Dawn and Dusk Come to Life

It’s rare when a story manifests its characters and they come to thank you for sharing “their story”. But it happened to me this morning.

I’d been looking forward to the Tea ’n’ Tales storytelling event for weeks. It’s an annual event that takes place in Guelph’s Riverside Park in the Enabling Garden by the river. On Friday mornings, from June until the end of summer, local and regional storytellers treat the public to a storytelling program. I’ve had the privilege of being invited for the past four years. Each time, I’ve been paired with Brenda Byers, a wonderful storyteller from the Burlington Storytellers Guild (of which I am also a member).

Like a lot of storytellers, I have my favourite stories to share. A few are even what have become ‘signature’ stories, stories that have struck a chord with people over the years and get requested repeatedly. I enjoy telling those stories, but I also enjoy the opportunity to add some new tales to the menu. Since I’d be telling on the summer solstice, it made sense to offer some relevant stories. One of those tales was an old one from Estonia called “Dusk and Dawn”.

Without re-telling the entire tale here, it concerns the “Old Man in the Sky” whose responsibility is to keep the sun travelling on its journey from one horizon to the other. Of course, he has helpers: Dusk and Dawn. Dusk is a young woman whose…