The Legend of Floppy Finn and the Bone Garden

The people who first came to the island brought a lot of things with them like food and tools, but they also brought the idea of sacred places. Long ago there were all kinds of springs, creeks, and mountains that were supposed to hold powers or let you talk to spirits. The big accident destroyed a lot of things from the past like the roads and buildings, but the idea of sacred places survived. Today lots of people hold places like Black Rock Beach or the Augustinian Cliffs sacred. They are places that teach us about the people who came before us and life lessons. This is a story about one of the scariest, the Bone Garden, and a carver who broke the rules of this scary sacred place.

There was no doubt about it, Finn was born to be a carver. Before the fracture, Finn’s tutu was a famous artist and people came from all around to buy her carvings. She passed this talent down to Finn’s father and eventually to him. They say Finn made his first machete handle before he could even walk. But he wasn’t just good at making weapon grips and before long people started to notice.

Finn started out working with wood but eventually, he learned that he was meant to work with bone. He could carve a totem as big as one of the Kanaka warriors out of a whale rib in an afternoon. He could make a fishing arrow out of a deer leg in minutes and his bear bone carvings looked so realistic people said you could hear them roar. Everyone wanted Finn to carve them something and the orders started to pile up. That’s when the trouble began.

Finn was really good at carving but he was also very lazy. Bones are hard to get. Deer are fast and wary. Wolves and bears have good senses and are dangerous to hunt, and the only way to get whale bones is to wait for one to beach itself. It wasn’t long before Finn had used up all the bones he could find on this part of the island but he still had lots of things to make. That’s when he got the idea about looking for bones in the Bone Garden.

Every group of people has their own way of saying goodbye to a loved one after they die. The Kanaka believe that dead people should be returned to the water and bury each other at sea. We Thrivers recycle the dead in machines, but a long time ago they used to bury people in the ground or burn them up to ashes. One of the biggest problems for people who lived through the big accident was what to do with all the dead people. There wasn’t enough room or time to bury them all, and there weren’t enough trees to burn them all up. It wasn’t healthy to have dead people everywhere so everyone decided to put them in a nearby valley.

The people put their loved ones and neighbors there and anything else that reminded them of the way the world used to be. It wasn’t long before the plants and vines started to grow around the bodies. They say that first spring the most beautiful flowers the island has ever seen grew amongst the memories and the lost. They named the valley the Bone Garden. People said you could hear the spirits there if you listened closely and that the Night Marchers tended the flowers at night. It became one of the most sacred places on the island and everyone treated it with respect, everybody that is but Finn.

With all the bones piled up there, Finn figured that he’d be able to find all the knife handles and materials he needed. He thought a few femurs would work great to fill orders and he could probably even use a humerus or two. His friends were horrified when he told them his plan and they tried to warn him, but Finn wouldn’t listen. He headed out to the Bone Garden the next morning and came back before noon with a bag of bones to carve.

That night his neighbors heard drums and shouting from the jungle. When they looked out they saw lights moving in the Bone Garden and they knew the Night Marchers would discover that Finn had disturbed the sacred place. As the drums got louder and the lights got closer they all ran inside hoping the marchers would leave them alone. It wasn’t long until they could hear footsteps outside and then Finn. His screams lasted all night.

Finn was still alive when they found him in the morning. The garden’s protectors had taken his carving knives and removed all the bones in his arms and legs to replace the ones he took. When he died a few minutes later the people laid his remains and all of his tools in the Bone Garden to make sure the spirits didn’t return.

After that day, parents would tell their children the story of Floppy Finn to make sure they knew to respect the island’s sacred places, and never take anything from the Bone Garden. I’d never get in trouble like Finn because I know that polycarbonate is stronger and makes better handles than bone. I also think touching an old person’s bones is gross.

