Cyndera's stone story "Amma and the Sacred Pool" was adapted for children and performed

(with full mermaid regalia) at the Hamlin School for their annual Earth Day Event.

In groups, the all-girls school created these alternate endings to the story using the billion year-old stones:

 

 

The Mermaid and the Drought

By the Hamlin Sister Families on Earth Day 2014

 

Long ago, there was a small village that was experiencing a drought. It hadn’t rained for many years and the people that lived in the village were afraid that they would run out of water to drink and grow their food.

 

The villagers had to do something that felt a bit scary – they had to go beyond the boundaries of the town and consult with mermaid, Amma, who lived in the ancient pond. Most people feared her because of her mysterious gifts – they said she could speak to the stones who had seen all that had ever happened to the nearby lands.

 

She spent three days, asking the stones what they had seen. Here is the story they told:

 

“There were once two brother spirits that inhabited this land. They lived in a forest and especially loved one particular tree. The first spirit loved the trees: how their branches grew up towards the sun, how the leaves danced in the wind and how the roots sought the deepest waters.

 

The other spirit laughed at how this brother loved the tree. The second spirit loved the trees by eating them. He loved gnashing on their branches and crunching on the leaves. With great thirst he would suck the water out through its roots.

 

Eventually the second spirit had eaten up all but one tree and had almost sucked out every last drop from the deep aquifers.”

 

What happens to the mermaid and her pool? What happens to the hungry spirit?

Choose a stone and finish the stThe Bad Spirit started to drink up all the water, which made the mermaid angry because he was drinking her home. The good spirit found a new home for the mermaid.

 

“We have to find a way to stop him,” the good spirit said. The villagers and the mermaid and the good spirit decide to go talk to the bad spirit. They say, “We all need water, so take only what you need, not what you want.”

 

 

• The two spirits had a battle and the second spirit won. The second spirit is still sucking up all the water. The mermaid was very worried because she needed water to survive. The villagers were also worried about the rain. The drought does not stop but the villagers reduced their water consumption.

• The good spirit tricks the bad spirit into a trap. The good spirit then forces the bad spirit to drink the water that he poisoned and makes everything grow again…

• And then she said, “but there was still one more spirit, “It makes you go back in time”…

• The Mermaid went to another place and brought water back to the village. Then the bad spirit sucked up all the water again. Mermaid kills bad spirits, bad ideas and he turns into a good spirit who gave them water back and they never had a drought again. The End

• Spirits get mad, take away the water. The mermaid tells the people to conserve water. The drought ends and then the spirits are happy!

• Evil spirit goes on journey with good spirit. Bad spirit sees how sad the people are. The mermaid convinced the spirits to combine their powers and make rain fall on the village so they have water. Bad spirit becomes good and the people have more than enough water to survive.

• The people in the village asks the mermaid to ask the good spirit to give back the water and the good spirit does. Since he didn’t have enough water in himself because the good spirit gave it back, he blew away in the wind. The town got its water back and everyone was happy, but the bad spirits essence is still present, haunting them.

• Originally it was summer and spring for 50 years. But after 50 years it changed to winter…

• The villagers asked the mermaid to make the drought spirit go away…

• Send the Monster to the sky. It will cry because it was so sad about being banished. Splotches of tears on the rock.

• The mermaid doesn’t help and the people need to take care of the environment. People use less water. The spirits aren’t real but they are the people’s choices.

• Then there is a big war and the earth blows up with a machete. The universe blows up. Then Zeus dives into a pool on a camel. The End (what a happy ending, huh?)

• The mermaid didn’t die and she continued with her every day life. The Bad Spirit lived under a house and the house blew up and brought back all the water. The good spirit sacrificed herself for the Earth and to trap the bad spirit in the ocean. The village thrived again!

• The evil one sucked up all of the forest and there was nothing left to eat so he died of starvation. The villagers were smart and turned into mermaids and lived in the water. Amma became the queen of the water village. The nice one died to restore the balance.

• Good spirit and bad spirit get torn apart. Chaos rains. People attack bad spirit and everyone lives happily ever after.

• Mermaid takes off her earrings and puts it where there used to be water, making the water come back. Then, she turns the evil spirit into a stone. However, without her earring she dies and the village has water again.

• The bad spirit was trying to eat the volcano that he thought was a tree when it exploded on him. He died and the drought was over. All the people and the mermaid were happy again.

• Steal water from different places. The two spirits have a war and one wins and gets all the water. From then on they ration the water. The villagers unite with the spirit and then the bad spirit dies so the mermaid marries the good spirit who is helping the villagers. The whole town sings different versions of Frozen songs like “Let it Rain.”

• The villagers sacrifice sheep, shower less, they get smelly but they have lots of water.

• The mermaid told them then that the spirit was unhappy because the villagers had stopped plating trees. With nothing to eat he punished them by creating a drought. The villagers were terrified but the mermaid reassured them that not all hope was lost. She told them that the evil spirit was holding the other hostages in a volcano. The villagers had to rescue the spirit who would then bring back the water.

• Two tigers came right in front of the village. Then I came along and did karate on the spirits and said, “Hi-ya!”. And then I transformed into a jedi knight. Maybe the spirit came before the mermaid and the tigers ate the bad spirits. Maybe the spirits heard their troubles and went back in time to stop the water from leaving.

• The mermaid told the villagers, “We have to put the stones together in order to eliminate the drought. We will beckon the spirit to us and he will bring back our water. But he will only cooperate if you promise to use his beautiful water more consciously. Then, the drought will end with 100 days of rain.” So, the villagers put the rocks together and the skies split with rain. The villagers never took water for granted again. The End

• She should go find the trees and ask for their advice. Also she met a giant who gave her seeds to give to the people in the town and she said to plant and water them. The End

• Lava and the evil brother are sucking up all the water from the trees. Eventually the brothers explode and all the water comes out and the land gets watered.

• A dragon comes…

• The village has a long drought. Running out of food. They went to a pool where a mermaid lived. The mermaid banished the two spirits and brought water.

• Ama the mermaid told the villagers where the two spirits lived. The villagers found them. It was obvious which one was which, for one was fat and happy, and the other was pale and weak. The villagers made a deal with the spirit who ate the land. The agreement was that if the villagers could conserve 100 gallons of water in one day, then the spirit who ate the land must go into the magical stones, where he would be trapped forever. If the villagers wasted water, therefore not achieving their goal, the spirit who ate the land would be permitted to devour the whole village because the villagers reluctantly promised to put their guards off duty. The villagers made this deal out of desperation, and the spirit agreed based upon his strong belief that there was no way the wasteful villagers could be so green. In the end, the villagers succeeded, so the mean spirit was banned from their village and sent into the wise rocks. Ever since, the village has been constantly conserving water and being nice to the environment, and since the land eating spirit was gone, never had a drought again.