hunters - ft.com; Aurorafires.ie; Wikipedia; bestnorwegian.com;
hellomagazine.com]
However, Mekkar could never completely discount and shun the
old ways because they had been ingrained internally into the very fabric of his
being. Plus, when Mekkar was younger during times on the reindeer trek, he
spent much time with Aslak, and they would together ponder the mysteries of the
universe. However, Mekkar at other times would try to avoid Aslak when the
elder would be in his trance-like state or conducting his medicine man duties.
Mekkar would get spooked and creeped out by the unfamiliar other realm
spiritual stuff the boy saw and referred to it as such. The Native from the
North could sense, even though he couldn’t always describe it, the power Aslak
had during some of their verbal interaction sessions. Other times, Mekkar would
sneakily or stealthily so he thought, observe various leader meeting of the
minds sessions during the animal migrations. No matter if whether he
comprehended it or not, Mekkar realized that there was a whole other unseen
realm/dimension that he didn’t understand. Even after being around Aslak for so
long in the small village and seeing some of these activities, Mekkar wanted to
stay away. Especially from some of the deeper aspects which he felt would
impact him. He felt getting involved with those aspects was playing with fire
and Mekkar didn’t want to get burned. At this point, the Arctic boy still
didn’t comprehend what was really taking place at these sessions and scared at
the possible effects upon him.
Alf called it by what he thought it was, Mekkar’s insolence,
and Alf didn’t feel that Mekkar cared one bit about the old ways and mannerisms
of their native culture. Even though Alf shied away from admitting that he was
a native altogether. Alf felt that Mekkar also was not concerned about ticking
off the old native religious deities. Alf, Mekkar’s younger brother, had even
said this a few times previously by describing Mekkar as having a smart mouth
and manner of speech. The sibling stated that it was also getting worse by the
day as Mekkar got older. Mekkar thought this was an unjustified perception of
him by his sibling considering that Alf rarely admitted his native status to
avoid persecution and negative judgment by others. Mekkar commented that his
brother could get away with this due to his non-native appearance. Alf would go
on to describe that his older sibling as showing early hints of a screw you
attitude towards the world in some aspects of Mekkar’s character. Mekkar
thought Alf was sort of judgmental against him when he was attempting to avoid
that very thing from outsiders. Alf had pointed out, what he thought was the
recognition of these flaws regarding Mekkar to his face. Still, Mekkar just
brushed them aside and attributed those comments as just part of sibling
rivalry issues.
Mekkar feels that no being, high or low, or person should
receive automatic respect from him because of one’s position in life or
occupation, no matter who they are. He knows that his belief in that area is
extremely contrary to most people. To Mekkar, one has to earn his respect on an
individual case by case basis. Mekkar also has this concept, that he is so well
adjusted enough and has a fairly good level of knowledge of the world, as a
result of his travels, reading, and through other methods of learning. Mekkar
reveals this attitude and point in one of many blunt statements, “If I don’t
know who you are, then you are not a star. It doesn’t matter who or how big or
famous you think you are.” Mekkar knows this is a cocky stance and refuses to
back down from it and this thinking has never wavered in Mekkar’s mind even to
this very day and it will definitely never change with him.
On the other hand, Alf and Lasse both are of the
opinion that there is just a little too much cockiness on the part of Mekkar.
When they noticed that trend, they increased the amount of pranks they would
play on him. The idea was to try to temper that big ego they feel is growing
too quickly and put him in his place. Basically, Mekkar’s younger brother and
best friend think Mekkar is full of himself most of the time and just likes to
run his mouth. Other adults regard it as a matter of a teenager who thinks that
they know everything and are always right about everything. But, adults usually
know that is not the case and have learned from experience that the opposite is
true. If a person is honest, what parent hasn’t encountered that in their
children, especially teenagers, anywhere on the planet?
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