Akamai Mahelona
4th Grade
Pu`u School Lahaina

The Legend of “Down-the-Line” Don

After the accident everyone was scared because the people who had made the rules weren’t around anymore. The survivors worried that everyone would just do what they wanted and nobody would want to have a society again. Because nobody was around to make them do the right things anymore, people started telling stories about how to act. Those stories are called parables and this is one of my favorite. “Down-the-Line” Don teaches you how easy it is to become greedy and how bad that can be.

Before everything broke Don worked for a tow truck company and he would spend his day taking other people’s cars and putting them in a special yard. If you wanted to get your car back, you’d have to pay Don money. Everyone thought that was OK because there used to be lots of rules about where you could put your car when you weren’t in it.

When the accident happened lots of people were scared and some didn’t know what to do, but Don did. He figured he needed to let people know that nothing on the island was working and people were hurt. Since nobody could make a call on their phones and the internet was broken he thought the best way to get help was to try the radio tower. He made an announcement but didn’t hear anything back. After waiting a long time he noticed some other people down at the bottom of the tower. He decided to go down and see who they were.

Because the radio tower is so tall it turned into a natural meeting place for lots of people looking for help. Don began to move some of the big trucks from his lot next to the tower and people began to live in them. Lots of the people who were living in his trucks were sick and had burns, luckily Don knew how to make medicine from sausage tree fruit. He started to plant some around the radio tower and the first one he planted is still there today.

Don spent lots of time taking apart the other cars in his lot and bringing back anything that was useful to the tower. Eventually he had piles and piles of useful things like batteries and wire and people would come every day for help. Don began to think about how many people wanted help and how unfair it was that he was doing lots of work for free.

He started making the people who lived in his trucks give him half their food or find another place to live. Instead of giving away the extra stuff to people who needed it, he started to charge or go through their packs to see if they had anything he wanted. If they didn’t have enough rai or something to trade Don would tell them, “You can pay me down the line.” Over time only a few people had enough food to live in his trucks and he would hold regular auctions for his items to make sure he got the most possible for them. It only got worse once he fixed the broken ziplines.

The ziplines made it possible to send food and medicine quickly to different areas without having to worry about bandits. But sending stuff down the line was expensive! Don started making people work for him to pay off their “down the line bills,” but it took a long time. Soon there were whole Kānaka villages that had to work for Don in order to pay for water and sausage tree medicine. He had more rai and stuff than anyone but he still wasn’t happy. Half the island was working for him but it wasn’t enough. He decided that he owned anything that was under the ziplines and sent out his guards to collect a toll from anyone who walked underneath.

People started to to get angry and talk about how greedy Don had become, but they needed his help so they had to pay what he wanted. Don could send almost anything down his lines that you needed as long as you were willing to give him what he wanted, and he wanted everything. Then Don went too far.

A nearby Kānaka village was attacked one day by night marchers. Lots of people were badly injured including the Chief’s children. The village’s fastest runners were sent to get medkits and have them sent down the lines. When they got to Don’s they had enough to trade for the kits but he wanted extra to let them use the ziplines. Knowing that they didn’t have much time, the runners begged and pleaded but they didn’t have anything Don wanted. By the time they ran back with the kits it was too late.

Word spread quickly about how Don wouldn’t let the runners use the ziplines and let people die. That night, a huge group showed up at the radio tower and a big battle began. There are lots of stories about what happened to Don in the end. Some say that they threw him off the tower, others say that he jumped. My favorite ending is that they took a koa axe and sent parts of Don down each of his ziplines to let everyone know that all their debts were paid. They say that some nights, if you listen closely, you can still hear his parts traveling up and down the lines trying to get rai from anyone beneath them. My mom says that I should know better than that, and I do, but my little brother Aukai doesn’t.

The story of Down-the-Line Don helps people remember how easy it is to become too greedy and what might happen to you if you do. It’s also really good for getting back at your little brother when he messes up your room.

Akamai Mahelona
4th Grade
Pu`u School Lahaina