~~~
Finally! It was done. Grandmother River had never felt better. She had saved all of the small fish that she liked, and gotten rid of the nasty gars that had been feeding on them. She and all of the little fish rejoiced! Finally they could relax.
Little did the small fish and realize, the gars were plotting their revenge, for they were not far away. The pool they were trapped in was just over a bank from the river, which they felt surely they could get back from. They were debating how to get back. Some suggested that they should attempt leaping over, however if they did not make it, this would surely spell death for them, for they would be stuck out of the water. Some others suggested that they try to burrow their way straight through, but this was a just a dumb idea. Finally, a viable suggestion came up. It was spring, surely the spring rains would cause their little pool to flood, allowing them just to swim back into the river. The gars all agreed that this was the most sensible solution. They just hoped that they would not starve before this rain came.
After several days of waiting, it finally began to rain. The gars rejoiced! Surely this rain would give them their freedom back. Meanwhile, Grandmother River began to worry, for she too had thought about this. If it rained, and caused the pool to flood, there was nothing she could to keep the gars out. She worried, and told all of the small fish to hide. They began to panic, for they too realized what could happen if it began to rain heavily.
The rain drummed on for several hours, and the gars pool had nearly tripled in size. This would surely be enough to make it back. The gars began to peek over the edge of their pool, and they could see that they were nearly up the bank. They just needed a little more rain! Shortly after this, the rain stopped. The gars were left with a choice. Jump over the bank and risk death, or attempt to wait for more rain and risk starvation. The gars opted to jump, and after lining up at the back of the pool, they got to full speed and easily leapt over the bank, landing safely in the river. Grandmother River began to weep, for she knew that there was nothing she could do to save the little fish that she liked so much. The gars feasted that day, and order was returned to the river.
Gars feasting
Source: UnTextbook
Bibliography: This story is a continuation of a story written by Tejas Indians, published in the book When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and other Indian Legends.
