Storytelling Week 10: There's No Longer Just One Woman Left In The World

News Anchor: We interrupt your scheduled programming with very big news! Last week, we thought that that all of humanity was doomed, since there was only one woman on Earth in the south, and she just recently got married, so we thought that only one family would have a child, meaning that the end of people on Earth was inevitable. We now, however, have reports that as of last month there is now more than one woman,which means we might actually have a chance! There are also some other very interesting twists to this story that you're going to want to hear. We have Ted Williams live on the scene with more information. Ted, can you tell us what's going on?

Ted: Yes this is quite the weird situation. There originally was just one woman left on Earth and she was located in the southern region, while all of the men were located in the north. It was a long journey to the south, so no one had actually made the trip yet to marry her. Finally, a man from the north had traveled south so that he could marry her, meaning that there were no longer any single women left on this planet. We weren't sure what we were going to do, because it's kind of hard to populate the earth with just one man and one woman.

Anchor: Yes, you do have a point there.

Ted: Anyway, there was a headsman who had a son who also decided that he wanted a wife. The woman's husband knew of this other man, but didn't expect him to actually do anything about it. Boy, was he wrong. The headsman's son went to the couple's house and formulated a plan to take the woman from her husband. The headsman's son tried to take her while the household was sleeping and began to pull her out of the house by her feet. The husband woke up, realized what was happening, and ran to save his wife.

Anchor: Wow, this is quite the story.

Ted: Oh just wait, there's so much more.

Ted: So the two men are pulling the woman in opposite directions, and she ends up splitting in half. In half! Isn't that crazy? So now there are two halves to a once whole woman.You'd think that the men would fight over who would get to keep both halves and make the woman whole again, but they actually ended up each taking half of the woman and keeping it for themselves. The headsman's son took the half with the feet to the south, while the northern man kept the top half for himself, and this, my friends, is where things get really interesting. So each of them have half a woman, right? What were they supposed to do with half a woman? Each of them decided that they were going to carve the missing parts of each woman out of wood so that they had a whole woman. The man in the north carved feet and legs for his wife, while the man in the south carved arms and hands. Apparently, the woman in the south is a great dancer, but not very good at sewing or any other skill with her hands, and the woman in the north isn't a very good dancer, but is extremely skilled at sewing. This means that we can now begin to populate the Earth!

Anchor: This has turned into quite the story.

Ted: I know, and it's still developing.

Anchor: Thanks for the update, Ted. We will keep the viewers informed on this developing story as we get more information. Tune in at 9:00 pm for more updates.

(Eskimo Family)

Bibliography: This story is based off of "The First Woman" by Eskimo storytellers. 

Author's Note: The story "The First Woman" really stood out to me because it kind of reminded me of the story of Adam and Eve in the beginning of the bible. There was only one woman on Earth and she lived in the south. A man from the north decided that he was going to go marry her, so he traveled to the south and made her his wife. A headsman's son, however, thought that he should have a wife and traveled south as well, even though the woman was already married. The husband knew of the headsman's son, but let his guard down while he was sleeping. The headsman's son went in the house while everyone was asleep and started dragging the woman out by her feet. The noise woke the husband up and he began pulling his wife back into the house by her shoulders. Eventually, the woman was pulled in half and the headsman's son took her lower half to the south, while her husband kept the upper half in the north.They each decided that they were going to carve the rest of the woman out of wood, but the woman in the north couldn't do much with her feet since they were made of wood. The woman in the south couldn't do much with her hands since they were wood, but she could dance very well. This story is the myth behind why women in the south of Alaska can dance well, while the women in the north are very skilled at sewing. I thought it would be fun to write a news report over this story because I think it would definitely be breaking news if there was no longer just one woman on Earth.